Paul Sullivan: Cubs boss Tom Ricketts can take a bow after a successful week of chairmanning
Published in Baseball
CHICAGO — Tom Ricketts, you’ve just secured the 2027 All-Star Game for Wrigley Field, extended your president of baseball operations and retained all of your top prospects at the trade deadline.
What are you going to do next?
“I’m going to Rickettsville!”
We can only dream that Ricketts, the Cubs chairman, co-owner and khaki enthusiast, will soon get his own TV commercial to commemorate the big three accomplishments of the last week. It was chairmanning at its finest.
An eight-year journey to grab the All-Star Game ended Friday when MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred announced the news everyone knew was coming. That came four days after the announcement of President Jed Hoyer’s contract extension that everyone knew was inevitable.
And Hoyer’s extension came three days before a trade-deadline strategy that protected the precious prospects while making marginal improvements to the bullpen and bench.
As Joe Maddon would’ve said, it was a “win-win-win” situation.
Ricketts pulled off a certified Cubs hat trick, accompanied Friday morning by plenty of pomp and circumstance — and a mayor and governor who deified the Cubs owners while subtly dissing the White Sox. The ceremony was hosted by president of business operations Crane Kenney, who named himself emcee for the All-Star festivities because of course he did.
So take a bow, Tom. Congrats to you, Jed.
And, oh, Crane, please take a seat, thank you.
The biggest news Friday, other than the Cubs’ super-fast 1-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles, was the All-Star Game coming to Wrigley in two years, barring a work stoppage that Manfred refused to address.
But the most important news this week was extending Hoyer, who went into the season as a lame duck and then watched the majority of his moves pay off, from Pete Crow-Armstrong’s ascension to the Kyle Tucker acquisition to the overlooked signing of Matthew Boyd.
It was as good a “walk year” as you’d see from any free-agent player, and other organizations likely would’ve pursued Hoyer had he played out the contract, as Cubs manager Craig Counsell did with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2023.
“Going into the season we watched Jed do some great work over the years.” Ricketts said. “Everyone knows when he came in in ‘21, we were a little thin. We didn’t really have a core, we didn’t really have a system and we knew it was going to take a while to get back to that. The way he’s methodically gone about developing the right players and bringing them up, looking for the right guys to add and being thoughtful about who he signs and when he signs them, all those things added up.
“So he’s had a good first four years, and of course going into this season, when we got off to a great start, that spoke to his decision-making and his judgment. We were confident a few weeks ago that an extension was the right thing to do.”
Well, not to quibble, but actually they had a core when Hoyer was promoted from general manager to replace Theo Epstein after the 2020 season. Hoyer non-tendered Kyle Schwarber and traded Yu Darvish before the 2021 season to shed salary and avoid what Ricketts claimed were “biblical losses.” He then traded stars Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Javier Báez at the deadline, which turned out to be the right moves despite all the wailing by Cubs fans.
But I had to pull out my Ricketts-to-English translation guide for the real meaning of “being thoughtful about who he signs.” It actually means not going over the luxury tax by signing expensive free agents to long-term deals.
Ricketts wouldn’t reveal the length of Hoyer’s new deal. It presumably aligns with Counsell’s contract, which lasts through 2028.
“Nothing that complicated,” Ricketts said.
Hoyer will have at least 17 years in the organization, making him the Yosh Kawano of Cubs executives.
The timing of the extension was curious, coming right before a trade deadline that could make or break the season. Ricketts said getting it done before the deadline wasn’t “the main thing … but it made some sense.” He said he was OK with Hoyer failing to get a frontline starting pitcher.
“If something would’ve fit he would’ve done it,” he said. “But nothing really fit for us.”
Cubs fans have voiced their disappointment over Hoyer’s deadline moves, which consisted of acquiring three “out-getters” and a utilityman while designating reliever Ryan Pressly for assignment. After all the hype about adding a starter, which Hoyer had openly discussed since June, it was deflating to see Michael Soroka as the only potential starter added.
Counsell said Soroka will start Monday against the Cincinnati Reds but wouldn’t go any further. Jameson Taillon starts Sunday for Triple-A Iowa and could be back next week in St. Louis. When asked if Soroka eventually could land in the bullpen, Counsell said Soroka’s only job is getting outs.
In case you haven’t been listening, Counsell is not only a broken record, he’s a broken record player. But that’s his mantra and it’s not about to change, as we saw Friday when he removed Cade Horton after five shutout innings and only 71 pitches against the Orioles, then watched four relievers execute the game plan to perfection.
None of the prominent starters rumored to be available at the trade deadline were moved, as Hoyer pointed out, suggesting the sellers were overpricing their assets. That leaves him off the hook and puts the focus on the new bullpen out-getters, Andrew Kittredge and Taylor Rogers. The Cubs have a dependable trio in Brad Keller, Caleb Thielbar and closer Daniel Palencia and should be improved for the stretch run.
Keeping outfield prospect Owen Caissie was a no-brainer with Tucker possibly leaving as a free agent. It seems unlikely Ricketts will give Tucker what he wants, preferring something more “thoughtful.”
The sad truth for fans is the Cubs don’t need Tucker to fill the ballpark, and Caissie appears ready. Tucker also hit .218 in July with one home run and a .675 OPS, and he needs to pick it up in the stretch run — and postseason — to justify a deal with the Cubs that potentially would make him one of the game’s highest-paid players.
But there’s a long way to go, and Tucker figures to get hot again at some point. With or without him, the future looks bright for the Cubs, and the party was on in Rickettsville after Friday’s win.
A moment of silence for Ryne Sandberg with former teammates Andre Dawson, Shawon Dunston, Jody Davis and Rick Sutcliffe in the house was a nice start to the weekend. Saturday’s game will include a special tribute to Sandberg, with every Cubs player wearing No. 23.
A city toasts a legend as a perfect summer continues at Wrigley Field.
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