Remember when the Cubs, in a fantastically preposterous scheme, tried to get 14 Cactus League teams to up the price of their tickets for Spring Training? This was, of course, to pay for their new facility.

It didn’t go well. No other team went for it. Bud Selig didn’t go for it.

And now, they’re pulling away from it some.

From the Trib:

In its first face-off against fellow owners, the Ricketts family blinked.

Cubs president Crane Kenney said Thursday the proposed 8 percent ticket surcharge on all Cactus League tickets was not needed to fund the new complex.

“The plan for our facility can be managed through the Mesa property tax referendum, that will happen in November, and the (1 percent extra) car rental tax,” Kenney said. “The ticket tax is not needed for what we’re building.”

Irony: The fans that would have been paying that eight-percent surcharge? They’ll still be paying for the new facility with that one-percent extra car-rental tax.

When you win, you still lose.

Milton Bradley to the New York Times last week:

“Two years ago, I played, and I was good,” Bradley said. “I go to Chicago, not good. I’ve been good my whole career. So, obviously, it was something with Chicago, not me.”

Oh, and then there’s this interview with ESPN that dropped last night in which Bradley talks about the hate mail he received.

At this point, there’s not much more to say. Cubs fans didn’t like Bradley. Bradley didn’t like Cub fans. He didn’t play as well as he has in past seasons. The Cubs traded him.

Life moves on.

Ozzie Guillen’s foray into the Twitter world was a big deal today at Spring Training. For realsies. Because this is Spring Training, and sometimes we can only take so much of “Player-X-is-in-the-best-shape-of-his-life” profiles.

But yeah: Here’s a whole article about it from the Sun-Times’ Web site, in which Kenny Williams can only shake his head about Ozzie’s new found fame in the social media game. He seems legitimately upset Guillen is on Twitter now. This story is just all kinds of awesome.

But wait! There’s more!

Reporters also asked Lou Pineilla about Twitter today, and he had a fun response. From the Trib:

“What is Twitter?” Piniella said Wednesday.

“First of all, I don’t know how to Twitter,” he said. “And second of all, I’m not going to learn how to Twitter.”

“… I’m really not a Facebook or Twitter guy,” he said. “I’m a prime-rib-and-baked-potato guy. I hate to say that, but it’s true.”

But hey, don’t forget: Just because Lou isn’t a Twitter guy doesn’t mean he’s not still a North-Side guy.

Remember when?

As has been written about elsewhere on this massive sounding board we call the Internet, the Cubs started selling tickets for the season this morning a bit early in a presale. Tickets technically go on sale Thursday, but at a price of 20 percent more, you can snag some today instead. Where do I sign up for such a deal!

I suppose all the hand-wringing over this is warranted, insomuch as it’s not exactly a fan-friendly move; the Cubs are selling tickets for 20 percent over face value off their Web site. You can sugarcoat it anyway you want, but the fact remains: they’re essentially scalping their own tickets. It’s not exactly the most ethical practice.

But they’re doing it because they can. Because Cubs tickets are a valuable commodity, and there’s a huge demand for them. People will pay.

Let’s go to Mr. Fornelli for an economics lesson:

The fact of the matter is that baseball tickets, much like everything else in the United States, follow the laws of supply and demand. There is a demand for Cubs tickets that far outweighs the supply, so therefore, the price is going to go up. So while fans may complain about the 20 percent premium on the Cubs presale, it’s probably not stopping them from logging on to the team’s Web site this morning to buy them.

For as much as fans want to think otherwise, a sports franchise is a business. The Ricketts family understand this, and the new areas in and around the park will only seek to make more money for the organization.

The world runs on money; it’s always, always, always about the bottom line. Sorry friends, but Cubs baseball is really no different.

So, the Cubs are looking into building a new stadium for Spring Training in Mesa, or maybe they’ll move to Florida instead. WHO KNOWS.

But the funding behind the proposed new Mesa spot it is kind of interesting: they’re trying to get other Cactus League teams to add a surcharge to their tickets in order to grab some cash to make a new facility. This, of course, includes the Chicago White Sox.

But the Sox aren’t down with it, and neither are the other 13 teams in the Cactus League.

From MSN:

Representatives of the Seattle Mariners and Chicago White Sox said Wednesday that all Cactus League teams oppose a proposed surcharge on all spring training tickets to pay for new Chicago Cubs stadium in Mesa.

“All 14 other Cactus League teams oppose House Bill 2736 as introduced. We are working persistently with legislative leadership in the House to construct an alternative plan that will work for everyone, including the Cubs,” said John Kaites, a Phoenix attorney and lobbyist who represents the Mariners and White Sox. He would not provide details, however.

Boom. Roasted. Or something like that.

I got an idea, though. The Cubs can just take all the revenue they’ll be getting from the new luxury box and right-field area to pay for this guy, right?

Remember when Carlos Zambrano said he was lazy and didn’t like to do ab workouts? If not, you can read this, and it will get you up to speed.

The dude can really bring the heat and has been unstoppable in some outings, but he does always seems to be a little, um, out of shape.

Well, what if I told you Carlos Zambrano showed up early to Spring Training to work out, and is already down in Arizona? What if I blockquoted Lou Piniella gushing about how he looks now?

Is that something that would interest you?

From the Tribune:

“Carlos was a little heavy last year, there’s no question,” manager Lou Piniella told fans at the Cubs Convention. “He’s another player (besides Geovany Soto) we had a nice conversation with toward the end of the year … He looks absolutely wonderful, and I think you’ll see a heck of a better performance from him just because of that.”

This is probably the most cliched heading-into-the-season storyline there is — player x is in great shape; you will see him do better things this season — but the way Zambrano’s attitude was last season as compared to right now seems to have changed for the better in regards to fitness.

After just nine wins last season, the new attitude is something that could suit him and the Cubs well come this season.

Until he breaks their next Gatorade dispenser, of course.

Yes, friends: it may be absurdly cold out in Chicago this Thursday afternoon, but baseball is right around the corner. Pitchers and catchers report soon. The regular season is only a little over two months away.

And that means it’s time to find out how your team is going to finish before the season even starts! It’s like knowing your life is destined for failure by the time you hit elementary school.

Baseball Prospectus has just released their projections and have the Cubs finishing third in the NL Central at 77-85 behind the Cardinals (89-73) and Reds (82-80). Matt Holliday, anyone?

As for the AL Central, BP’s PECOTA projects the Twins (82-80) to win the division, with the Sox just out of the money at 79-83. They also have the Tigers at 79-83.

Neither team’s record is good enough for the Wild Card in their respective leagues. Sad smilies all around.

Don’t fret, though, Chicago baseball fans. As BLS points out, PECOTA doesn’t factor in luck, injuries, trades and other variables.

Why, last year PECOTA predicted the White Sox would be a woeful 74-88 — they were a mediocre 79-83 instead! — and they had the Cubs as a 92-win team. The Cubs finished the year at 83-78.

You see, there’s just no number they can plug in to adjust for Milton Bradley’s demeanor.