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Chicago Cubs Light at the end of the Tunnel.

B

Bobber

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2006
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Hudson, Iowa
I thought both of these articles were fascinating. The first was written a year ago:

http://www.csnchicago.com/blog/kapman/ricketts-forced-tribune-take-huge-debt-cubs-purchase

This one was written about a month ago and is much longer ,but worth the read.

http://www.bleachernation.com/2014/03/19/the-chicago-cubs-financial-story-the-payroll-the-debt-and-the-syncing-of-baseball-and-business-plans/

To me it's mind boggling that the Tribune bought the Cubs in 1981 for $23 million and managed to put the organization into debt for $580 million by the time they sold it and then they made the buyer take that debt with restrictions on paying it down until 2019! :swoon::goofy:

The good news is most of these problems should go away by 2019. :jiggy: The bad news is the problems won't go away until 2019.:frown:

What's going on makes a lot more sense to me after reading though all of this. The Cubs are not going to be big free market buyers any time soon and it doesn't sound like that market is real effective way to build teams anyway.

I'm curious if Theo will stick around for the whole process? Believe his initial contract was for 5 years. He truly gets the chance to rebuild a franchise from the ground up.

I don't like the short term out looks(the start of this season really isn't any better than the last few). I do continue to like the long term out and the Cubs really do bring a lot to the table as time goes on. There is light at the end of the tunnel!
 
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It is a very interesting situation with the purchase of the Cubs and now the aftermath with the debt and payroll issues. It does currently prevent the Cubs from being big spenders in free agency, but the Cubs aren't quite ready for that yet anyways. The bright side is that Theo/Jed have done a great job of stockpiling young talent that will be dirt cheap once they make it to the majors. Once Bryant, Baez, Almora, etc. reach the bigs they will be cost controlled right up too and through that 2019 mark.

Another big thing is the TV rights situation. The cubs will slowly be getting out of TV deals in the next few years that were giving TV rights to the games away FAR below market value. If they can capitalize on the TV rights, that adds a good extra chunk of change into the team's pockets.

We have to continue to weather the storm. I think Theo is here for the long haul. Ricketts family and Theo/Jed came into this knowing full well they were starting from absolutely nothing. A barren farm system, not much talent on the big league team, years until a large payroll was available. I hate watching the Cubs lose, but I am fully behind the way this is happening. You can't just buy your way into being consistent winners if you're the Cubs. Better days are coming! Waves of talent are going to start graduating from the minors soon.
 
I think the Cubs could be serious contenders by the end of 2016 or 2017 with the talent Theo has infused at every level of the farm system. They won't be spenders until they're ready to contend, which means they'll be operating at a lower payrolls till for at least another two or three seasons. Hopefully as Theo gets them to the point where they're ready to contend for the NL Central, they'll have enough backing to be able to go out and buy a couple of players. That's where I think the debt could really hinder them. If they're still in the red then then Theo might even throw his hands up and move on. I don't see that happening, but what a crap situation to be in.
 
It amazes me to read some of the comments on these articles slamming Jed and Theo for not signing guys like Pujols. They are building the organization the only way they can. Like the article said, it's not like they're choosing to put a poor product on the field. It's literally all they can afford. Why do some Cub fans get so frustrated when they don't sign every free agent that comes up? Ask Jim Hendry how that worked out.

As a Cub fan, I'm pretty excited for the future.. If these prospects live up to their potential the Cubs could be quite good as early as 2016. One thing that I think may get looked over about Theo and Jed is their ability to evaluate talent. With the kids in the Cub farm system now vs the ones there in previous years leads me to believe something major changed there (not sure how involved they are, or if they completely over hauled their scouting system or what?)
 
oncoming_train.jpg


couldn't resist.
 
theantiAIRBHG said:
It amazes me to read some of the comments on these articles slamming Jed and Theo for not signing guys like Pujols. They are building the organization the only way they can. Like the article said, it's not like they're choosing to put a poor product on the field. It's literally all they can afford. Why do some Cub fans get so frustrated when they don't sign every free agent that comes up? Ask Jim Hendry how that worked out.

As a Cub fan, I'm pretty excited for the future.. If these prospects live up to their potential the Cubs could be quite good as early as 2016. One thing that I think may get looked over about Theo and Jed is their ability to evaluate talent. With the kids in the Cub farm system now vs the ones there in previous years leads me to believe something major changed there (not sure how involved they are, or if they completely over hauled their scouting system or what?)
Click to expand...

I think people are starting to realize how bad of shape the organization was after Hendry left. I read a good article in ESPN magazine last month about what Theo and Jed have been doing, and just how much work they had to do. Large contracts that hamstrung the team, a poor farm system, overall an entire organization that was not at all structurally healthy. Plus, Hendry and his staff were dinosaurs when it came to evaluating prospects, especially with utilizing resources to learn more about players. It wasn't meant to be a quick fix, and you're already starting to see promise in the farm system. My honest prediction is that we'll see another 1 or 2 not so special years, and in 2016 or 2017 see a sudden breakout similar to the Rays a few years back.
 
Cyched said:
I think people are starting to realize how bad of shape the organization was after Hendry left. I read a good article in ESPN magazine last month about what Theo and Jed have been doing, and just how much work they had to do. Large contracts that hamstrung the team, a poor farm system, overall an entire organization that was not at all structurally healthy. Plus, Hendry and his staff were dinosaurs when it came to evaluating prospects, especially with utilizing resources to learn more about players. It wasn't meant to be a quick fix, and you're already starting to see promise in the farm system. My honest prediction is that we'll see another 1 or 2 not so special years, and in 2016 or 2017 see a sudden breakout similar to the Rays a few years back.
Click to expand...

A lot of things need to break the right way. Cubs are looking for a qb and an oline and WRs and linebackers.
 
Cyched said:
I think people are starting to realize how bad of shape the organization was after Hendry left. I read a good article in ESPN magazine last month about what Theo and Jed have been doing, and just how much work they had to do. Large contracts that hamstrung the team, a poor farm system, overall an entire organization that was not at all structurally healthy. Plus, Hendry and his staff were dinosaurs when it came to evaluating prospects, especially with utilizing resources to learn more about players. It wasn't meant to be a quick fix, and you're already starting to see promise in the farm system. My honest prediction is that we'll see another 1 or 2 not so special years, and in 2016 or 2017 see a sudden breakout similar to the Rays a few years back.
Click to expand...

This is as solid an analogy as I can think of. Get lucky on a couple fast track pitchers in the next couple years (a la David Price) and bam, Cubs could be contenders.
 
Being a Cubs fan the baseball is pretty hard to watch right now. Especially the bullpen. I think that they are building the organization the right way, and we are lucky to have a family own the team. In the long term they will do well, but what a pain. The additions to the stadium will be great once the BS is cut through. The last owners mortgaged the future to increase the value of the club short term for the sale. Jim Hendry gets a bad wrap, but he was doing what he was instructed.

The press in Chicago rips the organization and everything they do. It's tiring and I don't pay attention. The average person doesn't want to understand the intricacies of the business and organizational dynamics. They want to grasp the loveable losers moniker and not bother to dig too deep.

I am really happy with the new manager, and think he is the right guy to be patient and work with young players.
 
Tough to win many games when you're playing with a triple a team at best and Starlin Castro is your best player.
 
Good reads from the OP. It's hard to stay patient, but as we start to see just how bad things were when the Tribune sold the team and Jim Hendry left it certainly makes it more understandable. In the meantime, those of us in Des Moines are going to be treated to some really good baseball at Principal Park over the next 2-3 years. So we got that going for us.
 
Count me in too as someone who is excited for the future. The moves that have been made lately through the draft and through unloading guys like Dempster and Garza have been great for the future. There appears to be an abundance of talent in the minors, now my fear is developing good starting pitching.
 
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