Theo Epstein Has Many Moves to Make as Cubs' New GM

As soon as he sets foot in the Chicago Cubs front office, new general manager Theo Epstein should immediately order business cards that read: "Theo Epstein, Curse Buster."

After that, he should make sure he knows the ins and outs of his contract with the club, which ESPN says is for five years and as much as $20 million.

Next will come the hard part: actually fixing the Cubs.

The phrase "easier said than done" comes to mind. The Cubs lost 91 games in 2011, and there's not a lot of hope for them going forward as they are currently situated. They have more bad contracts than just about any team in the league, and the Cubs are also sitting on a farm system that is, at best, middle-of-the-road. To give you an idea, Baseball America had the Cubs farm system ranked No. 16 for 2011, which might be a little generous depending on who you ask.

Sooner or later, Epstein is going to have to stockpile the farm system. Cubs fans will certainly expect him to do that given his reputation, as Epstein was the man who found and developed the likes of Jon Lester, Jonathan Papelbon, Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury.

But developing the farm system can wait for a little while. Epstein must first take care of the major league team itself, which needs to be reshaped and made out to at least be presentable.

This will start with ditching embattled starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano. The Miami Herald has claimed that the Marlins are interested, but only if the Cubs eat the bulk of Zambrano's $18 million salary. Given the way in which Zambrano has destroyed his reputation in Chicago, that's a bullet Epstein would be wise to bite.

It would be lovely if Epstein found a way to rid the Cubs of Alfonso Soriano as well, but that seems highly unlikely. He too is owed an exorbitant salary, and the Cubs are not going to find anyone willing to take it. The Cubs may be able to eat Zambrano's salary, but eating both Zambrano's and Soriano's is out of the question.

The bright side is that Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Pena are coming off the books, and that means Epstein will have nearly $25 million to spend in free agency. No doubt many Cubs fans would love him if he used that money to lure Prince Fielder or Albert Pujols.

That's a possibility, but don't be surprised if Epstein prioritizes pitching. It's a thin market this year, but he could go after C.J. Wilson. He's going to be overpriced, but Wilson is a young, ace-type pitcher that the Cubs could definitely use.

As for Fielder and Pujols, I actually wouldn't be surprised if Epstein and the Cubs targeted neither. We've come to associate Epstein with big signings (J.D. Drew, John Lackey, Carl Crawford), but it's worth noting that these came a couple years into his tenure with the team. It's also worth noting that none of his big free agent signings panned out all that well.

Instead, it's probably more reasonable to expect Epstein to make a series of smaller, more Moneyball-type moves. It's what he did in his first two years with the Red Sox, and this strategy served him well.

It's going to be interesting to see what Epstein does, no doubt about that. But if I'm a Cubs fan (I'm not, for the record), I'm excited. Epstein busted one curse, and here he is trying to bust another.

That's what he does. He is Theo Epstein, Curse Buster.