Cubs envoke $1 buyback for World Series Rings

[Bestdj777]

Originally Posted by Topps206

I actually disagree with this. The players earned them. Thet worked hard for them. They should be able to do with their ring as they wish.

It's not the players, just the staff. That said, I am not sure I agree with it either. I can see why the team wants to do it, but the idea of gifting it with that condition is troubling to me.

[bn2cardz]

Originally Posted by Bestdj777

It's not the players, just the staff. That said, I am not sure I agree with it either. I can see why the team wants to do it, but the idea of gifting it with that condition is troubling to me.

I just don't think there is an issue. They are essentially saying "if you would like a ring you have to promise us you won't sell it." My friend works for an MLB team and last time they won the WS he had to buy his own. In that case it makes sense, to me, that he would have full rights to the ring.

[Topps206]

Originally Posted by bn2cardz

I just don't think there is an issue. They are essentially saying "if you would like a ring you have to promise us you won't sell it." My friend works for an MLB team and last time they won the WS he had to buy his own. In that case it makes sense, to me, that he would have full rights to the ring.

There are no rings without the players. It's their hard work, their labor. They are the ones who ended the long drought and produced on the field, having to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the World Series, not to mention other big playoff comebacks.

As someone who lives in a suburb outside of Chicago, the Cubs are owned by greedy people. When the White Sox won in 2005, they got their rings with no strings attached.

[bn2cardz]

Originally Posted by Topps206

There are no rings without the players. It's their hard work, their labor. They are the ones who ended the long drought and produced on the field, having to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the World Series, not to mention other big playoff comebacks.

As someone who lives in a suburb outside of Chicago, the Cubs are owned by greedy people. When the White Sox won in 2005, they got their rings with no strings attached.

Again you are missing the fact that this doesn't apply to the players. No player had to sign the contract. Players are free to do as they wish with their rings.
This is for the club support people.

[packs]

As an admin I think it's pretty short sighted to say the players are responsible for the championship. The Cubs are ultimately a business and a business depends on its employees. The players are only some of the employees. How do they think they manage to even get to games without the staff supporting them the entire way?

[Bestdj777]

Originally Posted by packs

As an admin I think it's pretty short sighted to say the players are responsible for the championship. The Cubs are ultimately a business and a business depends on its employees. The players are only some of the employees. How do they think they manage to even get to games without the staff supporting them the entire way?

uber

[Topps206]

Originally Posted by bn2cardz

Again you are missing the fact that this doesn't apply to the players. No player had to sign the contract. Players are free to do as they wish with their rings.
This is for the club support people.

Originally Posted by packs

As an admin I think it's pretty short sighted to say the players are responsible for the championship. The Cubs are ultimately a business and a business depends on its employees. The players are only some of the employees. How do they think they manage to even get to games without the staff supporting them the entire way?

From what I read, this also applies to players.

The business has no championship without its employees. We don't look at behind the scenes because it is results on the field that matter. The staff helps, yes, but the players put in the hard work and effort. You could have the greatest staff in the world. The players need to perform. They even have their names on it. It's their own personalized ring that they earned.

You have former NFL players having to sell off their Super Bowl ring(s) to pay for medical expenses. It shouldn't have to come to that, but thankfully they have such an option. These Cub players should too if they should fall on hard times.

[packs]

I'm sorry but I'm not shedding any tears for a multi-millionaire who goes bankrupt. If anything you should be advocating for the employees to be able to profit from the rings. You might have a guy making 45K with 100K in student loans who busts his butt every day for the Cubs.

[bn2cardz]

Originally Posted by Topps206

From what I read, this also applies to players.

The title of the article is :

"Cubs Ask Non-Players to Sign Agreement to Not Sell World Series Rings"

Originally Posted by Cubs Ask Non-Players to Sign Agreement to Not Sell World Series Rings-BleacherReport

Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer is among those who support the organization's decision:

I signed that thing willingly. Everyone except for the players signed it. I look at it as the Ricketts [ownership] were so unbelievably generous in the cost of the ring and the number they gave out, I think it's totally appropriate when you're paying for the ring and helping out with the taxes along with that—it seems appropriate to say, 'I don't expect you to take the gift I'm giving you and run out to the market with it.'

[PM770]

Originally Posted by Bestdj777

It's not the players, just the staff. That said, I am not sure I agree with it either. I can see why the team wants to do it, but the idea of gifting it with that condition is troubling to me.

If you have this condition in place, you didn't give anyone anything. You are just letting them borrow it. Its not really theirs.

[Bestdj777]

Originally Posted by PM770

If you have this condition in place, you didn't give anyone anything. You are just letting them borrow it. Its not really theirs.

Questionable. There is a discussion about the Cubs paying the taxes on the rings for their lower level employees, implying the team thought they were actually conveying something of value (not just lending) to their employees. If it was a loan, I doubt there would be a discussion of taxes. It's probably a gift, just one with a built in option to purchase it back, which is weird but understandable.

[Leon]

Maybe it's a lease? And if you wear the rings more than x amount per year you have to pay more.

Personally, if I was getting a ring with conditions I would just let the club keep it. And I agree, too many rings given out in the first place. A crazy number, actually.

Originally Posted by Bestdj777

Questionable. There is a discussion about the Cubs paying the taxes on the rings for their lower level employees, implying the team thought they were actually conveying something of value (not just lending) to their employees. If it was a loan, I doubt there would be a discussion of taxes. It's probably a gift, just one with a built in option to purchase it back, which is weird but understandable.

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by Leon

Maybe it's a lease? And if you wear the rings more than x amount per year you have to pay more.

Personally, if I was getting a ring with conditions I would just let the club keep it. And I agree, too many rings given out in the first place. A crazy number, actually.

I would certainly still take the ring under the conditions that the Cubs handed them out this year, but I would probably think less of management for doing it that way. I agree though that 1,908 rings is a crazy amount of rings...there's no way they have that many people working for them. I wouldn't be surprised if there are a lot of Ameritrade employees in Omaha getting rings too.

[Bestdj777]

Originally Posted by Leon

Maybe it's a lease? And if you wear the rings more than x amount per year you have to pay more.

Personally, if I was getting a ring with conditions I would just let the club keep it. And I agree, too many rings given out in the first place. A crazy number, actually.

I'd lease it . I've always thought it would be nice to own a ring. One day the Yankees will recognize my talent (and maybe win another World Series) and I'll get mine.

[whitehse]

Originally Posted by Leon

Maybe it's a lease? And if you wear the rings more than x amount per year you have to pay more.

Personally, if I was getting a ring with conditions I would just let the club keep it. And I agree, too many rings given out in the first place. A crazy number, actually.

Leon, not to disagree with you but if you worked in sports and received a ring with conditions there is no way you would refuse it.

From your first day working for a team you dream about that ring and pray that some day you will see one with your name on it. You see other teams come through and those who had previously won are sporting their rings and you ask to see them. You marvel at the gold, the diamonds, the sheer size of that piece of jewelry and you just know you HAVE to have one. You work your tail off and help the team in any way you can become successful knowing that if the team is ever fortunate enough to hit the pinnacle of their game, you will be rewarded with a piece of jewelry that others only aspire to have. Game seven of the World Series comes around and here you are, sweating bullets as the boys on the field are battling it out. You know you did all you could to give them the edge in this game be it by scouting, by preparing the video tape or even grooming the mound to give the home team the best advantage. That last out is made and your thoughts are not that you are the world champions but damn, when do I get my ring?

You then wait all winter after being fitted for the ring. You hear stories of what it will look like but nobody ever confirms it. Opening day comes and the pennant is raised but you still have to wait for your ring. The next game you see the players get theirs but still you do not have yours. Th excitement is building because you now have seen what the players have received and even though yours may not contain the same amount of diamonds or gold, you know its a worlds champion ring with YOUR name on it.

The day comes where all of the staff assemble on the field and you are called, one by one to home plate and presented with a box that holds that worlds champion ring with your name on it. You open the box and a tear comes to your eye as you realize this moment is the culmination of everything you and the team has worked for. You don't care that those sparkles are not diamonds because that ring says champion on it with your name on the side. Someone sticks a paper in front of you and tells you to sign it and you do, not because you want to keep your job but because you want that reward of a job well done. A reminder to anyone who sees that boulder sized ring that you are a champion and you made it to the top!!

I used to work for a major league team and saw my ring flying over the fence in 1984 when Steve Garvey hit that home run against the Cubs. I have a friend from my time with the team that now has three Stanley Cup rings and another friend who just received his Cubs ring this year. If he wouldn't be pissed at me I could show you the photo he texted me right after getting that ring and that grin on his face tells the whole story. I can tell you that after three decades with the team he would have signed away the rights to his first born to keep that ring.

Leon, please dont take this the wrong way but I can tell you from personal experience, you would never give that ring up if you worked for a team that won.

[ibuysportsephemera]

Maybe if they had given the employees an option? We will pay the taxes but have right of first refusal to buy it back if you sell it. If you pay the taxes, you are free to do what you want with the ring in the future.

Too late now, but it would have made for an interesting dilemma for the employees.

Jeff

[Leon]

I might change my mind but I am pretty sure I wouldn't take anything with strings attached as to ownership. It goes against my grain, sorry about that. I am confident I wouldn't want a ring that wasn't 100% mine. I don't do leases. And you mention he would have signed over his first born to KEEP the ring. But it's not his to Keep and he can't do what he wants with it......not my cup o tea.

Originally Posted by whitehse

Leon, not to disagree with you but if you worked in sports and received a ring with conditions there is no way you would refuse it.

From your first day working for a team you dream about that ring and pray that some day you will see one with your name on it. You see other teams come through and those who had previously won are sporting their rings and you ask to see them. You marvel at the gold, the diamonds, the sheer size of that piece of jewelry and you just know you HAVE to have one. You work your tail off and help the team in any way you can become successful knowing that if the team is ever fortunate enough to hit the pinnacle of their game, you will be rewarded with a piece of jewelry that others only aspire to have. Game seven of the World Series comes around and here you are, sweating bullets as the boys on the field are battling it out. You know you did all you could to give them the edge in this game be it by scouting, by preparing the video tape or even grooming the mound to give the home team the best advantage. That last out is made and your thoughts are not that you are the world champions but damn, when do I get my ring?

You then wait all winter after being fitted for the ring. You hear stories of what it will look like but nobody ever confirms it. Opening day comes and the pennant is raised but you still have to wait for your ring. The next game you see the players get theirs but still you do not have yours. Th excitement is building because you now have seen what the players have received and even though yours may not contain the same amount of diamonds or gold, you know its a worlds champion ring with YOUR name on it.

The day comes where all of the staff assemble on the field and you are called, one by one to home plate and presented with a box that holds that worlds champion ring with your name on it. You open the box and a tear comes to your eye as you realize this moment is the culmination of everything you and the team has worked for. You don't care that those sparkles are not diamonds because that ring says champion on it with your name on the side. Someone sticks a paper in front of you and tells you to sign it and you do, not because you want to keep your job but because you want that reward of a job well done. A reminder to anyone who sees that boulder sized ring that you are a champion and you made it to the top!!

I used to work for a major league team and saw my ring flying over the fence in 1984 when Steve Garvey hit that home run against the Cubs. I have a friend from my time with the team that now has three Stanley Cup rings and another friend who just received his Cubs ring this year. If he wouldn't be pissed at me I could show you the photo he texted me right after getting that ring and that grin on his face tells the whole story. I can tell you that after three decades with the team he would have signed away the rights to his first born to keep that ring.

Leon, please dont take this the wrong way but I can tell you from personal experience, you would never give that ring up if you worked for a team that won.

[murphusa]

Don't worry, there will be hundreds of "salesman samples" on the market to buy

[packs]

I don't agree with it at all. Don't give the employees rings if you're just going to claim you own them anyway. A ring is meant to be valuable otherwise it wouldn't be made with the stones they make them with. It would just be steel. Why dangle something like that in front of people?