The Ricketts family does not enjoy the spotlight. Cubs Chairman and appointed spokesperson Tom Ricketts actively avoids media appearances and interviews for the most part. In a world full of middling owners, the Ricketts’s families hands-off approach seems like a responsible one to have. They don’t involve themselves too much in the front office and seem like decent people overall.
But doing a rare interview with CNBC, Ricketts made some comments that are bound to ruffle some feathers. He kept it honest, potentially to the dismay of Cubs fans.
The Cub’s spending habits
First, he was asked if the Cub’s strategy is altered by the Dodgers and Mets’ spending habits. He said “There are teams that have resources that we don’t, and (there is) nothing we can do about that. Fortunately for baseball, player development is as important as how much you’re spending on free agents. We just keep grinding and doing the blocking and tackling that build the organization from the bottom up and hopefully makes us competitive on a consistent basis.”
Additionally, he was asked about his comments earlier this year about Breaking even. Ricketts clarified his earlier comments by saying “(People) somehow think we have all these dollars that the Dodgers have or the Mets have or the Yankees have, and we just keep it. It’s not true. We just try to break even every year.”
The phrase “break-even” has annoyed Cubs fans for years as they believe that if more money were invested in the team, the team would continue to break even with consistent playoff contention.
Take for example 2016, the year the Cubs won the World Series. The Cubs that year generated $434 million in revenue despite their payroll costing just $186 million. Seems like the Cubs more than broke even that year.
Jed Hoyer got support
Another thing that was interesting to me was his comments on Cubs President of Baseball operations Jed Hoyer. Hoyer is in the last year of his contract and many are speculating that this season will be his last. Especially if the Cubs miss the playoffs again.
Ricketts offered an optimistic spin on Hoyer saying “Jed Hoyer has done a pretty good job of bringing us back up from a couple of bad years we’ve had,” he continued by saying. “We have a really good farm system, and we’ve supplemented it with several good free agents over the last couple of years. Going into this year we should be the team to beat in our division, and if we win our division, then anything can happen. And we believe we’ll be back in the mix this year.”
His words “Anything can happen” refer to his belief that, unlike the NBA and NFL, the top seeds do not win in the postseason as consistently. He wants to invest enough for the Cubs to make the playoffs and once they’re in, he believes they will have as good a chance as anyone.
Above average spenders
The Cubs have consistently been one of the upper-half spenders in terms of payroll. While not typically being in the top five, the Cubs normally find themselves in the 5-12 range. In 2024, the Cubs ranked 9th in terms of opening day payroll. Despite not making the playoffs, the Cubs have dropped to 12th this season. Cubs fans at times certainly feel that their support and love for their team warrant a payroll higher than just above average.
The Ricketts family is worth an estimated $5.3 billion. It’s unreasonable to wish for them to spend money like either the Dodgers or the Mets. But Cubs fans are still left unsatisfied with the resources put into the team.
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