Two and a half years ago, it appeared the Cubs finally made some noise in October.  In the Fall of 2006, Lou Piniella was brought in to bring the first World Series championship to the North Side of Chicago since 1908.  "Sweet Lou" was the man to "close the deal" after Dusty Baker could not escape the questions surrounding his team's collapse in the 2003 NLCS.  Unfortunately, bad contracts, a change in Piniella's demeanor, and a team sale in limbo have signaled an end to this era of hope.  The contracts are certainly the stimulus for the rest of it.

Life is tough in Baseball 101... especially when the 101 is the number of years since your team has won the World Series.  General Manager, Jim Hendry, understood all that.  He took a calculated risk that has failed miserably.  Hendry put the team in position to win the World Series last year, but after a playoff debacle against the Dodgers, a number of bad contracts remain.  The Cubs are "on the hook" to Alfonso Soriano for 5 more years at 18 million per year.  He is currently hitting in the .220's, is a butcher in left field, and has the worst baseball IQ I have ever seen.  Hendry gambled by giving Soriano the contract he demanded, and lost.

Another high-profile gamble was the signing of Milton Bradley.  Fan-favorite, Mark DeRosa was sent packing in the name of balance.  The Cubs wanted to add a left-handed bat to their right-hand dominated lineup.  As predicted by nearly every rabid baseball fan in America, signing Bradley was a big mistake.  He is a clubhouse cancer, and for the first time in his career, he's not hitting.  The Cubs will pay "Psycho Milty" 30 million dollars over the next 3 years.  With a depleted minor league system, the Cubs will be stuck with contracts like these long after the player has ceased to be productive.  The 3rd highest payroll in baseball has not paid dividends.  This might help to explain Lou Piniella's change in demanor.

For the most part, Lou tries to be positive.  Over the past month, however, Piniella has begun to answer every tough question with "What do you want me to do?"  He must realize that he's stuck with this group of guys.  Piniella has always been one to protect his players, but that's not what this is.  He appears tired of them.  The bad baseball doesn't fit with Lou's distinguished career as a player and manager.  For the Cubs fan, "What do you want me to do?" sounds like the end of the era of hope.  I'm sure Lou is still looking for solutions, but I believe he now knows none of them will bring a World Series Championship during his tenure.  You can see the recognition of this fact all over his face.  Cubs fans wondered last month if deals could be made to fix this awkward mix of superstars, but the botched sale of the team leaves GM Hendry with no monies to fix his team.

Earlier this week, it looked like the sale of the team by Tribune Company (which owns the Chicago Tribune) to the Ricketts family would finally be completed.  This is not the case.  Now, since the Tribune has filed for bankruptcy protection, the courts will decide between two ownership groups.  I'm not even sure how that works, but it does mean the Cubs have no cash on hand to sign a free agent.  Cubs fans cheered as the Cardinals failed to make big moves to win the division during the past two years, and now they can laugh at us.  The Cardinals and young Brewers appear poised to pull away as our poorly constructed team fails on the field, while seemingly sending another player to the disabled list each day.  There will be no trade deadline savior.  We are who we are, and we are bad.  

It wasn't supposed to be like this in 2009, but bad contract, a recognition of failure by our manager, and a poorly organized team sale have left Cubs fans wondering what the future will hold.  Baseball 101 is not easy, and the number will turn to 102 in a few months.