An Uncertain Future
Major League Baseball is struggling to answer many questions right now. In fact, around the country, speculation regarding when and how the 2020 season will start (if at all) has kept many fans on the edge of their seats.
In Chicago in particular, speculation has everyone keeping their ear to the wire as the Cubs grapple with the MLB’s proposed changes. Rumors of pay cuts and the delayed season starts abound, but official statements are hard to come by and have left baseball players and pundits uncertain about a summer at Wrigley Field.
The Chicago Cubs aren’t the only franchise in the city that seems a bit doubtful about their season. The NFL’s upcoming season starts on September 10th, but the Chicago Bears should be more worried about the quality of play rather than the prospect in general.
While new management saw the Bears perform well in 2018, the next year they slid backward with a 9-9 season. The chances at a World Series run for the Cubs aren’t great, but given Super Bowl futures odds for the 2020 season, Chicago’s MLB hopes are a lot more realistic than their NFL dreams with the Bears.
The Boras Leak
A recent comment made by agent Scott Boras has dragged the Chicago Cubs into the middle of the MLB’s semi-public struggle to revitalize and restructure their 2020 season. However, these aren’t the only struggles faced by the MLB and all those who rely on the league for their work.
Between the MLB, MLB Players Association, and franchise owners, an agreement was set out in March that would see player salaries altered based on the number of games played in the coming restructured season.
The proposal created in March would see owners put forth some of their savings from revenues and profits and put these toward player salaries in the coming season. However, since then, the MLB has retraced its steps and now seeks to cut top player salaries more in order to compensate for the loss of revenue caused by empty stadiums.
In short, the MLB is requesting more concessions from players, and the further cutting of salaries. However, this has many, like agent Scott Boras, who represents around seventy players throughout the MLB, scratching their heads.
Bailing Out Owners
The Cubs are owned by the Ricketts family, whose net worth Forbes places at just over $3 billion. One of Boras’s main concerns is that these cuts in player salaries will benefit MLB franchise owners like the Ricketts family, rather than those who rank lower in the MLB hierarchy.
The Ricketts family undertook significant renovations to improve Wrigley Field and businesses nearby. Boras insists that player salary cuts will see that cash end up in the pockets of people like the Ricketts, who can claim that they haven’t made a profit given that they’re still paying off these renovation loans, which were debt-financed.
At the end of the day, the Ricketts will pay less in order to have an improved stadium—and the value of the stadium isn’t represented in the salary of a single Cubs player. However, just because Boras has become an unwilling evangelist for the anti-owner bailout sentiment in the baseball world, that doesn’t mean the Cubs agree.
Despite the fact that the Cubs are looking at a loss of nearly $200 million, a spokesperson for the franchise indicated that the Ricketts should be thanked for elevating the Cubs stadium, brand, and, ultimately, their payroll.
Only the Yankees, Dodgers, and Mets stand to compete with Cubs losses in terms of revenue. And it seems like reminding others may be the game plan, akin to what the Cubs franchise sought to do: for owners to point to their recent expenditures and investments.
