So there’s at least one baseball man who thinks the Cubs can win in 2007.
That would be Lou Piniella.
The best manager candidate available looks at the wreckage left by a 66-96 season and sees something different than the 67-95 Tampa Bay team that prompted him to give up on winning in his hometown.
He’s right too. Those Devil Rays didn’t have a Carlos Zambrano, a Derrek Lee or an Aramis Ramirez (the Cubs might not have the latter, either, but he must be hoping they will). They also didn’t have a payroll of about $100 million that could grow to an even higher figure if the right free agents agree to follow Piniella to town.
Barry Zito wasn’t coming to Tampa Bay. The Devil Rays weren’t going to trade for Alex Rodriguez or Alfonso Soriano. The Cubs might–emphasis on might–have the chops to make those things happen.
Piniella also bases his interest in the Cubs on his knowledge of geography–specifically that the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox are not in the National League Central. The first-place St. Louis Cardinals are an old, pitching-thin team that has serious questions.
Meanwhile, you wonder if the Nationals’ interest in Joe Girardi could force Cubs general manager Jim Hendry to a decision in the next few days.
If the Nationals want Girardi, and the indications are he’s high on their list, they could extend him a time-sensitive offer, making it impossible for him to wait long on the Cubs. It’s hard to see this process running too much longer.
