Cody Bellinger's agent pushes back on Tom Ricketts' comments |
Tony Crumpton
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- Monday, February 19 2024
Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts met with the Monday and answered questions about the possibility of free agent slugger Cody Bellinger signing again with the Cubs.
"I'm like everyone else," Ricketts said. "We're just waiting. Waiting for whenever he and his agent are going to engage. It could be any time now, or it could be in a few weeks. We'll see where it goes." Ricketts also said that he has not talked to Boras about Bellinger, as he lets Jed Hoyer do his job. "I don't talk to Scott," Ricketts said. "One of his signature moves is to go talk to the owner. When you do that, you undermine the credibility of your GM. Inserting yourself into that negotiation, I don't think that helps. I don't talk to him." Bellinger's agent, Scott Boras, heard about the comments and responded back. "Free Agency is about recruiting players," Boras told ESPN. "It's the normal owner's signature move to be involved in the efforts of recruiting players and reaching out to me so I can convey to the player the ownership of the team covets them. That is the essence of Free Agency and it is a custom and practice for ownership to express commitment and involvement. "When Cody was a Free Agent last year the Cubs engaged and were very aggressive in their pursuit. And their process is no different this year. So I am not clear as to what Tom is suggesting."
