Chicago Cubs: Why is Tom Ricketts ducking fans at Cubs Convention?

Update: Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts spoke to 670  WSCR and 1000 ESPN on Thursday morning regarding the decision to cancel the annual ownership panel at CubsCon. You can find the full interview with The Score here. 

For the first time, Chicago Cubs ownership will not hold a panel at Cubs Convention. What’s behind this decision and what message does it send?

Per media reports, Chicago Cubs ownership (namely, Tom Ricketts, who has been the face of the ownership family) will not be holding their annual question and answer session with fans at the $125 per ticket Cubs Convention this weekend.

Given the angst of Cubs’ fans mired in a hopelessly long offseason, as well as some weighty, divisive and salient topics fans would undoubtedly like to hear about, it’s a bad look for an ownership group who has done almost everything right since purchasing the Cubs.

Maybe the Ricketts are feeling political heat due to ongoing issues with local Chicago government or their ties to the White House amidst a government shutdown; perhaps they don’t want to bring their (or anyone else’s) politics into the fray at CubsCon this weekend and take attention away from the team.

Maybe Tom Ricketts doesn’t want to field questions about Addison Russell‘s spot on the team in light of recent allegations of domestic abuse. Or perhaps the Ricketts don’t have everything figured out with their new Cubs television network and are waiting for another moment to make a big announcement.

Maybe they don’t want to field questions about the rumored salary cap they’ve placed on Theo Epstein despite making money hand over fist (and, admittedly, sinking a lot of it back into the franchise and city) since taking over.

Orrrrrr…. maybe, just maybe, Tom Ricketts is planning on walking out hand in hand with Joe Maddon, Theo Epstein and Bryce Harper as the big surprise of the convention.  Yeaaaa, probably not that one.

Chicago Cubs: Are you gonna steal that boy from D.C.?

The federal government is in a partial shutdown – the longest ever.  We all know this.  It’s been going on for weeks now and doesn’t look close to ending.

Let’s be honest – without getting too political here, the Cubs’ ownership family, the Ricketts, have strong political ties with the White House.  While not all of their family sees eye-to-eye on political issues, both Todd and Tom are major political players.  The former was even named the finance chair of the Republican Party.

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Given the current political landscape and the fact that someone is going to be offended no matter what they say or do (or where you funnel your money), maybe the Ricketts have decided that it’s not a good idea to bring politics into CubsCon, thus distracting from the ballclub and the excitement of the event.  While I wouldn’t hide from my beliefs and partnerships, if this is the reason for staying away from the Q&A this weekend, I could almost get behind it.

If the Ricketts family wants to keep the spotlight on the Cubs and away from their political leanings, it’s an almost admirable decision.  However, they could have chosen to just head any questions like that off at the pass by saying, “just so everyone knows, we’re not responsible for the government shutdown and we don’t want politics to take away from this great event – so let’s just stick to Cubs’ concerns here.”  They could even throw in a joke and the vast majority of Cubs’ fans would be fine with that.

Speaking of jokes, there could be ongoing issues with local politics that the Ricketts could want to stay away from as well.  It’s well known that the local government in the city of Chicago and around Wrigleyville has not been the most gracious or easiest to work with. There has always been tension between the Cubs’ ownership and the local government (namely the aldermen), but it seems to have come to a head recently.

Maybe the Ricketts don’t want to field questions about that nonsense given all they’ve done and put back into the neighborhood and city. Either way, just deflect and talk about all of that- most fans are probably on the Cubs’ side anyhow.

Chicago Cubs: The issue Ricketts has no chance of eluding

Embattled shortstop Addison Russell will not be at this year’s event. The team didn’t even need to worry about that decision because he can’t be there due to his ongoing suspension.  However, you can bet your bottom dollar (and the Ricketts have a lot of those) that there will be lots of scuttlebutt about their troubled young shortstop.

Why will there be drama? Well, the Cubs did just tender him a contract in arbitration, and while it’s below market value, it’s still valued at over $3 million.  There just might be some groups and some people who aren’t very happy with that decision.  In fact, judging by fans’ comments on social media and a myriad of Cubs’ outlets, there may just be a majority of Cubs’ fans who would rather do without Russell’s services for the foreseeable future.

Is this a reason to dodge questions and ignore the same fans you’ve seemingly connected with in a very personal manner game-in and game-out? I don’t know.  I don’t know if this ongoing saga has anything to do with ownership’s absence (sure, it’s not the reason Ricketts gave on Thursday), but regardless, it’s a really bad look considering this issue is like an ominous cloud following the club around.

Chicago Cubs: Defending NOT being in on Machado or Harper? No thanks.

While this offseason in general has been rough for most baseball fans and free agents, it’s been especially hard for the Cubs coming off a Wild Card game heartbreak and disappointing 2018 campaign.  Fans heard Theo Epstein proclaim the club would be looking for production over potential, intimating that big changes might be looming for the young core of the Cubs.

Alas, none of those big changes came.  Unless you think the Tommy LaStella for Daniel Descalso swap was a big deal? Seriously, it doesn’t look like the Cubs are going to do much of anything this offseason, and there has been rampant speculation from every possible media outlet that Chicago has no money to spend (or Theo has no access to the money).  Joe Maddon just came out and said the Cubs won’t have Bryce Harper in uniform next season.  Every report suggests the Cubs don’t even have money to spend on a decent reliever at this point.

If I were a billionaire, I wouldn’t want to answer questions about why I can’t pay a few million in extra luxury taxes when it could mean a better team or more money coming in on the back end.  I wouldn’t want to answer questions about why I’ve handcuffed my GM from making moves because I’ve only put so much in his piggybank – especially not when the Cubs print money and will continue to do so with their new network, ballpark, surrounding facilities and merchandise.

Then again, I’d probably be pretty stupid with my money and try my best to pry away that other Cubbie Bear team in Chicago from Virginia Halas McCaskey. I wouldn’t want to answer questions, but I’d be open to giving my GM whatever they thought they needed to win.

All kidding aside, if there are expenditures and issues us common folk aren’t privy to, tell us that. Come out and say, “we want to stick to a budget and don’t want to tell anyone what that is for competitive reasons, so that’s how we stand right now.”  Again, no one would hold it against you.  But, when you don’t show up to answer any questions, it makes for a bad look. Plain and simple.

In 2019, optics are everything.  Everything can be spun by the media.  And, unfortunately, the way it looks, there’s no spinning this dodge by the Ricketts as anything but that – and it’s going to be disappointing for a lot of fans at the convention and those reading or hearing about it online.

But don’t forget. There’s always the smallest of chances he walks out with Winter Storm Harper in a jersey that kinda looks like it belongs to Kerry Wood.