Cubs should give bear hug

New Cubs owner Tom Ricketts has a tremendous opportunity to hit a grand slam with his first major hire. This is a move that could propel the Cubs into a decade of glory or keep them languishing in the malaise they’ve been in for some time.

Epstein successfully implemented his vision with the Red Sox , building up the farm system, the scouting department, and the major league squad.

You can argue now that some of that has broken down and perhaps the vision isn’t sustainable for the long run. But it was enough to produce two World Series championships and six playoff appearances.

If there’s hope in Chicago, it would lie with the possibility that Epstein could duplicate that. He could be the guy who turns around the fortunes of two of the more stored franchises in baseball history, teams that until recently were known more for their futility than their success.

Epstein loves challenges, and at 37, he’s young enough that he can meet a few of them in the next 15-20 years. The Cubs fix won’t be overnight. There are some long-term commitments to players who didn’t work out. Epstein knows too well about that. Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Zambrano are reminiscent of Carl Crawford and John Lackey. But he also would have good young players and an owner who will spend money to fix what is wrong.

Money isn’t as abundant with the Cubs as it is with the Red Sox, but they’re not far apart. Chicago would embrace a different way of doing things, a man with a plan that has worked - at least for most of his tenure in Boston.

Some would say, well, Epstein succeeded because he had a passion for his boyhood team. Maybe that’s true, but he understands history and he understands how Cubs fans feel about their team. Any organization that draws 3 million fans with a lousy team has something special going on, and Epstein knows that well.

The Cubs are a team for romantics, the lovable losers. It’s a label the Sox had for a long time until they finally won in 2004, so what better person to show Rickets the blueprint than Epstein?