It's hilarious that they happened to stop doing the ownership panel at the Cubs convention only after the team put on financial constraints during the offseason. Tom Ricketts said the reason they didn't have a panel at last year's Cubs convention is because fans thought it was boring and not very interesting. Conveniently, last offseason featured the Cubs signing Daniel Descalso as their big free agent acquisition, as the front office was handcuffed.
And of course we know the Cubs are just trying to shed payroll this offseason, being one of three teams to not sign a player to a guaranteed contract this winter. The Ricketts family panel wasn't boring as shit when you had all the support from the fan base huh, Tom? But now that there's serious criticism from a loyal fan base, the Ricketts want to hide.
On Thursday, the Cubs released details for their 2020 fan convention and once again there was nothing about an ownership panel for the second straight year.
In the grand scheme of things, yeah, who cares, but that's pretty damn cowardly to not face your fans when things aren't all sunshine and rainbows.
Anyway, here's the press release that includes the special events featured throughout the weekend.
You can read it all here. And pretty much every single current Cubs player is scheduled to be in attendance expect for Jon Lester and Craig Kimbrel.
Current Players:
Adbert Alzolay
Albert Almora Jr.
Alec Mills
Anthony Rizzo
Brad Wieck
C.D. Pelham
Colin Rea
Dan Winkler
Daniel Descalso
David Bote
Dillon Maples
Duane Underwood Jr.
Ian Happ
James Norwood
Jason Heyward
Javier Báez
Jharel Cotton
José Quintana
Justin Steele
Kris Bryant
Kyle Hendricks
Kyle Ryan
Kyle Schwarber
Manuel Rodriguez
Miguel Amaya
Nico Hoerner
Robel Garcia
Ryan Tepera
Tony Kemp
Trevor Megill
Tyler Chatwood
Tyson Miller
Victor Caratini
Willson Contreras
Yu Darvish
Zack Short
Cubs Alumni:
Andre Dawson
Bill Campbell
Bill Madlock
Billy Williams
Bob Howry
Bobby Dernier
Carlos Zambrano
Darwin Barney
Dave Otto
Dwight Smith
Fergie Jenkins
Gary Matthews
Gary Matthews Jr.
Geovany Soto
Glendon Rusch
Jim Bullinger
Jody Davis
Jon Lieber
Kerry Wood
Koyie Hill
Larry Biittner
Lee Smith
Miguel Montero
Mike Fontenot
Mike Remlinger
Pete LaCock
Randy Hundley
Ray Burris
Reed Johnson
Ryan Dempster
Ryan Sweeney
Ryne Sandberg
Sean Marshall
Steve Trout
Ted Lilly
Tim Stoddard
Travis Wood
Todd Haney
The event will be from Jan. 17-20, at the Sheraton Grand Chicago.
