Ricketts Own 100% Of The Cubs, Another Hall Of Fame Plaque, Top-100 Prospects And More

Here are some updates from the past few days in case you missed out on anything Cubs related. First of all, the Ricketts family now owns 100% of the team.

So, with that 5% it means they can finally go after Bryce Harper, right? Not quite. Cubs Insider explains.

The dissolution of the partnership will have several ramifications on the Cub’ finances and payrolls going forward. For example, I explained in a previous column that the leveraged partnership needed to stay leveraged (a fancy word for being in debt) for tax reasons. Thus, the Cubs hold about $425 million in debt, on which they pay around $30 million per year in interest. With the Tribune gone, the Cubs are now free to pay off the debt and avoid that annual expense. This obviously could free up extra money for future payrolls. There’s been a lot of talk about the new TV network and other revenue streams, but keeping money around to pay off existing debt may be part of the reason the Cubs’ baseball operations budget was so low this offseason.

All right. Could definitely mean it frees up money in the future. Can't wait for the Mike Trout pursuit. Speaking of hall of famers, Lee Smith was voted in and his Hall Of Fame Plaque will have a Cubs hat.

The Cubs also hired former pitcher Aaron Sele. He used to be with the Marlins and decided to leave that shit show. Sele was also a scout for the Dodgers.

While the Cubs haven't made any huge signings to help improve the bullpen, they have added a few arms this past week. The most prominent name is Brad Brach. https://www.sportsmockery.com/2019/01/the-cubs-finally-signed-a-relief-pitcher-brad-brach/ The Cubs then signed George Kontos and Junichi Tazawa to minor league deals. https://www.sportsmockery.com/2019/01/cubs-sign-free-agent-george-kontos-who-has-a-connection-to-steve-bartman/ https://www.sportsmockery.com/2019/01/cubs-sign-another-free-agent-reliever-junichi-tazawa/ Cubs free agent Justin Wilson also signed, joining Chili Davis with the Mets. https://www.sportsmockery.com/2019/01/justin-wilson-is-gone-but-what-if-the-cubs-re-signed-their-other-free-agent-lefty/ On Saturday, MLB Pipeline released its top-100 prospect rankings and the Cubs actually have two players on the list!. First-round pick Nico Hoerner barely made the cut at No. 100, and catcher Miguel Amaya was ranked 94th.

Talked more about them on our latest episode of the Pinwheels and Ivy Podcast and how the Cubs have a few other young pitching prospects who may end up contributing at the MLB level in 2019. Subscribe to the show and tune in for a new show every week!

Finally, it doesn't matter if you're in the American League, the NL Central, Cubs are hated all around.

Oh and one last thing. So, the Padres seem to be going for it, in trade talks for J.T. Realmuto and they're now in the mix for Manny Machado too. That could effect the Cubs, as the Padres reportedly had interest in trading for David Bote and the Cubs could use a backup catcher. https://www.sportsmockery.com/2019/01/padres-seem-to-be-going-for-it-which-could-have-a-trickle-down-effect-for-white-sox-and-cubs/ Seems like February will be the month when the star players will sign. Aaaaaaaand, that's all for now.