In the last of this three-part interview with Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts, we cover various topics including ticket prices, the policy on rainouts, Carlos Zambrano, the overall baseball budget, Dale Sveum, Ryne Sandberg, Mike Quade and more.

Note: this interview was conducted before the details of the new MLB/MLBPA collective bargaining agreement were made public -- at the time, Tom Ricketts didn't have any information on the new draft rules so he didn't want to make any comment on them, but I included that in this transcript to note that I did ask about it.

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In the second part of my wide-ranging interview with Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts, he addresses the needed renovations to Wrigley Field, plans for building on the triangle property adjacent to the ballpark, and plans for the new spring training complex to be built in Mesa, Arizona.

Note: this interview was conducted before the Cubs' recent purchase of the McDonald's property across Clark Street from Wrigley Field, so that topic wasn't available to be addressed at the time I spoke with him.

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Recently, I had a chance to sit down with Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts for another wide ranging interview, covering topics from the hiring of Theo Epstein, to ticket sales, to the Triangle Building and Wrigley Field, and a number of other topics.

This interview will run in three parts, today, tomorrow and Wednesday. Today's installment has to do with the process of getting Theo Epstein to Chicago to become the team's president of baseball operations, what the new position is all about, and what that means to Crane Kenney's position as president of business operations.

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As promised, Rob Neyer, SB Nation's national baseball editor, will be here from (approximately) 1 pm - 2 pm CST today to answer your questions. Be nice and maybe he'll stick around a little longer...

And yes, I put that photo of everyone's favorite backup catcher here on purpose.

The third and final part of my interview with Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts touches on TV territorial rights -- something I know is a key issue for many BCBers -- as well as what he hopes to accomplish in "Year Two" of the Ricketts family ownership of the Cubs.

Many thanks to Tom for his time and his candid answers to my questions. I hope to be able to do this again later in the season. And now, it's almost time for real baseball to start as pitchers and catchers report to Mesa on Sunday and will have their first workout on Monday.

Follow me past the jump for Part III.

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This part of the interview is going to be a little more contentious, I'm afraid, than yesterday's was -- and yesterday's had its points of contention.

Today's portion of the interview deals with the proposed renovations to Wrigley Field and the proposal that was made to use a portion of the amusement tax charged on Cubs tickets to finance parts of that renovation. Let me say right now that regardless of the numbers put forth and whether they match up or not, or cost the city and county (since it's a local tax, not a state tax; the state's involvement would be to float the bond issue) any money -- it does appear to be a very difficult time to be asking for public financing of a project like this. Tom Ricketts told me, and you will read, that they are asking for a public/private partnership that the Cubs say will create jobs and enough revenue generated to pay off the bonds.

Whether that is true or not is not something I can judge here; this is a difficult topic to open discussion on because, by its very nature, it is political and I don't want political discussion here. That said, this is a political issue involving our favorite baseball team and thus, a valid topic for discussion. I ask only that you not devolve into namecalling, personal attacks or extreme partisan positions.

The latest I have heard about this issue is that the Cubs are going to revisit it sometime this year. What form that will take is not yet known.

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Today is BCB's sixth birthday -- that's like a century in blog years. And here's a birthday present for all of us -- a wide-ranging interview I recently conducted with Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts about his first year as the head of the organization and face of the franchise.

This interview will run in three parts -- today, tomorrow and Friday. Part I, after the jump, will deal with how the team ownership and management is structured, and how each member of the Ricketts family contributes to the overall family ownership of the team. Tom also answered questions about the three goals he announced when the family took over in October 2009, and player development and how that fits into the overall team budget.

One note regarding something Tom told me in the interview regarding investment in facilities for player development is apparently happening. Yesterday at CSNChicago.com, David Kaplan wrote that the Cubs are looking to buy a large parcel of land in the Dominican Republic to build a new academy:

The cost for a new academy will be several million dollars, but the family's goal is to build the best training and development facility anywhere in Latin America. Tom Ricketts has been talking with several well-connected people in the Dominican real estate market and is prepared to buy a large parcel of land to house the complex.

Follow me past the jump for the rest of the first part of this conversation.

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I'm sure I don't have to introduce Bill James to this audience. However, if you don't know who Bill is, he's the baseball analyst generally acknowledged to have invented sabermetrics. His books helped revolutionize the view of statistical analysis of baseball in the 1980's.

I had the opportunity to interview Bill during spring training this year, and although it's been a few weeks since I met with him, what he told me isn't out of date. I did send an email to Bill after Carlos Zambrano was moved to the bullpen to get his view on that move; I've added his response to the interview.

Incidentally, I enjoyed Bill's annual view of baseball, The Bill James Gold Mine 2010; it's got some interesting studies on various baseball questions and answers them in ways you might not have considered.

Follow me after the jump for the interview.

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