Cubs shouldn’t feel embarrassed about signing Fleita
Sound the trumpets and start the party. The Cubs have taken care of one of their own.
Or just keep quiet about it.
Heck, the Cubs couldn’t even issue a news release to announce a key contract extension that will affect the future of this franchise for years to come.
Finesse hasn’t been a hallmark of team chairman Tom Ricketts, who fired his general manager in July and announced it in August. So maybe we’ll get the delayed-reaction announcement next month that farm director Oneri Fleita has signed a four-year contract extension.
Congrats to Fleita, though. He’s one of the hardest working guys in the game, and the man who should get a lot of credit for the Cubs establishing a foothold in Latin America after they had ignored that fertile ground for far too long.
It’s been an interesting weekend around Wrigley Field, where word got out Saturday that the Cubs “quietly” had re-upped Fleita. Cubs people acknowledge that the Detroit Tigers were after Fleita. Ricketts, however, has made no secret of his admiration for Fleita, who was a loyal lieutenant to former GM Jim Hendry since coming to the Cubs organization in 1995.
Maybe it’s that the Cubs don’t have a new GM in place that they wanted to low-key this. But if they’ve got a food drive, a bike ride or 5K race, they announce it to the world.
It’s OK to celebrate this, Tom, especially when you look at shortstop and see Starlin Castro.
Oh, you can always take issue with the way the Cubs have developed players, such as why on-base percentage isn’t stressed enough throughout the system or why Doug Davis, Dave Bush, Rodrigo Lopez and Ramon Ortiz had to be signed to fill pitching spots.
We corralled Fleita in the dugout Sunday, and he was typically gracious.
“The Ricketts family has been wonderful, the support they give us,” Fleita said. “Tom’s gone to the Dominican two years in a row. He’s been to all the minor league affiliates this year. He’s had a chance to meet with our staff. To me, this is more about the staff that’s here and keeping some continuity. Obviously, when the next general manager comes in, hopefully we’ll be able to serve him well.”
Fleita deftly sidestepped the question about Detroit’s interest.
“There’s a lot of things,” he said. “But at the end of the day, the truth of it is, this is a match with Tom and I and the family and something I believe in. We’ve been given support to sign players internationally that I’ve never had. Timmy (scouting director Wilken) was given great support to go out and do what he did in the draft. This is an opportunity now to work for a great family, the Ricketts family. We’ve been given resources to compete, and that makes it a lot of fun for everybody involved.”
Wilken also may have his contract extended by Ricketts, who has sent strong signals to GM candidates that even though he fired Hendry, he likes Hendry’s guys. The Cubs job will be an attractive one, but it will be interesting to see if top candidates will feel too constricted by Ricketts’ guidelines.
Fleita made sure to give a nod to Hendry on Sunday.
“I don’t do a whole lot of anything without talking to Jim,” he said. “Jim’s been like a father to me.
“I had the privilege of playing for him in college. He served as a friend, a brother, a father and a lot of compassion. I’m indebted to him for life. He’s been a wonderful guy. I’m very luck to say I’ve had the opportunities I’ve had with Jim. He’s a great person, a great man.”