The Chicago Cubs’ thrifty offseason doesn’t mean that President Theo Epstein has lost faith in the ownership of the Ricketts’ family, which hopes to make more progress with the rooftop owners that will enable them to move forward on improvements at Wrigley Field and increase funds.

“They know they’re doing the right things to lay the foundation to get this right, to turn this into a franchise they can be proud of for generations and generations,” Epstein told a group of fans Saturday morning at Cubs Convention. “I’m more proud of them for their willingness to take that heat and stick to their plan than I would be if they panicked the first time their name was dragged through the mud publicly and said, ‘we can’t do this. We need to put lipstick on this and we need to find some quick fixes just to keep the fans at immediate bay.’

“They’re dragging the Ricketts’ name through the mud. They are in this for the long haul and because of that, they’re giving us the ability to lay the foundation.

“The Ricketts’ vision is a long-term one, and our job is to implement it.”

Epstein didn’t rule out the possibility of making more moves before the start of spring training. It’s no secret the Cubs are in pursuit of Japanese free agent pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, and even a nine-figure, multi-year contract wouldn’t guarantee his signing.

Meanwhile, owner Tom Ricketts pointed to the team's large investments in scouting and player development since 2011.

"We were consistently under-investing in our future," Ricketts said. "And that’s one of the things that we realized early on, starting with the 2011 draft. We decided we have to spend more to have better talent in our system."

As a result, "we have more depth than we’ve ever had. We’ve have more talent than we’ve ever had. It’s a little younger than the guys at the major leagues, but it’s coming fast."