Describe Cubs Biz Ops Philosophy in Four Words: Is This a Noodle?

It’s said that you can tell when spaghetti is properly cooked by throwing it against the wall. If it sticks, it’s good. And it’s from this culinary test that the business concept of throwing ideas up against the wall to see what sticks.

And that certainly appears to be the case with the Cubs, particularly after some quotes Crane Kenney provided for a cover story in Bloomberg Businessweek began making the rounds. Theo Epstein spoke about the organization’s direction as well, comparing the current team to the 2011 Royals. But Kenney’s words stood out a bit more, particularly given the date.

“Basically,” the Cubs’ business president said, “my job is fill a wheelbarrow with money, take it to Theo’s office, and dump it.”

But not every endeavor is successful in shoveling piles of cash into that wheelbarrow. One such notable failure was the big Kraft macaroni noodle that occupied a spot near the hallowed likeness of Ernie Banks a few years ago. It was eventually moved across the street but has long stood as a testament to bad decisions.

“That was one where I made the call at the end of the day, and I was wrong,” Kenney explained. “So my threshold is: ‘Is this a noodle?’”

One might say that the contract with the rooftops is a bit of a noodle, which sounds much nicer than calling it an albatross. That became even more true with reports that new additions would block the view of the Cubs home cooking.  But at least now, with the presence of that massive video board in left, they’ve got a much bigger wall against which to throw future batches of pasta.