Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts was on the radio earlier, and had some very interesting and encouraging things to say about the goings-on with the team right now. Among the more interesting items, and part of why we’re all fantasizing about 2016 right now, was this:
“Right after the season, Theo and Jed and all the guys, they have a lot of different scenarios,” Cubs owner Tom Ricketts said on the Mully and Hanley Show on Monday morning. “I think they would probably call this their A plan because I think it’s what they wanted to do more than anything.
“They were aggressive, and they wanted to make sure they could execute in what they thought were our best interests for next season. And they went ahead and did it.”
That quote made me think of this (skip to the 1:10 mark):
It’s really nice that the Cubs were able to execute Plan A right away, so they could save the lemon-scented Evil Plan Z for another day. It is also good to know that the resources have always been there for the Cubs front office to execute Plan A if they chose to, and that Ricketts wouldn’t stand in the way of a good plan if you listen through the interview. The situation for Chicago North is very favorable, and makes me think that the front office masterminds, including Theo Epstein, are content with their situation such that the extension talks (that have been tabled for a bit) will likely go smoothly whenever they sit down and get it done.
While the interview also dealt with the Wrigley Field renovations (which are going smoothly thanks to El Nino), I think the overall favorable outlook for the Cubs is a huge selling point to keep Epstein and company, to attract free agents (as we saw guys like Ben Zobrist and Jason Heyward take less money to sign with Chicago), and to keep the fans coming. I’m actually going up soon to see for myself how the Wrigley construction is going, and I’m already super-excited about the 2016 Cubs Convention. There are still so many moves the Cubs could make, and the flexibility they’ve created for themselves makes it so they don’t HAVE to do anything right now. Plan A was executed almost to perfection, and now they can stand pat and watch the rest of MLB wheel and deal. This is such a good time to be involved with the Cubs, so why would anyone want to leave? Why wouldn’t everyone WANT to be a part of this growing team?
It’s still a long way before we can root for that elusive championship, but it’s wonderful to see my patient fanhood get rewarded.
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