Adoration of Sammy Sosa at convention a cheap mask of the Cubs' biggest issue — their lack of spending

Yesterday at 04:11 PM

You'd have to be a cynic of the highest order to suspect that the Cubs welcomed Sammy Sosa back for selfish, calculated reasons.

Still, when the biggest star of the Cubs Convention is (allegedly) a former roider who is (positively) in denial, it might suggest a franchise angling for something. So when Cubs fans ended up cheering Sosa at the convention as if he were a divine being who dropped down for a surprise visit … well, you win, Tom Ricketts. While Sammy was playing to an adoring crowd, no one was paying attention to the large wart on the Cubs' nose: their reluctance to spend big money on players.

Where do I pick up my cynic-of-the-highest-order certificate?

Sosa was the perfect person to take attention away from the Cubs' largest issue, which is that they don't dole out cash like a big-market team should. Sammy, the human masking agent. What lovely irony.

And it worked, at least in the moment. The mass of fans at the convention roared its approval as Sosa ran on stage Friday carrying an American flag, the way he did at Wrigley Field in the Cubs' first home game after 9/11. Sammy, the opium of the people.

Sosa and Ricketts, the team's chairman, need each other. The amazing thing is that they didn't realize their common ground earlier. But Friday was enough. Sammy got the cheers he lives for and hasn't received in 20 years. Ricketts avoided detection. It was a match made in heaven.

For years, the understanding was that Sosa could elbow his way back into the Cubs' good graces by offering an apology. The apology would be for his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs, the ones that "might'' have helped him hit 545 home runs as a Cub and filled the club's coffers. When Sosa released a statement last month apologizing for past "mistakes,'' the team invited him to its convention, a gathering that is part pep rally and part loss of bodily function for the most rabid fans. The vague mea culpa was accepted in some corners as Sosa's tacit agreement that he had, in fact, been a massive user of something other than Flintstones vitamins.

"We talked a little bit about maybe 10 years ago," Ricketts told the Sun-Times' Maddie Lee on Saturday. "And it just made sense that if he was going to be truly welcomed back, he had to say something, and it had to be more than just, 'I'm back.' And it just took a few years for everyone to get comfortable."

Um, one problem. When asked at the convention whether his "mistakes'' included the use of PEDs, Sosa said, "No, no.''

Did anybody at the convention care that his so-called apology thus had no meaning? No, no.

"I'm just really happy it's behind us," Ricketts said. "I'm just happy to look forward."

He's really happy, if you can't tell. Pay no attention to the Cubs' current 26-man payroll, which, at $179.8 million, is about $60 million less than it was at the end of the 2024 season. Only five other teams have had a greater drop in payroll. That Cubs' payroll gap from 2024 will shrink in the coming months, but, still: not a good sign. They made a splash by trading a lot of capital for outfielder Kyle Tucker, only to go to arbitration with him before agreeing to a one-year, $16.5 million contract. Then they traded Cody Bellinger and the $52.5 million that was left on his contract to the Yankees.

The Cubs were in the mix for Japanese star Roki Sasaki until they weren't. The pitcher ended up going to the Dodgers, where a lot of players interested in money and winning go. On Sunday, the Dodgers signed talented closer Tanner Scott to a four-year, $72 million deal. The rich get richer, and the Cubs get Cubbier. If that isn't a word, it should be.

The small-market Brewers won the National League Central in 2024. Wealthy teams that don't want to shell out big dollars say it proved that a high payroll isn't necessary for success. The only thing it proves is that the Brewers don't have a ton of money. The Cubs, owned by a billionaire family, do. They simply choose not to spend like the Dodgers and Yankees do.

But who wants to talk about something as crass as money when Sammy's in the house? If he's sorry about one thing, it's his absence.

"I have the fans that love me very much,'' he said. "I have to apologize to them because normally they see me play for so many years."

Friday's lovefest shows that he's forgiven. From what, no one is sure – or cares, apparently.