Theo Epstein: The Messiah

He's Jewish. He breaks curses. He's soft spoken and extremely intelligent. I'm sold. He's the second coming of Jesus.

In all seriousness, how could I not be excited about the Cubs nabbing Theo Epstein as their new GM. They went from old school Jim Hendry who was running the club into the ground, to a young and proven GM that has already broken the other major "curse" in baseball.

I type "curse" because I don't believe in curses. What I do believe in is the massive amount of pressure a fan base puts on its players to win a World Series after a long drought.  The Cubs were cruising in 2003 past the Marlins, and while I don't blame Steve Bartman at all, I do think that play and Moises Alou's reaction to it woke the team up out of autopilot.  All of a sudden, they tightened up, sure-handed Alex Gonzales made an error, the unflappable Mark Prior began hanging his normally nasty curveballs, and the team crumbled under the fans' dread.

DYK- Theo shreds on the gee-tar! 

Theo brings hope.  He's been through it before.  He's seen a previously "cursed" team win not just one, but two World Series.  Players can take comfort in the fact that their GM has been there, done that before.

But of course, that's not solving the majority of the problems at the Friendly Confines.  Epstein brings a vast knowledge of the game, expertise on how to set up a deep farm system, and he has hopefully learned his lesson with signing people like John Lackey.  Never trust a player with no chin.

Or does he have three chins?  I can't tell.

Is Theo Epstein the right guy for the job?  Fuck yes, he is.  If he's not the right guy, who is?  Billy Beane?  Ned Colletti?  The Rays' GM?  A young gun on the rise?  No, none of them are a better option than Theo.  Theo's experience is perfect for this job.  On resume alone, I don't see another more qualified candidate for what they need to do in Chicago.

Does this mean the Cubs are guaranteed to win?  Not at all.  But there is a now a different feeling around the Cubs that certainly hasn't been there since 2008, and maybe even before that time.  It's a feeling that us Cub fans aren't totally accustomed to- legitimate hope.  This shouldn't be a "maybe next year" type attitude any longer.  The attitude now is, let's build something from the ground up and create a system that sustains itself.  The entire Cubs' system needs to be re-vamped to make the franchise respectable, and I believe that Theo Epstein is the man to do it. 

Now... how to unload that rotten motherfucker Carlos Zambrano... hmm...