Cubs' fortunes went south

Illinois senator and Chicagoan Barack Obama has written a book titled "The Audacity of Hope," which deals with far more important things than baseball, but the title could also be used to describe the future of one of Obama's favorite baseball teams -- the Chicago Cubs.

That hope, in baseball terms, has at times permeated the North Side of Chicago, where Wrigley Field has housed the tragically flawed Cubs, only to have that hope routinely dashed -- with 1984, 1989, 1998, and 2003 the most recent and painful examples of failures that go back to 1908.

Since the South Side White Sox ended their 88-year drought in 2005 with a World Series championship and the Red Sox ended their 86-year curse with a title two years ago, the Cubs must again try to rekindle that hope with the hiring of manager Lou Piniella last week.

Piniella's tough, no-nonsense, shoot-from-the-hip style will no doubt draw comparisons to former manager Leo "The Lip" Durocher, who entertained Cubs fans in the 1960s and early '70s, though Piniella has mellowed and appears to be a kinder, gentler version of his former self.

Believe all you've read about the Cubs pursuing Alex Rodriguez, who played for Piniella for seven seasons in Seattle, and that the Cubs will be major players for elite free agents Alfonso Soriano, Barry Zito, Jason Schmidt, and Japanese pitching star Daisuke Matsuzaka, because Piniella will demand top players who can win now.

He may have been content to stay in the Fox Sports broadcast booth if he thought this job would become the Tampa Bay Devil Rays all over again. But the Cubs will buy players and expand payroll, something the Devil Rays, whom he managed for three seasons, have never done.

What Piniella, who will be managing his fifth team, is also smart enough to know is that unlike his distinguished predecessor, Dusty Baker, he will not build his team around Mark Prior and Kerry Wood. They were once the cornerstones of the Cubs' future before arm injuries derailed their careers, leaving the Cubs without an ace until Carlos Zambrano emerged last season.

It long ago reached the point where you can no longer count on either Prior or Wood to be the hope of the organization, though both pitchers -- certainly Prior -- could be back to give it one more chance. If Prior, who should be in the Cubs' rotation in 2007 barring a trade, or Wood, who could be re-signed as a free agent after the Cubs buy him out for $3 million, stay on they will be complementary parts.

The Cubs have a few issues to resolve before they can go forward. The biggest appears to be the future of third baseman Aramis Ramirez, who can opt out of his contract, and likely will, so he can negotiate a new one with the Cubs or be a free agent. In a perfect world the Cubs would re-sign Ramirez and trade him to the Yankees for Rodriguez, but that's unlikely to happen. General manager Jim Hendry views first baseman Derrek Lee and Zambrano as untouchable, but he will pursue deals for offense. Those who appear to be on his wish list are Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada, Devil Rays outfielder Carl Crawford, and even Manny Ramírez's name has been thrown about, though Piniella and Ramírez wouldn't appear, on the surface, to be a good match.

The Cubs also must deal with free agent center fielder Juan Pierre, an exciting player who started slowly in 2006 but finished with 204 hits and 58 steals. Hendry would like to keep Pierre, but the cross-town rivals also have their eyes on him.

"I want good athletes," said Piniella. "I want people who can run, hit, and play baseball, and who hustle and play the game right. I want pitchers who throw strikes and aren't all over the strike zone. That's what I demand."

He had some of that in Tampa Bay -- athletes such as Crawford and Rocco Baldelli -- but his pitchers were all over the strike zone, and that was the most frustrating aspect of his job, along with an ownership that wouldn't spend money.

Now, Piniella, 63, enters a situation where his mere presence will renew interest and hope. He joins a Tribune Company management team that seems committed to expanding a $94 million payroll to $115 million-$120 million.

The White Sox pulled ahead of the Cubs in the local cable TV ratings this season and their attendance moved to within 165,000 of the Cubs, who have always outdrawn the South Siders.

So there's reason now, more than ever, to stop 98 years of disappointment and finally not only to have the audacity to hope, but the audacity to win.

Burks manages to move on

A few questions for former Red Sox outfielder Ellis Burks, now a special assistant to Cleveland general manager Mark Shapiro:

Q: Now that you've been involved with evaluating talent for the Indians the last couple of years, what would you like to do?

A: "I'm going to re-sign for the 2007 season and eventually I would like to be a major league manager. A lot of ex-players don't want to do that, but I feel I have something to offer. I've always gotten along with people and I feel I can manage players. I haven't done it yet, so at some point I'll throw my hat in the ring."

Q: Any chance of getting on the field any time soon?

A: "Well, I was just offered a job to be a first base coach for a West Division team and I'm about to call and turn it down. Right now, I have a 12-year-old son who's involved in quite a few things and he's quite an athlete, so me going out to the West Coast wouldn't be right at this time."

Q: Aren't you going tell us which team it was?

A: "Can't do that since I haven't told them that yet."

Q: I remember the Red Sox indicating they might follow up with a job for you in their organization?

A: "No, never heard from them."

Q: What have you been doing recently?

A: "Just got back from our Instructional League. I was working a lot with our young outfielders on defense and also with our young kids on base running. We've had a lot of meetings down there to go over our needs. Looks like we're going to be in the market for a second baseman."

Q: Mark Loretta?

A: "We discussed different players. I think a player like that would be a good fit for us, someone who can hit No. 2 in the order and who can spray the ball around."

Q: What did you think about John Farrell leaving the Indians and becoming the Red Sox' pitching coach?

A: "That's an outstanding hire. He's such a knowledgeable guy on pitching. I've been very impressed with him in the time that I've been here. He'll do a great job up there."

Gorman can't shake what might have been in '86

These days, Lou Gorman is planning his annual Red Sox Hall of Fame dinner, but 20 years ago he was planning on drinking champagne and hoisting one for Sox owner Jean Yawkey. Gorman thought he'd assembled the best team in Sox history, but the Mets won the 1986 World Series in seven games, leaving Gorman to consider what might have been.

"What I remember most is the pain and anguish on Mrs. Yawkey's face and in her eyes when we lost," recalled Gorman. "She was devastated. I was sitting behind our dugout with John Harrington, Haywood Sullivan, and Ted Williams. I was staring right into the Mets' dugout, where I saw all the players I helped to develop and acquire. In my heart I felt the Red Sox were the better team and had the most talent.

"For someone like me who had grown up in this area and loved the Red Sox all of my life, and to come back and become the general manager of the team that won it all, that would have been very special for me. Even after the Bill Buckner error -- and that made me ill because without Buckner we wouldn't have gotten there -- we had Game 7 and we had a good plan. I told John McNamara I'd like to see Bruce Hurst start because the Mets didn't hit lefthanders that well. We planned on Calvin Schiraldi in the eighth and Roger Clemens in the ninth. And we led that game into the sixth, but we couldn't hold on."

Gorman now watches the World Series from afar. He favors Detroit because he believes the Tigers' pitching is superior to the Cardinals', though he roots for Jeff Suppan, a player he drafted for the Sox in the second round in 1993.

"We always loved his makeup," said Gorman of Suppan. "We thought he was going to be a very good third or fourth starter in the league for a long time. He's really matured and he's learned how to pitch. He's found a nice niche for himself in the National League. Nice kid. I'm really happy for him."

Etc.

Apropos of nothing: 1. It's amazing how few baseball executives and owners attend the World Series. It used to be common practice for executives to gather and watch the biggest event in their sport. GMs are now busy this time of the year with organizational matters. 2. Agent Jeff Borris's people wanted to make sure their man got his just due: He has negotiated a couple of deals for Barry Bonds and this offseason's won't be the first he'll negotiate for the Giants slugger, as we wrote last week. 3. Bill Buckner wore a Cubs batting glove on his glove hand the night the ball rolled between his legs? Perfect. 4. John O'Hurley, who played J. Peterman on "Seinfeld," and is a diehard Sox fan, will become a parent (along with wife Lisa) of a son in December. 5. Let me get this straight: Twins manager Ron Gardenhire is eliminated from the playoffs by the A's and gets a two-year extension. A's manager Ken Macha beats the Twins and gets swept in the AL Championship Series by the Tigers and gets booted.

Former Red Sox hitting coach Ron Jackson has received a call from Rockies manager Clint Hurdle regarding the Colorado vacancy, but he said he has not officially interviewed. Jackson, who is recovering from recent knee surgery, said he believes he will be coaching somewhere next season. "I think right now we're waiting to see the new managers get hired and get settled in. I think there'll be some interest when all is said and done. I know something's gonna happen," he said.

Agent Ron Shapiro said Trot Nixon is currently mulling his future. "The Red Sox have called us to say they'd like to invite us to discuss something for Trot, and at some point we'll engage in those talks," Shapiro said. "Everybody's aware of the love affair between Trot and the Boston fans, so we're not ruling it out. He'll want to ascertain what role the team would have for him and we also would suspect there would be other options available that Trot would have to consider."

John McLaren surprised himself a little bit. Attached at Lou Piniella's hip for 14 years, he was set to join Piniella one more time in Chicago as his bench coach, until Seattle's Mike Hargrove called. "I love Lou, and one of the hardest calls I've ever had to make is when I phoned him the other day to tell him I'd decided to go to Seattle. He understood and gave me his blessing and told me it was time that I did something for myself and my future," said McLaren, 55, who wants to be a manager. McLaren, who was Joe Morgan's bullpen coach in Boston, said, "I took the Seattle job for family reasons. My wife absolutely loved it there the first time [1993-2002] we worked there, and we loved the idea of going back."

The Marlins recently denied the Red Sox and Orioles permission to speak to infield coach Perry Hill. It appears Hill will remain in Florida, where he's been able to help develop some superb infielders, including Alex Gonzalez and Mike Lowell. This season Hill helped Hanley Ramirez make a successful jump to major league shortstop.

The Rangers might rue the day they allowed Gary Matthews Jr. to go into free agency. With the shortage of center fielders and leadoff hitters, Matthews, who had a breakout year in '06, could demand a lot of attention. Matthews and his agent, Scott Leventhal, turned down an offer from the Rangers last week. The switch-hitting Matthews hit .313 and set club records for runs (102), RBIs (79), and extra-base hits (69) from the leadoff position, and could be a Gold Glove candidate. The Rangers have had 10 center fielders the last 13 seasons. Matthews does turn 32 next August.

George Kottaras, the lefthanded-hitting catcher obtained from the Padres in the David Wells deal, spent a few days in the Sox' strength and conditioning camp in Fort Myers, Fla., last week with minor league field coordinator Rob Leary, working to smooth out some mechanics. "He's been very impressive," said Leary. "When we first got him, we stuck him in Game 1 of Portland's playoffs and he handled our staff very well. He's got a solid foundation of fundamentals. His receiving and footwork is excellent. Like any young catcher, he'll need to get to know his pitchers." Asked whether Kottaras is working on catching a knuckleball as a possible replacement for Tim Wakefield's personal catcher, Doug Mirabelli, Leary said, "I'm not aware of that."

General manager Pat Gillick doesn't hold grudges and former Sox manager Jimy Williams doesn't, either. The only manager Gillick ever fired in the middle of a season was Williams in 1989, with the Blue Jays. Now he's hired Williams as Charlie Manuel's bench coach in Philadelphia, where Williams, who lives near the Phillies' Clearwater, Fla., camp, will organize spring training and work with the Phillies' defense.

When Terry Francona goes to Japan to manage the major league All-Stars against their Japanese counterparts in a best-of-five series, one of his pitchers will be Reds starter Bronson Arroyo, who went 14-11 with a 3.29 earned run average in 2006. Francona expects to hear plenty of "I told you so's" from his former righthander, who was traded for Wily Mo Peña last March.

Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com; material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.