Mesa pitches Cubs to stay in Cactus League

MESA, Ariz. -- The new owners of the Chicago Cubs were to be in Mesa Tuesday to survey the team's long-time spring training home and decide if it will remain in Arizona.

The family of billionaire Joe Ricketts, founder of TD Ameritrade, bought controlling interest in the Cubs for $845 million earlier this year. Tom Ricketts, a finance executive, serves as chairman of the board, which includes two of his brothers and a sister.

The new owners have talked about moving spring training to Naples, Fla., which has offered to build a new stadium for the Cubs.

Mesa Mayor Scott Smith said the new owners are looking at all their options.

"I think with any change of ownership, what you see is a re-evaluation of how they do business," Smith said. "Spring training was part of that evaluation. That's how this came up."

He added, "What they've said is, with the change in ownership, they feel an obligation to both themselves and to the fans to look at all options. That is across the baseball operation, and obviously spring training is a major part of the baseball operation."

The Ricketts family does not have the same ties with Arizona and the Cactus League as Cubs' fans who have been coming to the Valley in the spring for decades, Smith said.

"While the Cubs have been here 60 years, the Ricketts, as new owners, just don't have the same connections. They do have connections in Florida. They have business connections there, they have family connections down there with in-laws and things like that."

Mesa and other Valley organizations are willing to spend $60 to $80 million for a new stadium for the Cubs, Smith said. It would be the third stadium in their long Mesa history.

The upfront investment would result in decades of financial benefits for the Valley, said Smith.

"That is to create a 20- to 40-year cash flow that comes in. This isn't a one-way street."