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January 17, 2019 • Chicago Sun-Times, The Cubs have money to sign Bryce Harper, but ownership doesn’t want to spend it https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/chicago-cubs-bryce-harper-theo-epstein-tom-ricketts-crane- kenney-joe-maddon-world-series/ • Daily Herald, Ricketts family decides on lower profile at Cubs convention https://www.dailyherald.com/sports/20190116/ricketts-family-decides-on-lower-profile-at-cubs- convention • Cubs.com, Around the Horn: Cubs 'pen a work in progress https://www.mlb.com/cubs/news/cubs-bullpen-could-add-depth-before-season/c-302792256 • Cubs.com, Cubs again claim Clarkin from White Sox https://www.mlb.com/cubs/news/cubs-again-claim-ian-clarkin-from-white-sox/c-302796016 • ESPNChicago.com, 'I came up on one-year deals': How Joe Maddon is approaching 2019 http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/25779221/how-joe-maddon-approaching-2019 • Chicago Tribune, 'The Cubs got the perfect guy': Daniel Descalso brings leadership skills and versatility to Wrigley Field https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-cubs-daniel-descalso-versatile-leader- 20190117-story.html • Chicago Tribune, Marty Brennaman — who called Cubs fans 'most obnoxious' — to retire after 46 seasons as Reds voice https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/ct-spt-reds-announcer-marty-brennaman- retiring-obnoxious-cubs-fans-20190116-story.html -- Chicago Sun-Times The Cubs have money to sign Bryce Harper, but ownership doesn’t want to spend it By Rick Morrissey Somebody at the Weather Channel has impeccable timing and, quite possibly, a mean streak. The network names winter storms, and it has dubbed the one currently moving across a large part of the country Harper. On Tuesday, Cubs manager Joe Maddon said that primo free agent Bryce Harper would not be signing with his team, dashing any hopes fans had of a New Year’s revelation at the annual Cubs Convention, which starts Friday. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. The Cubs had been tamping down public enthusiasm about Harper for quite awhile, but Maddon’s frigid “not going to happen’’ comment seemed to put an end to the dream of the talented, popular and spectacularly-maned outfielder roaming Wrigley Field in 2019 and beyond. That’s too bad, primarily because there’s no good reason for his not being there. The Cubs have the money to sign Harper. They don’t want to spend the money to sign him. It’s not because they don’t think he can help them. It’s because they don’t want to spend the money. Team president Theo Epstein has said multiple times that the luxury tax is not the cause of the team’s budget restrictions. That needs to be pointed out again because the luxury tax is often used as a stop sign when the discussion turns to signing big-ticket free agents. In this case, that stop sign is a mirage. The Cubs have the money. They just don’t want to part with it. By the way, the only time the Cubs went over the tax was in 2016, the year they won the World Series. They’ll be over it again this year. It should mean nothing to a team with pockets as deep as the Cubs’. You say Javy Baez and Kris Bryant will soon need to be paid in a very significant way? You bet they will, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t money to keep them and add a superstar such as Harper. It means that the Cubs don’t want to pay out any more money. To sum up: It’s not that the Cubs can’t have it all. It’s that they don’t want to pay for it all. That’s a huge distinction, especially for an outfit estimated to be worth $2.9 billion. We can’t talk about the team’s puzzling, line-in-the-sand budget stance without resurrecting two famous quotes. “All I can tell you is when Theo and (general manager Jed Hoyer) get to the point where they need more resources to execute their plan, the Ricketts family will be there for them,” team spokesman Dennis Culloton told the Sun-Times at the beginning of the 2013 season. “It’s as simple as that.” “Basically, my job is fill a wheelbarrow with money, take it to Theo’s office, and dump it,” Cubs finance guy Crane Kenney told Bloomberg Businessweek before the 2015 season: There’s a reward for anyone who can find that wheelbarrow. The Cubs had the fourth-highest payroll in baseball last season, a whopping $189 million. Even if they keep the roster intact from last year, they’ll be above $200 million for 2019. To which I say: So what? What does that have to do with Cubs fans who have spent and spent and spent over the past century- plus? Tickets, souvenirs, parking, apparel, beer, hotel rooms, bad teams – whatever the Cubs were selling, their fans bought it. Those paying customers deserve to be served. They’re the people who kept coming to games when the Ricketts family agreed to follow Epstein’s rebuilding plan. They’re the people who sat through prodigious losing for four seasons. They’re the people who watched the Cubs go the cheap route for decades. Don’t the Cubs owe it to their fan base to do whatever it takes to get better? Hasn’t ownership squeezed every last bit of disposable income out of the team’s fans? How about a little something for the effort? For those of you out there who are hung up on the luxury tax (and I don’t know why you are): Winners don’t care about the luxury tax. They care about winning. Ask the Red Sox, who won the World Series last season and had to pay $11.9 million for going over the limit. The luxury tax does indeed get more punitive if a team continues to step over that limit. It involves more money and the possibility of losing draft position. And, again, so what? What does that have to do with the Cubs, a franchise that was worth almost $3 billion in 2018, a franchise whose worth increased 8 percent from the year before? They won the 2016 World Series and want another championship. If Harper is the superstar he’s expected to be for the next seven years or so, he’ll help keep the Cubs’ competitive window open a long time. They had a fine team in 2018, winning 95 games but not coming close to their goal of winning another World Series. They’ve stood pat this offseason, while their National League rivals have spent money in the hopes of getting better. The latest to strike were the Brewers, who signed Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal to a one-year deal worth $18.25 million. “Improvement from within’’ is the Cubs’ mantra heading into spring training. Maybe it will work. The Cubs still have a lot of talent. But if there isn’t improvement, blame it on Winter Storm Ricketts. And prepare to bundle up in August. -- Daily Herald Ricketts family decides on lower profile at Cubs convention By Bruce Miles An already bad off-season for the Chicago Cubs from a public-relations standpoint may get worse. The Ricketts family, owners of the Cubs, will not do their annual panel discussion and take direct questions from fans during this weekend's annual Cubs convention at the downtown Sheraton Grand. Instead, the family will be a part of Friday night's comedy/talk show session hosted by former Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster. The Cubs' website describes the session as the "wildly entertaining 'Friday Night with Ryan Dempster.' " One of the more endearing qualities of the Ricketts family since it took ownership in late 2009 has been its willingness to meet with fans and face questions at the convention. Chairman Tom Ricketts was joined by his sister, Laura, and brothers Todd and Pete in past years, and generally, the sessions were love fests, even as the Cubs were rebuilding earlier this decade. This year, there are myriad serious questions facing the franchise, from its inactivity in this winter's trade and free-agent markets to the suspension of shortstop Addison Russell to the new TV station the Cubs are planning to launch for 2020. Cubs baseball and business presidents, Theo Epstein and Crane Kenney, respectively, will conduct their sessions Saturday, but the absence of the Ricketts family will leave a big hole, and that is sure to disappoint and even anger many fans. "(The) decision was made months ago based on fan feedback and desire to try something different with (Dempster)," said Dennis Culloton, spokesman for the Ricketts family. Longtime season ticket holder Paul Dzien, of Bartlett, first tweeted (@crawlyscubs) about the possibility that the Ricketts family would not face the fans as part of a panel. Dzien was one of the presenters of World Series rings to Cubs players at the start of the 2017 season following the 2016 world championship. "I was disappointed," Dzien said Thursday. "I've been very happy with the Ricketts ownership to this point, and I still am. But ultimately it's disappointing because they were there when everything was good. From the moment they bought (the Cubs), they were working toward a championship, working on the neighborhood, and that was great. "But the first time an off-season comes where there's a lot of disappointment and frustration, to kind of not show up, I just feel that's what we liked about the Ricketts, the accessibility of seeing Tom walking around the ballpark.