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A Toast to Crane Kenney, the man with the wheelbarrow.
In the absence of any significant Cubs news over the past week (we apparently signed a AAA depth reliever), I instead prepared a brief tribute to an unsung hero of the Cubs rebuild: Crane Kenney, President of Business Operations. Kenney famously said his “job [wa]s to fill a wheelbarrow with money, take it to Theo’s office, and dump it.”[1] Sometimes I think we ignore just how impressively Kenney fulfilled that goal. Only two years ago, we wondered if the Cubs could support a $140m payroll. Yet today we take for granted that the Cubs can afford to spend to luxury cap and beyond. That is a remarkable achievement that does not get nearly enough attention.
I first began following Cub finances in 2014.[2] In the three years since, the Cubs increased revenue from $266m to $434m; an astounding 63% increase. In the process, the Cubs rose to third highest revenues in baseball, behind only the Dodgers and Yankees. Since then, the Cubs have added at least $57m in revenue that I know about. If the Cubs TV deal in 2019 is as lucrative as expected, the Cubs could move past the Dodgers, and even challenge the Yankees for the #1 spot. The Cubs even managed to do it without selling away Wrigley Field’s name.
Perhaps the most impressive feet is that the Cubs were able to increase sponsorship revenue during the lean years from 2012-2014[3], when the on-field product stunk. Revenues actually rose, even as ticket sales went down. That is a testament to Kenney’s sales job. So the next time someone offers up a toast to Theo Epstein, make a follow-up toast to Crane Kenney; the man with the wheelbarrow.
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