My story is most the same. He wasn't the biggest fan I knew, but he got me into the Cubs in the summer of 1984. He died in 1996, but was born in 1909 right before the Cubs began their last season as defending champions. Wow I have to imagine the birth of our Fandom is pretty common.
It would be nice if some of these kids like Barney, Castro, Jackson, Cashner, etc. are legitimate MLB talents who can be penciled in for the next 5 years while Theo and Co do their thing.
I just don't think they will be major players in free agency and the explanation will be they are focused on an organizational overhaul. I have no idea how much it will cost them to reach their vision, but I can't imagine it will be cheap.
When has a major market team made a front office move like this? There is a difference between putting a bad product on the field and not making a significant free agent addition. I think they will not be a significant player in free agency and will spend the Ramirez and Fuk money on improvements to the organization and maybe to pay a big chunk of Zambrano's contract. If they are in the hunt in a crap division next year then they get into the trade market. That's how I see it going down.