Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts sent a letter to Cubs fans Friday morning reflecting on the 2024 season and where the organization goes from here.

“There is no way to sugarcoat it – this is not where we planned to finish the season,” Ricketts said in the letter.

The Cubs finished 83-79 for the 2nd consecutive season. They were 10 games behind the Brewers in the NL Central and 6 games out of the final playoff spot in the NL Wild-Card race.

For the 3rd straight year, the team who claimed the final NL playoff spot is in the NLCS, proving that teams simply need to get into the postseason tournament and anything can happen.

The Mets finished at 89-73 before beating the Brewers in the first round and then taking down the powerhouse Phillies in the NLDS.

Last season, it was the Diamondbacks who finished just a game ahead of the Cubs in the Wild-Card standings and Arizona rode that all the way to the World Series. In 2022, the Phillies claimed the final NL playoff spot and also lost the World Series.

While expressing disappointment in how 2024 finished, Ricketts spent most of the letter to Cubs fans looking to the future and building on the “strong foundations” within the organization.

Here is the entire letter from Ricketts:

Cubs Fans,

There is no way to sugarcoat it – this is not where we planned to finish the season. Like our fans, we had high expectations for our team this year and early victories delivered hope for postseason baseball. But inconsistent play and injuries upended that promise, leading us into a hole too deep to recover from despite another second half surge. Bottom line, we did not play a complete season of competitive baseball. As a result, we have again missed the most exciting and exhilarating month of the season – October.

The work is underway to close the gap to make the Cubs a perennial playoff team. Our baseball operations staff is redoubling its efforts to build a team that consistently plays in the postseason and delivers the promise of sustained success to Cubs fans.

Though we fell short this season, we have strong foundations to build on.

Jed, Carter and our team of coaches, analysts, scouts and strategists have created one of the top player development groups in the game today – with eight prospects on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 list – the most of any team in Major League Baseball. After this summer’s draft, the Cubs boast a top-flight player development system in most independent rankings, including #2 in USA TODAY’s latest evaluation.

Under the leadership of manager Craig Counsell, we continued to see players develop on the major league level. Rookie pitcher Shota Imanaga, who signed as a free agent last offseason, had one of the best seasons as a rookie pitcher in Cubs history, leading the team with 15 wins, a 2.91 ERA, 174 strikeouts and only 28 walks. He steered the way on a memorable September night at Wrigley Field where his seven hitless innings kicked off a combined no-hitter that was closed out by Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge. Rookie Michael Busch secured a starting role at first base and slugged 21 homers with a .775 OPS. Fellow rookie Pete Crow-Armstrong brought excitement to the basepaths with six triples and a 93-percent stolen base rate. PCA also kept runs off the board with his electrifying defense. Additionally, veteran Ian Happ had a career year with personal bests in home runs (25) and RBIs (86) and continues to be a clubhouse leader.

Before we turn the page on this season, I also want to thank you for helping us recognize Ryne Sandberg this year. For many of us, Ryno’s play defined an era, and his statue unveiling was a once-in-a-lifetime tribute to a true Cubs legend. Ryne and Margaret are forever a part of our Cubs family, and it was important for us to stand in support of his fight against cancer by hosting Cubs for a Cure this year, which helped raise $1 million to battle this terrible disease.

We also remain committed to making a positive impact in the community through Cubs Charities. This year, more than 17,000 students participated in our youth sports and academic programs in neighborhoods across Chicago.

It is these special moments and activities on and off the field that bring the players and fans together to remind us of what we all love about Cubs baseball.

It is more than a game – it is a tradition that spans decades, with our fans at its heart and soul. You bring an excitement to the ballpark that is as time-honored as the ivy-lined walls and historic scoreboard. I want to personally express my sincere gratitude for your continued loyalty to our team.

Now, it is time for us to get to work to bring championship caliber baseball back to Wrigley Field.

Sincerely,

Tom Ricketts