Mariotti

Jay Mariotti has a good article on why neither the Cubs nor the Whiteseox will get Carlos Beltran.

You are about to hear extraordinary layers of b.s. about the Cubs and Sox entering the high-stakes craps game for Beltran, who emerged with sweet timing in October as baseball's finest all-around player. Sox general manager Ken Williams, armed with a Minnesota payroll in a major metropolis, has gone so far this week to express great optimism that he'll be squarely in the hunt. Do yourself a favor and don't believe any of it. All you need to know about Beltran -- who has the power of Barry Bonds, the defensive ability of Jim Edmonds, the clutch tendencies of Reggie Jackson and has overtaken a shamed A-Fraud as the reigning five-tool god -- is that he's repped by superagent Scott Boras, who is to owners what Bigfoot is to a camping expedition. The asking price will start at $20 million a season over 10 years, and even if Beltran settles in the likelier range of seven years, that's still $140 million. It's safe to say the amount will wrinkle every starched white collar in Tribune Tower and evoke dry heaves of disgust from the chairman's office at U.S. Cellular Field.

Remember, above all other priorities, the Cubs and Sox insist on trying to win with payrolls that reflect some form of fiscal responsibility. Never mind that the Cubs rake in stinkingly high profits and squeeze every possible cent from revenue streams that include the adjoining rooftops, their own ticket-scalping operation, premium seats behind home plate and, if they get their wish, a bleachers expansion project and a revolving ad board on the fabled backstop bricks.

As long as the Cubs think business and profits first, winning second, this organization will never win a World Series. He makes an excellent point about the Cubs being the one humilating franchise left in baseball. I was happy for the Redsox but it disgusted me that a team with just as long in futility has now won 2 World Series to our one in the last 96 years.

To me the Cubs act like achieving the 100 year mark is going to be a badge of glory. Let me tell you this right now. If the Cubs make it to the 100th anniversary of never winning a World Series they will never ever live it down. From that point on in history the Cubs will be known as the only franchise to hit the magical mark of 100 years and no World Series.

It may sound stupid to some, but the Cubs should be doing everything in their power to avoid that little piece of humilating history.