Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane couldn’t have said it better himself in the book, “Moneyball.”

“How can you not be romantic about baseball?”

For Cubs fans, it’s quite easy. The entire fan base is made up of long-lost hopeless romantics. They all believe a happily ever after, a World Series title, is remotely possible at the start of every season. No matter how dysfunctional things are in reality.

It’s very hard not to be romantic about baseball now that Theo Epstein, current Boston Red Sox general manager, appears to be headed to Chicago. Owner Tom Ricketts has basically turned on the mood lights, lit some candles and poured a fine wine for the fans.

The romance is on and the Ricketts family knows what its doing with the Cubs now. Tom, the money man, has his baseball guy, Epstein, to start rebuilding the Cubs as the 38-year-old did with the Red Sox.

When Epstein took over in Boston in 2003, the team hadn’t won a World Series since 1918. The Red Sox won in 2004 and 2007.

Naturally, hope is returning to Wrigleyville that the Cubs’ 103-year drought will end under this administration. That hope needs to be tempered for now. The current Cubs will not raise the World Series trophy in 2012 or 2013.

These Cubs are at least three years away from contending in their own division. Epstein will have his work cut out for him.

First, he needs to find his right-hand man, and it’s doubtful Boston lets him bring anyone else over. Then he needs to find a manager, which seems less and less likely to be Mike Quade.

Then, Epstein has to make a decision on Aramis Ramirez and figure out what to do with the dead weight contracts of Carlos Zambrano ($18 million in 2012) and Alfonso Soriano ($54 million over the next three years).

After all that is done, he can finally start into free agency and rebuild the farm system.

This is no easy task anywhere within this organization right now. Easy, though, wasn’t what Epstein was looking for, it appears. Easy would have been staying in Boston, a team with the talent to win right now.

Instead he’s now embarking on mission impossible.

He’s the Cubs’ knight in shining armor, straight from a fairy tale – almost.

And we all know how fairy tales end.

In Wrigleyville, though? Not in the past.

Can the Ricketts-Epstein connection really make this happen?

Can they really end baseball’s biggest losing streak?

It’s all part of the thrill of romance. Only time will tell.