Smoking a Cuban

The rumors became official today as Mark Cuban announced he has sent in an application to buy the Cubs. This was the news many Cubs fans had been waiting for. Dreams of Cuban shelling out a continual steam of money in order to make the Cubs perennial contenders. I would say people are dreaming of him making them World Champions, but that may happen before any new owner takes over.

I would also like to see Cuban get the Cubs. Cuban already owns HDNet, one of the more successful HD-only broadcasters. And I would love to be able to see the Cubs in HD every game. Plus, as a fellow Indiana University alum, maybe he could get me a front-office job. I have read the book Moneyball and I think Cuban takes a similar philosophy when he makes moves with his NBA team the Dallas Mavericks. The basic premise is that players are investments and their stats are like financial statements that tell whether they are an improving player or if they have peaked. But, that's a different topic.

The point is, no matter how much dreaming we want to do (and to be a Cubs fan you must be a good dreamer) there is no way Bud Selig and the owners - White Sox / Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf especially - are going to let Cuban buy an MLB team. Cuban gets on the nerves of the NBA owners (Reinsdorf included) and certainly does not fit into the mold of the "good old boys" club that is MLB.

The only negative I can see with Cuban is that if he were to buy the Cubs, he may become more of a story than the Cubs themselves. The one good thing about most MLB owners is that they are silent. Cuban would be a lot more like Steinbrenner. I can't argue with Stenbrenner's results - the Yankees are perennial contenders - but nobody likes them and nobody likes him.

Again, Cuban would still be my choice for the next owner. But, that choice is easy because I know who he is and what he does. I know very little about most of the other people who have been rumored to be interested. And that is exactly why Selig will pick one of them, because he wants somebody who knows how to keep their mouth shut. Transparency has never been a strong suit of the commissioner or the owners.