Never mind Sunday's game, Ricketts encouraged by 'great foundation'
After greeting what he said were about 100 fans Sunday at Wrigley Field, Cubs owner Tim Ricketts met the media.
Even though the Cubs were a bust on the field in the first year of Ricketts family ownership, the boss still managed to put a positive spin on things.
"Obviously, we're very disappointed in the record," said Ricketts, whose club fell to 70-85 with an 8-7 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in the Wrigley finale for this season.
"The players are disappointed. The fans are disappointed. Obviously, the family is disappointed. There's that, first and foremost.
"But behind that I think there's some really encouraging things going on. Obviously, we're playing up to our potential now, or at least closer to our potential, and that's been very encouraging.
"I think that from the baseball standpoint, how the organization has been doing this year is very encouraging. So I think that while this season wasn't our best on the field, I think we're really building a great foundation for the future."
Asked specifically what part of the baseball operations provided him with encouragement, Ricketts cited the minor leagues and homegrown products Starlin Castro, Andrew Cashner and Tyler Colvin.
"The fact is, I think there's a lot of evidence that we've been drafting well and we've been developing well," Ricketts said. "If you look at the minor leagues, our minor-league teams have the second-best win-loss record of all 30. We saw the Tennessee team, the Double-A team, just crush it this year.
"And you look at the guys that are coming up. I went down there a few times and got to know them. There's a lot of really talented guys coming up there. The second side of that, the other half of that is, look at the guys who have contributed up here."
Ricketts touched on a number of topics during a 12-minute session with Chicago media members.
• On the number of empty seats at Wrigley Field: "Attendance is down a few percentage points from last year. We'll still be over 3 million, maybe 3.06 or something like that.
"But in terms of ticket pricing for next year, we haven't made any final decisions. What we are doing is doing a really thorough study of what we're charging for which sections, trying to really understand the value proposition that we're offering people.
"I think we'll do that study, and we'll come up with a ticket-pricing strategy keeping in mind (the) tough economy. And it's ultimately our goal to get more fans in the park."
• On player payroll being lower next year than this year's figure of about $145 million: "We haven't made any decisions where payroll goes next year. But I think it will be slightly lower than this year."
• On the job Mike Quade has done as manager and general manager Jim Hendry's search for a permanent manager: "I don't think there's any doubt that Mike's done a nice job managing. Obviously, the team has played very well the last few weeks, and that's been encouraging.
"It's obviously an extremely important decision to make. We've got the process in place, keep talking to folks, we'll narrow it down and I'll talk to them then."
• On keeping the Cubs in Mesa, Ariz., for spring training: "Yeah, Mesa is important right now. Proposition 420, which is coming on the November ballot in Mesa, is basically a vote to keep the Cubs - keepthecubs.com is the website, and generally people are very, very supportive.
"I'll be back and forth to Mesa a lot and it's important right now."
<p class="factboxheadblack">Bruce Miles' game tracker</p>
<p class="News"><b>Walk this way:</b> Cubs pitchers walked 11 batters while the Cardinals walked seven. Cubs starter Jeff Samardzija walked seven. He's 2-2 with an 8.38 ERA. In 191/3 big-league innings this year, Samardzija has walked 20 and given up 21 hits. </p>
<p class="News"><b>Making the most:</b> Bobby Scales started at third base in place of Aramis Ramirez. Scales recorded his first career stolen base and drew a career-best 3 walks. </p>
<p class="News"><b>That guy's good: </b>The Cardinals' Albert Pujols homered and was walked intentionally twice. He has 25 homers at Wrigley Field, tied for most among active opponents with Washington's Adam Dunn. Pujols has 47 homers against the Cubs, the most against any opponent. </p>
<p class="breakhead">Cubs scouting report </p>
<p class="News">Cubs vs. San Diego Padres at Petco Park</p>
<p class="News"><b>TV:</b> Channel 9 Monday and Tuesday; Comcast SportsNet Wednesday and Thursday</p>
<p class="News"><b>Radio:</b> WGN 720-AM</p>
<p class="News"><b>Pitching matchups:</b> The Cubs' Carlos Zambrano (9-6) vs. Tim Stauffer (5-4) Monday at 9:05 p.m.; Ryan Dempster (14-11) vs. Mat Latos (14-8) Tuesday at 9:05 p.m.; Randy Wells (8-13) vs. Chris Young (1-0) Wednesday at 9:05 p.m.; Tom Gorzelanny (7-9) vs. Jon Garland (14-12) Thursday at 5:35 p.m.</p>
<p class="News"><b>At a glance:</b> The Cubs were swept in four games by the Padres at Wrigley Field last month. The Padres have been going back and forth with the Giants for the top spot in the NL West. San Diego entered Sunday second from the bottom in NL team batting average, but they led the league in ERA, at 3.40. First baseman Adrian Gonzalez entered the day in the top 10 in batting, home runs and RBI. Closer Heath Bell was second in saves (44). Zambrano is 6-2 with a 2.61 ERA against the Padres. In his 9 starts since rejoining the rotation last month, he's 6-0 with a 1.42 ERA.</p>
<p class="News"><b>Next:</b> Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park, Friday-Sunday</p>
<div class="infoBox">
<h1>More Coverage</h1>
<div class="infoBoxContent">
<div class="infoArea">
<h2>Stories</h2>
<ul class="links">
<li><a href="/story/?id=410997">Quade: Samardzija needs command <span class="date">[9/26/10]</span></a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>