Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011
Posted 6:18 p.m.
By Patrick Mooney
CSNChicago.com
Cubs executives insist that every dollar of profit goes right back into baseball operations. Its a great talking point, especially when they dont have to make the same public disclosures that the Tribune Co. once did.
Its what the fans want to hear. Even if Cubs ownership isnt compelled to release quarterly financial reports anymore, this message from the Ricketts family has been consistent and transparent.
Building our organization is really the key to being a consistent winner over time, chairman Tom Ricketts said last month. The way you build an organization is to draft the right players, to train them the right way in the right facilities and bring them up so that you have a steady flow of talent for your major-league team.
So while the 2011 Opening Day payroll may drop some 10 million from the approximate 145 million mark it hit the year before, club officials publicly and privately insist that the overall baseball budget will essentially remain the same.
In broad terms, that means more money is directed toward: hiring scouts; creating a deeper bonus pool for the amateur draft; expanding international operations; and building a new facility in the Dominican Republic.
MLB
We have to find players, assistant general manager Randy Bush said. If that means flying people halfway around the world, were going to do that. Some teams dont have the capability to do that or expend the monetary effort, but we feel its worthwhile.
Nuanced explanations wont always play well on talk radio or the message boards. Jim Hendry had to give first baseman Carlos Pena a signing bonus and deferred money on a one-year deal, and the general manager lucked out when Kerry Wood took an extreme discount to return home.
But there were other signs of investment this winter, from the reported agreements with two players from Cuba, to convincing Villanovas Matt Szczur to withdraw from NFL draft preparations with a 1.5 million bonus. Baseball America graded Szczur as the organizations best athlete, fastest baserunner and centerfielder of the future.
With a nice signing bonus, the Cubs convinced Matt Szczur to stop preparing for the NFL Draft and focus solely on baseball. He's already considered one of the top prospects in the organization and could be a key part of the future in center field. (AP)
The Cubs will keep hyping the system on Sunday as pitchers and catchers report to Arizona. There four pitchers from the 2008 draft classAndrew Cashner, Casey Coleman, Jay Jackson and Chris Carpenterwill be competing to secure jobs and position themselves for the near future.
The next wave will include outfielder Brett Jackson and pitcher Trey McNutt. MLB.com ranked Jackson, a first-round pick out of Cal-Berkeley, as the games No. 46 overall prospect. After his first full year of professional baseball, McNutt has gone from the 32nd round of the 2009 draft to No. 66 on ESPN.coms top-prospect list.
Both are invited to major-league camp, and they will find a manager and a pitching coach conditioned to think about player development. Mike Quade managed 17 seasons in the minors and Mark Riggins spent the past 15 years as a minor-league pitching coordinator. Someone will open eyes across the next several weeks.
At this time last year, outfielder Tyler Colvin and pitcher James Russell werent expected to make the team. Russell surprised even himself by spending all but a few days with the major-league club in 2010. By reshaping his body last offseason, Colvin helped change the way Cubs prepare prospects.
As part of Camp Colvin, dozens of players have been working out in Mesa, where the former first-round pick made up for some of the time he lost to the Arizona Fall League, Team USA commitments and Tommy John surgery.
(Colvins) three years into his career and he really hasnt had any time to spend in the weight room and work on his agility, vice president of player personnel Oneri Fleita recalled. Last year we were going to send him down to Mexico and we started talking. He says: Why dont we just go to Arizona and leave me with the strength coaches?
Lo and behold, he put on 20-25 pounds and you guys saw the results. I thoughtWow, were on to something here. It took me about 10 years to figure that one out, but its never too late.
Management envisions an athletic outfield of Colvin, Szczur and Jackson one day playing in front of the ivy. And by 2014the 100th anniversary of Wrigley Fieldthat would be quite a narrative to sell.
But homegrown doesnt always work out that way. Its also about creating enough assets to flip to Tampa Bay for a high-end, established starter.
It cost what Baseball America judged to be three of the organizations top-10 prospectspitcher Chris Archer, shortstop Hak-Ju Lee and outfielder Brandon Guyerto land Matt Garza. The Cubs are already on the clock.
We know what we have in front of us, scouting director Tim Wilken said. We lost four or five pretty good prospects. We can replenish the supply between our international and amateur departments. It does make a little bit of a hole, but we got some good prospects left in the system. And I think the future really bodes well.
PatrickMooney is CSNChicago.com's Cubs beat writer. FollowPatrick on Twitter @CSNMooneyfor up-to-the-minute Cubs news and views.