Dear Tom Ricketts
By TYLER SMITH
ISL Editor
Dear Tom Ricketts,
First of all, I want to thank you for all that you’ve done for the Chicago Cubs and their fans. Before you bought the franchise, you could have asked any Cub fan in the world what they wanted from a new owner, and they would have told you two things: 1. Win a World Series, and 2. Keep Wrigley Field. Those were your goals as well, and you delivered on both. Just like the 2016 players themselves, you will forever be a legend because of those accomplishments.
We are now approaching a decade since the title, and things haven’t gone the way any of us would have liked since that time. Most fans have become frustrated. The national media has questioned you. And there have been a number of comments and decisions over the years that just haven’t made a lot of sense in the eyes of your customers.
It’s time to change everything with one singular move.
It’s time to pay up for a superstar.
It’s time to change the “cheap” narrative.
It’s time to get serious about winning again.
It’s time… to sign Kyle Tucker.
Extending Kyle Tucker wouldn’t make up for every comment or decision from the last decade, but it would sure make a big difference, and it would pave a way forward. Extending Kyle Tucker would show the world, in one decision, that the Cubs and the Ricketts family care deeply about winning again. It would show the rest of Major League Baseball that Chicago is a destination for stars again. It would show the current roster you’ve got their backs. And it would show the best fans in the world that they have been heard.
Kyle Schwarber was non-tendered for a measly 7.5 million dollars. How did that turn out?
Bryce Harper wanted to be a Cub and would have been a generational signing. You passed because of money. How did that turn out? This winter, you got out-bid for Tanner Scott and Alex Bregman. As good as this current team is, imagine having one or both of those players on board? You have become more famous for your comments about “biblical losses” and “breaking even” than for bringing a championship to Chicago. You currently have the 11th highest payroll in baseball but consistently a top-3 most expensive game-day experience and top 3-5 highest revenue. The math ain’t mathin’, as they say.
You have one shot to right all of those wrongs. One. You said yourself that you still second-guess yourself on Bryce Harper. Here’s your one chance to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
If Kyle Tucker is playing for a different team next season, you might as well tell every Cub fan and every MLB player that “we can’t have stars here.” Cam Smith might become a star, and he was traded for Tucker. That by itself is another major reason you have to extend this guy.
If you’re worried about the total years for a superstar talent, you’ll never have one. This is the market, and this is today’s game. The contracts for the truly elite players are amazing investments and can often end up as bargains. Harper, Lindor, and Ohtani say hello, as examples. You can even give Kyle Tucker a record-breaking kind of contract and still stay under your precious luxury tax with all the money the Cubs have coming off the books in future years. If you were okay paying Cody Bellinger 30 million dollars, you should be more than okay paying Kyle Tucker 40-45 million. Tucker is making 16.5 million this season, so you’re only adding 25 million or so in payroll anyway, to keep your star player and get the fans back on your side. Just imagine the jersey sales for King Tuck if he signs an extension as well. Also, imagine the fans who will refuse to pay you another dime if you don’t. Simple investment choice here.
Even though Jed Hoyer is “risk-averse”, he also said the “truly elite guys are worth it.” You have a truly elite player on your team as we speak. He is the leader of the best offense in baseball. We’ve said for years that this current Cubs team just needs a star. You went out and got him. Now it’s time to keep him.
Do whatever it takes. It’s going to be a little uncomfortable. It’s going to be a big risk.
The bigger risk is letting #30 walk out that door.
Give it another few home-stands if you like. Let Kyle Tucker see how incredible Wrigley is in the summer months of a pennant race with the ivy covered walls. And then… make him an offer he can’t refuse. Flip the narrative. Win the fans back. Right all of those wrongs. Use the money saved to keep your guy.
It’s time.
