"It ain't like it used to be...but it'll do." << EAMUS CATULI >> "You can tell some lies about the good times we've had, but I've kissed your mother twice and now I'm working on your dad..."
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Ricketts formally held his press conference today and has been all over the local sports shows. Obviously, all of this is talk but he keeps repeatedly stressing that the key to the Cubs winning is whipping their farm system into shape and focusing on developing players from within instead of just relying on trades and FA's. He's also said that the payroll will see a small increase this offseason so Hendry does have some room to work with. He also seems pretty knowledgable when it comes to Sabermetrics, which bodes very well.
Quote:
MLB.com: The No. 1 question Cubs fans have is can this team win a World Series?
Ricketts: As someone who knows the sport well, you know there's no magic. There's no number you can spend. There's no one player who can make all the difference in the world. The key is you have to consistently make the playoffs. Once you're in the playoffs, anything can and will happen. If you get the hot hand in the playoffs, before you know it, you've got champagne all over you.
The way to get to the playoffs, and the way to keep on that World Series track, is to be consistent, and the way you're consistent is player development. To bring in the right players and have the scouts and the coaches on the same page when they try to turn those players into contributors at the Major League level is key.
In the (Arizona) Fall League, I think there's a good argument that we're on the right track for player development and on the right track for creating that kind of consistency. In the end, when someone says, 'How are you going to win the World Series?' there aren't two different answers. The answer is you get to the playoffs, and you get to the playoffs by having as much flexibility as you can with personnel. That comes from player development.
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"It ain't like it used to be...but it'll do." << EAMUS CATULI >> "You can tell some lies about the good times we've had, but I've kissed your mother twice and now I'm working on your dad..."
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Cubs Chairman Crane Kenney also made comments today that in the next few years that as the Cubs' broadcast deals come up with Comcast and WGN that the Cubs will set up their own cable channel a la YES.
Both he and Ricketts also talked about how renovating and modernizing Wrigley while still keeping it "classic" are top priorities in the immediate future.
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"It ain't like it used to be...but it'll do." << EAMUS CATULI >> "You can tell some lies about the good times we've had, but I've kissed your mother twice and now I'm working on your dad..."
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From NPR:
Quote:
NPR EXCLUSIVE: NEW CHICAGO CUBS BOARD CHAIR TOM RICKETTS
SHARES IDEAS FOR IMPROVING FRANCHISE
ON NPR NEWS’ WEEKEND EDITION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31
EXCERPTS BELOW; AUDIO TO BE AVAILABLE SATURDAY AT 10AM AT NPR.org
October 30, 2009; Washington, D.C. – In his first national broadcast interview since his family completed their purchase of the Chicago Cubs, the franchise’s new board chairman Tom Ricketts tells host Scott Simon on NPR News’ Weekend Edition that he plans to retain the team’s management, saying of General Manager Jim Hendry and Manager Lou Piniella: “Jim has done a good job of kind of bringing the team up to the level that they are at,” and “Lou is one of the best managers in baseball.” The exclusive interview with Ricketts will air tomorrow, Saturday, October 31 on NPR News’ Weekend Edition. Excerpts of the interview are below; the full audio will be available Saturday at 10AM (ET) at NPR.org, where there is a companion story now: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/200 ... owner.html
Though the Ricketts family currently has no plans to shake up management, in the interview with Simon the new chairman shares many ideas about how to improve the franchise, including developing property adjacent to Wrigley Field, how family ownership benefits fans and using the Boston Red Sox as a model for both rehabbing a landmark vintage ballpark and turning a losing club into a winner. Excerpts from the interview follow:
• On why he wants Piniella to stay on as manager, Ricketts says: ”We think Lou is one of the best managers in baseball. He has an option to return next year, and from what I understand, I think he is planning to.”
• Asked about the future of Wrigley Field, he states: “First of all, we want this to be the best franchise in baseball, and you can’t be a world-class franchise and have third-class facilities.” He goes on to say that “there is land that is just adjacent to the stadium, along Clark Street, that the team owns and we intend to develop that into a part of the stadium, that will give fans more options on game day, but as importantly free up space inside of the stadium to build in some of the clubhouse functionality that other teams enjoy.”
• Even if park improvements cause higher ticket prices, Ricketts says one thing fans “should keep in mind is that with family ownership now, we intend to reinvest all the profits that we can get on the team and put that back into preserving Wrigley Field and to putting a better team on the field. So it's not like it's going away to some kind of corporation and never will be seen again."
• On how he wants to build the team, Ricketts says: “Undoubtedly the way to build the long-term winner is through player development. You got to draft the right people and you got to have scouts and coaches that are coordinated and working together to turn the right players into real producers at the major league level. Free agency, I think, is something you look at when you got a hole to fill or when you haven’t been able to produce a player from your own system. The real key for consistent performance and trying to win the division every single year is developing our own players.”
• Asked whether any other sports franchise is a model for the Cubs, he responds: “I think obviously what they've done with Fenway is a good thing for us to look at in terms of how to improve the stadium. Because we really do want to preserve and keep improving the special experience that Wrigley Field is. On the field we also wouldn’t mind copying the Red Sox. I think it's time for the team to push forward and to win a World Series.”
• Asked if he’d welcome Steven Bartman back to Wrigley Field, Ricketts says: “I don’t have any issue with him. And on top of that, I think one message that we have out for every fan is let bygones be bygones. What’s happened in the past is behind us. There is no curse. There is no Billy Goat, there is none of that stuff. Let’s move on. We’re one of the best teams in baseball. We will be the best team in baseball going forward. And we just have to look forward, not backward.”
All excerpts from the transcript must be credited to NPR News’ Weekend Edition. Television usage must include on-screen credit with NPR logo.
Weekend Edition, NPR’s weekend morning newsmagazine, is hosted by Scott Simon and Liane Hansen and reaches 5.3 million listeners weekly. The show offers a mix of hard news and cultural stories with care, accuracy and a wink of humor, courtesy of Simon and Hansen. To find local stations and broadcast times, visit www.NPR.org/stations
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Fans “should keep in mind is that with family ownership now, we intend to reinvest all the profits that we can get on the team and put that back into preserving Wrigley Field and to putting a better team on the field. So it's not like it's going away to some kind of corporation and never will be seen again."
I'm liking this guy.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ritalin
Not bad at all actually.
What does he mean by expanding Wrigley to give the fans "more options"? That almost always means bad shopping and restaurants.
Where is the extra room to expand?
Quote:
He goes on to say that “there is land that is just adjacent to the stadium, along Clark Street, that the team owns and we intend to develop that into a part of the stadium, that will give fans more options on game day, but as importantly free up space inside of the stadium to build in some of the clubhouse functionality that other teams enjoy.”
Wrigley is already surrounded by bad shopping and bad restaurants. I'd rather more of them be owned by the team so the money goes to them.
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"It ain't like it used to be...but it'll do." << EAMUS CATULI >> "You can tell some lies about the good times we've had, but I've kissed your mother twice and now I'm working on your dad..."
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Fear and Regret are the 2 thieves who rob us of who we are
They say that the grass is greener on the other side but sometimes when you get there it's just astroturf
"It ain't like it used to be...but it'll do." << EAMUS CATULI >> "You can tell some lies about the good times we've had, but I've kissed your mother twice and now I'm working on your dad..."
I'm not one of these wishy-washy mods that can't make decisions.
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Chicago
Posts: 46,617
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacVittie
Not a good look in my opinion. Apparently this is part of some skin rejuvenation process.
His face is so squishy in the first photo. He looked like a Dick Tracy villain.
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"It ain't like it used to be...but it'll do." << EAMUS CATULI >> "You can tell some lies about the good times we've had, but I've kissed your mother twice and now I'm working on your dad..."
His face is so squishy in the first photo. He looked like a Dick Tracy villain.
Why did this get merged to the Cubs thread? Sosa isn't a member of the Cubs and has not been for some time. I thought a transformation this bizarre deserved its own thread.
Why did this get merged to the Cubs thread? Sosa isn't a member of the Cubs and has not been for some time. I thought a transformation this bizarre deserved its own thread.
Because Mojo knows better than you and always will.
The 2009-2010 Chicago Cubs Offseason Thread
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