Tom Ricketts, the chairman of the Chicago Cubs, and Theo Epstein, the president of the Cubs’ baseball operations, were among those in attendance pulling for the home team Monday night at Memorial Stadium.

But Ricketts wasn’t ready to talk about the Cubs’ player development contract with the Hawks. That contract expired Saturday, and the two sides have two weeks to negotiate a new deal.

“Those are discussions for after the season,” he said.

Ricketts, however, was very open about his enthusiasm for the Hawks’ success in the second half of the Northwest League season.

“Absolutely, I read the scouting reports every morning,” Ricketts said. “We’re very excited. There’s a lot of guys from this year’s draft and last year’s draft and international players that have all stepped up. And that’s exciting.”

Ricketts isn’t the only one who has taken notice of the Hawks’ success.

“Sounds like we’ve got some pretty exciting people down in Boise right now,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum told the Chicago Tribune. “Obviously far away there, but sounds like some of the draft is coming through the way we’ve hoped it would. … We’ve got some stuff coming, but it’s obviously very young still.”

Hawks President and General Manager Todd Rahr said the presence of Ricketts and Epstein was a clear sign that the Cubs are committed to player development.

“That’s going to pay off by seeing Hawks up in the big leagues,” Rahr said. “You’re already seeing that this year with (Josh) Vitters and Brett Jackson. … We’ve got a lot of guys who played for us that are playing for Chicago today.”

That list is expected to grow Tuesday, too, as the Cubs are expected to call up former Hawks pitcher Chris Rusin.