The Chicago Cubs organization seems to be playing government officials in Florida and Mesa like a playa trying not to upset his two girlfriends.
Yesterday, team officials suggested that a deal to bring the Cubbies' spring training back to Mesa was a few dotted i's short of official.
However, what Cubs brass may not want Mesa officials to know is that Cubs owner Tom Ricketts seems to be stringing along Floridians like one of Tony Soprano's goomahs -- at least that's what Florida Governor Charlie Crist is hinting.
Crist claims he had a late-night chat with Ricketts the night before word that the Cubs had picked Mesa as their first choice became public, in which the team's owner told him not to jump to any conclusions.
"I had the opportunity to chat with the owner last night,'' Crist said, while wearing a Cubs jersey during a stop at Cambier Park in Naples, Florida, reports the News-Press. "He told me, 'Governor, you're going to see something in tomorrow's papers, but no decision has been made.''
We've said it before, and we'll say it again: Back off, Crist.
Mesa officials posted their proposal on the city's Web site yesterday, and while the Cubs need to have the proposal approved by the team's board of trustees, it is widely speculated that the team will accept the deal.
"We're not quitting, we haven't got a no from the Cubs,'' Naples City Councilman Gary Price tells New-Press.
Give it up, dude.
