Here we go again, friends. Another season launches today. But this one is different. For the first time since Ronald Reagan was still learning his way around the West Wing, the Cubs have a new owner. And that is, most likely, the biggest story that Cubs fans will have to focus on this year.

The 2010 season will likely be the last season in Chicago for several long time Cubs who were heavy contributors to the Cubs modicum of success since 2003. While it is unlikely that all of Derrick Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Ted Lilly, Carlos Zambrano and Lou Piniella will be in different locations next year, it is almost a certainty that at least one of the above names will be elsewhere come 2011.

And how the Ricketts family allows this transition to occur will tell us volumes about how much trust we fans should have in new ownership. There are some out there who are tickled Grizzly Pink to have a local owner (by way of Omaha) who is a fan like the rest of us (albeit without a parent who made a billion dollars).

There are others, the smarter ones, who don't take non-relevant resume and assume things are wunderbar.

This page has significant doubts about the team's prospects on the field for 2010. Age and middling talent at too many positions does not create a huge amount of optimism for crossing the 90 win threshold.

But there is a huge amount of optimism tied to the exit of the Tribune's bottom line focused ownership. The 2010 season will tell us a lot about whether that optimism will turn into actual trust.

Let the 162 game marathon begin.