Let’s start with the premise that an owner of a professional sports franchise should be willing to do whatever it takes, within reason, to help build a winner. That’s realistic, right?
Well, there’s a problem with that idea as it relates to the Cubs. Team chairman Tom Ricketts’ definition of “whatever it takes’’ is so narrow a stick figure couldn’t fit through it. He has an opportunity to make a breakthrough in the non-existent negotiations with free agent Cody Bellinger. Standing in the way of that potential breakthrough is the Cubs’ corporate structure and, apparently, Ricketts’ concern about being strong-armed by agent Scott Boras.
‘‘I don’t talk to Scott,’’ Ricketts recently told reporters. ‘‘One of his signature moves is to go talk to the owner. But I think when you do that, you undermine the credibility of your general manager. And so inserting yourself into that negotiation, I don’t think that helps.’’
An owner negotiating with an agent does not undermine a general manager’s credibility, but even if it did, so what? Given the choice between having Bellinger on my team and Cubs president Jed Hoyer feeling embarrassed, I’d take Bellinger. Hoyer didn’t hit .307 with 26 home runs and 97 runs batted in last season. His centerfield/first baseman did.
The Cubs are better with Bellinger, who rebounded from a bad year with the Dodgers to win the 2023 National League Comeback Player of the Year award with the Cubs.
With “whatever it takes’’ as a guide, wouldn’t the answer be for Ricketts to talk with Boras and, I don’t know, get this done?
Here are the caveats that come with every story and column about Boras: He wants more than it all for his clients. He wants future clients to see that he gets his players the best deals. If there were money-making opportunities attached to a franchise’s soul, he’d try to get a piece of that, too. You’d rather deal with a cornered skunk in negotiations.
But, again — and this could be our theme here — so what? There’s a word that Ricketts and anyone else who gets in a room with Boras have at their disposal: No. I don’t think the agent can make the chairman do something he doesn’t want to do, but I may have that wrong. Maybe Ricketts is one of those guys who promises himself he’s just kicking the tires and three hours later finds himself driving home a 2010 Chrysler Town & Country minivan with 200,000 miles on it.
Bellinger and a few other Boras free agents have seen little to no progress on contracts. This has the feel of owners digging in their heels against one agent. Hmmmm.
‘‘Until they’re ready to really negotiate, then there’s not much that we can do,’’ Ricketts said.
But there is, and Ricketts already alluded to it. If he calls Boras, he might be able to get Bellinger in camp. Hoyer has said he’s content with going into the season with a similar roster to last year’s, the one that came close to making the playoffs. Seems like we’ve heard this sort of thing before — pick a year, any year. But if Ricketts and Hoyer are going to sell “2023, The Sequel” to Cubs fans, they have to be willing to do the work to get Bellinger back in the fold. It’s hard to make the argument that you’re going to take the momentum of last season into 2024 if Bellinger isn’t part of the equation.
It’s only February. I’m sure that’s what Ricketts is thinking. But what happens when it’s only March, and there’s still no progress? That’s when you’re not far from it’s only Opening Day.
Sometimes you have to do things you don’t like to do. Ricketts enjoys sitting near the Cubs dugout at Wrigley Field and kinda, sorta mingling with fans. As an owner, he seems to prefer working behind the scenes. He knows that when you engage with Boras, you’re done working behind the scenes. You’re out front and listening, along with everyone else, to the agent’s megaphone.
If the worst thing is that Boras gets the better of the Cubs in contract talks, it means that the franchise loses some of its precious dollars. But it also means that the Cubs get their top hitter back. It means that Ricketts can look fans in the eye and say he delivered until it hurt. And it means that the Cubs have a better chance of making noise in what should be a very competitive NL Central.
Maybe Hoyer will feel emasculated and maybe Ricketts will feel bullied by Boras.
But let’s say it one more time: So what?
