The Cubs have looked like crap since Theo Epstein took over - could they still win it all under his lead?
And now Terry Francona will manage Cleveland - could he bring a title to that hang-dog town that hasn’t won since '48 - and whose biggest recent sports story was losing The Chosen 1 who took his talents to South Beach?
Or will both do poorly and we write the Sawx off to steroids?? ::ducks & runs:: 
Francona is a good hire for a team that’s on the cusp of greatness. The Indians are not that. The Cubs are at least willing to spend some money, they just need Theo to pick the right players to spend it on. Both their divisions are relatively weak, so it’s tough to say which of them will make the playoffs first. If forced to pick, I’d take the Cubs.
I know the Indians aren’t on the cusp of ‘greatness’ by any stretch, but they aren’t a team that’s much divorced from contention. The past two years, under the management of a proven loser like Manny Acta, they spent the first half of the season with the lead in their division or a close approximation thereof. In the meantime, the Cubs haven’t had a single month with a winning record in that same period of time.
While Ricketts will shell out more for players than the Dolans can, the criminal dropoff in productivity in what should be good players is generally significantly more affected by a manager than a GM. If the success of the 00’s Red Sox was due to Francona/Epstein, I’m pretty sure Francona’s got the better end of the bargain going forward with the Tribe than Epstein does shelling out Tom Rickett’s bucks.