Real work starts now

They gave the Cubs' new owners a standing ovation when they were formally introduced to the other major-league owners at a dinner Wednesday night at the O'Hare Hilton. ''I think it is the tradition to get standing ovations,'' said Tom Ricketts, who was joined by his brother Todd at the owners meetings this week. ''Nothing we did.'' Nothing more than the hugs-and-kisses honeymoon after the Ricketts family consummated its lengthy purchase of the team last month. But the honeymoon's over. Two days of owners meetings concluded Thursday under slate Chicago skies and the gray clouds of economic hand-wringing by owners on the eve of the free-agent market opening. And while the Cubs might look recession-proof heading toward 2010, Milton Bradley still was on their roster, neither Curtis Granderson nor Marlon Byrd was on their roster, Ted Lilly was barely two weeks removed from shoulder surgery, and general manager Jim Hendry was rearranging roster pieces to create wiggle room in a payroll already nearing its vaulted ceiling. With ticket prices going up and the long-awaited new owners/fans coming in, the high expectations and demands of the fan base aren't going away anytime soon. Especially after Tom Ricketts suggested during his post-sale news conference a few weeks ago that the Cubs already have the personnel to win the World Series next year. Not that anyone's going to hold him to a first-year championship timeline, but this first winter under his watch could have ramifications for what the Cubs are able to accomplish two, three and even six years down the road, considering some of the potential crossroads they face. For instance, Ricketts plans another trip to Naples, Fla., next week to further ''research'' an alternative spring-training site to Mesa, Ariz. While officials in Florida have called a Cubs move to Naples a ''long shot,'' some team insiders insist it's a serious consideration, despite the travel and weather disadvantages of training in Florida -- not to mention the difficulty in predicting which teams still will be in Florida after years of major-league flight to the Phoenix area. More immediate, the Cubs are likely to forego a major plunge into the free-agent market and look instead to trades to fix what broke in 2009. But will they have to give up some of their widely touted prospects -- such as rising-star shortstop Starlin Castro -- to get what they want? How deep into the top talent would Hendry go to land the player he wants? And will Ricketts -- who reiterated Thursday how strong he believes the Cubs' system is developing -- allow any of the top prospects to be traded for short-term gain? Ricketts, who openly has adopted a general blueprint of the Boston Red Sox ownership model from earlier this decade -- which included a rededication to player development -- deflected a question on that subject Thursday. Overall, he said as he finished his first set of owners meetings as a member of that exclusive club, he's still ''listening'' and ''learning.'' ''They'll be great for the Cubs ,'' said Red Sox principal owner John Henry, whose organization the Rickettses leaned on for counsel during the purchase process. ''Very intelligent, very committed. They have a huge financial interest in making the Cubs into a powerhouse. ''I think they have the same sort of drive and desire to conquer some of the same things that we thought were important when we went into Boston.'' Henry's Red Sox, of course, won the World Series in his third year of ownership -- after an 86-year drought -- then did it again three years later. So far, Ricketts doesn't even know if he's getting the All-Star Game for Wrigley Field's centennial in 2014, as widely speculated -- much less when and where he might be able to jettison Bradley. Commissioner Bud Selig offered less than a ringing endorsement Thursday when he said, ''I've got to do 2012 first, and then we'll get to '13 and '14,'' adding that he wants the American and National leagues to continue to alternate annually since the games now ''count.'' Of course, 2014 would be the AL's turn. At least that standing ovation was nice while it lasted.