One Bear of a Task

One of the hardest things to do in the world of sports is to turn around a team that has seen more than it's fair share of past failures. Just ask the Red Sox. They had been plagued by the horrid outcomes from the 1949 season, to the impossible dream team coming up just short, to Bucky bleeping dent, and the ball going through Bill Buckner's legs. But the winds of change whistled through bean town in 2002-2003 when the Boston Red Sox introduced, at that time, the youngest general manager in baseball history. This new general manager took up the task of trying to end the then 84 year championship drought that hovered over the Red Sox. Then, two years and a great deal of front office moves later, the Boston Red Sox had finally won a World Series championship. Now, the general manager of that team, Theo Epstein, is taking his general managing talents to the franchise with the longest championship drought in all professional sports: The Chicago Cubs.

The Cubs 103 year championship drought aside, Theo Epstein is not simply going to ride into Chicago, chant expelliaramus, and turn a team that finished fifth in the National League Central in 2011 into a World Series contender in 2012. Unlike the 2002-2003 Red Sox, the Cubs do not have the vast majority of a winning nucleus already in place. The Cubs do have a big time talent in Starlin Castro, a productive veteran player in Aramis Ramirez, and a solid number three starter in Matt Garza. Still, taking chances on lower cost role players to surround that core, which is what Epstein did in his early days in Boston, is not the correct formula to use in bringing a championship to the north side of Chicago at this time. The Cubs need more big contributors around Castro Ramirez and Garza, and lately Epstein has not done well in providing his team with those kinds of players.

After striking gold twice in 2004 by bringing in Curt Schilling and Keith Foulke, Epstein has gone one for six in successful big named signings since the curse was broken. Among the busts that Epstein has inked to big time contracts include Edgar Renteria (4 years, $40 million), Julio Lugo (4 years, $36 million), J.D. Drew (5 years, $70 million), John Lackey (5 years, $82.5 million) and Carl Crawford (7 years, $142 million). Renteria and Lugo took turns being the worst shortstops in the majors during their respective stints in Boston. JD Drew had one good month in five years in a Red Sox uniform. Lackey and Crawford are already off to horrible starts in Boston.Yes Adrian Gonzalez did have a good statistical year overall with the Red Sox, but he faded down the stretch with the rest of his team. Despite his bad signings after 2004, Epstein seems up for the challenge of  helping a franchise that so desperately wants a World Series trophy.

Can Epstein help accomplish this daunting task? Sure he can. Epstein has a good track record for trading players and the Cubs have some players in their farm system they can move if necessary. In addition to being a good trader, Epstein also seems to have a good eye for managers. It was Epstein who first recommended Terry Francona for the Red Sox job in 2004 and that turned out well. If the Cubs do not bring Francona aboard, which is the more likely move, they can get another year out of Mike Quade and finally get around to making Ryne Sandberg their manager. The Chicago Cubs will not make an Arizona Diamondback like turnaround in 2012, but with Epstein as the general manager the Cubs could make the big turnaround their fans have been waiting for.