How much worse can things get before changes are made?

Just a quick little post after watching, for the second day in a row, Albert Pujols do exactly what everyone in baseball (except Cubs management) thought he was going to do.

I keep looking at the whole situation with this team and I keep thinking that if things don't improve in some small way, someone is going to get fired...

But the I think deeply about it and I can't see that it is possible for anything to happen as long as Crane Kenney is the team president.

I see no way that Crane Kenney will be allowed to fire and then hire a new GM. I see no way that Jim Hendry will fire and the hire his 4th manager. And they aren't going fire anyone on the coaching staff because, quite frankly, if they fire one of them, they need to fire all of them because every aspect of this team sucks.

So it all comes down to starting at the top here...

Crane Kenney must be removed as president of this team. Period.

It was not a very good off day for the Cubs.

Tom Ricketts had better hope the Cubs don’t have another off day for the rest of the season…because this is what happens…

I’ve done it.

Most of the other bloggers have done it.

Most of the fans are doing it.

Even the broadcasters have hinted at it.

And now surprising sources of criticism are showing up.

The Ricketts family has owned the Cubs for only 1 ½ years. It seems like 100 years. The honeymoon is long over. As early as last year I knew they had a problem when, at Billy Williams’s statue unveiling, when Tom Ricketts was introduced to the crowd, there was an uneasy murmur in the crowd. That was quite different from just a few months earlier when just the sound of the family name made Cubs fans hopeful resulting in loud applause.

Yesterday, Bruce Miles, who is one of the best beat reporters in town, in a bit of an editorial piece (which is quite out of character for him) announced that maybe it was time for Jim Hendry to go. This story didn’t really directly criticize the Ricketts family, but pointing out that this is currently the 3rd rebuilding effort the Hendry has overseen actually does point a finger at the Rickettses. GMs get two chances. Very rarely do they get more and if they do, it is because of significant success. Hendry is an old school GM as well while just about every other team in baseball has brought in a GM the uses modern analysis and techniques to build a ball team. Hendry has shown no ability promote a team philosophy throughout the farm system, and the Cubs still lack the ability to develop players on a consistent basis. Hendry’s legacy is entirely made from a run in October of 2003 which, when you examine it, was more due to luck than of talent.

Miles’s article basically, without actually saying it, that all the “right things” that Tom Ricketts said on initial press conference after his family bought the team were in fact a lie. Yes, it was a lie that can be exemplified in one action…keeping Jim Hendry as general manager.

Picard is unhappy to hear that Hendry is still GM in the 24th century.

So, that’s one story.

Steve Rosenbloom, who is an absolute idiot, actually also started to pile it on the Rickettses and wrote something I agreed with yesterday. The article is titled “Ricketts plays Cubs Fans for Stupid”. While Rosenbloom stated nothing new and nothing that nobody didn’t already know (just look at the attendance on Memerial Day this year), he was dead accurate in saying the Ricketts, the fan, just walked into this assuming people would always love this team. WRONG! Ricketts, the fan, went into this without doing his research. In the end, he thought all Cubs fans were like him. They’re not. He went into this with a mind-set that was completely skewed because of his fandom. In reality, the biggest baseball fans in the world might not be the best guys to make sound baseball decisions. Ricketts has even shown some serious ego issues. That’s why there is nothing wrong with this team.

Oh…and those aren’t really empty seats at Wrigley, people are just waiting in line to go to the bathroom and that’s why he need’s $200 million for Wrigley renovations.

The Gulls don't count for the attendance figures.

Next up…Barry Rozner who wrote an article titled “No, the Cubs are not going young.” Rozner correctly points out that while the Cubs are currently playing a ton of recently minor league players, the players that have been called up are nothing more than bench players or career minor leaguers. On top of that, the acquisitions this past off-season pretty much go contrary to the idea of “going young”. The Carlos Pena signing was inexplicable especially now with Tyler Colvin only getting playing time because Alfonso Soriano doesn’t know how to stretch before the game. Tom Ricketts said it when he first bought the team and he has repeated it in the 19 months since that the Cubs were going to be going younger. One problem with that, you have to have the talent in your farm system to do that. That means when you actually do have the talent, you don’t trade half of it away for a fly ball pitcher with emotional control issues.

So, yes, the media had its chance to pile on the Ricketts family during the off day yesterday. That off day was quite convenient for the reporters who got a day to digest the stupidest comment made by an owner in some time when before Wednesday’s game Tom Ricketts answered the question What’s wrong with this team with “Nothing. Just a lot of injuries.”

Wrong. There is plenty of wrong with this team and it starts with the fact the Crane Kenney is still the team president.

So why not have the Major League Baseball front office just pile on as well? Well, guess what. They have. The Tribune reported today that the Cubs are in violation of the MLB’s debt rules. I don’t know what that entirely means. I’m not a financial whiz by any stretch, but I do know that in an bad economy, were your sources of revenue are suffering significantly (the fans), the product you are putting on the field is bad and your facilities are falling apart, having a $450 million debt that is due to be payed in relatively short order is probably not a good thing. The Cubs have been lumped into the same class as teams like the Mets and Dodgers who we all know are in serious financial trouble. That’s kinda scary.

As the article states, unlike some teams, like the Mets, the Cubs financial issues actually are not payroll (believe it or not) or facilities related, but most likely due to the enormous amount of financing that was required by TribCo in the sale of the team. The financing was required by Sam Zell to help alleviate some of capital gains tax that the Tribune would have to pay as a result of the sale of the team. That meant the Ricketts family had to borrow a ton of money during a time when borrowing money was virtually impossible. This was the primary reason that Mark Cuban removed himself from contention for the team. Borrowing money to by the Cubs was extremely expensive. And now, the team’s value is probably far below that sale amount of $850 million.

So, there you have it. The Cubs are a mess. I know it. The bloggers know it. The reporters know it. The fans know it. Major League Baseball knows it.

Unfortunately, it appears Tom Ricketts doesn’t know it.

This isn't helping anything, Tom.

What’s even worse is that the fans just don’t seem to care anymore. The Bulls, Bears and Blackhawks have been able to satisfy the Chicago sports fan over the last few years and the need to go to Wrigley to sit in cramped seats, pay $7 for beer and watch Koyie Hill ground out weakly to third base is just not there right now.

The Ricketts family has done a wonderful job at pretending to listen to everyone. In the end, they need to get the hell out of the way and hire someone to listen to the right people and, more importantly, follow through and get this organization headed in the right direction again.

The first thing to do is to fire Crane Kenney and bring in a real baseball man to run this team from top to bottom. It is absolutely inexplicable that Crane Kenney still has a job with this team.

That new team president then needs to bring in a GM who has some idea of how to build a modern roster and set up an organizational philosophy throughout the farm system and then learn to draft players who meet that philosophy.

Then, that president probably needs to bring in a new marketing guy for this team. Things have not been the same for the Cubs since John McDonough left. Has anyone noticed the significant drop in promotional giveaways at Wrigley the last two years? I guess it would be difficult to market anything about this team, but a smart marketing guy like McDonough can still get the job done. That sounds a little contrary to my philosophy of focusing on the baseball on the field, but marketing goes far beyond finding people to sing the 7th inning stretch. Marketing is revenue generation.

Once that is done, Tom Ricketts should only worry about signing checks, raising money to fix the stadium and figuring out some way to get this team out of its significant debt.

When all that happens, the fans will show up again.

Behind the scenes at the organizational meetings

The Cubs organizational meetings begin today.

I’m not sure anyone truly knows everything that goes on at these meetings...until now!

I just happened to get a transcript of the first meetings there were held today.

In the room was Crane Kenney, Jim Hendry, Todd Ricketts, Laura Ricketts and Tom Ricketts (Pete is in Florida on holiday).

Crane: “First order of business, this Mesa vote thing. Let’s assume the voters in Mesa do what we all know needs to be done and throw the White Sox out of Arizona and allow us to take over their spring training facility…so what then?”

Tom: “Um…no…Crane, they’re voting on allowing the city to fund a new spring training facility of our own. It will be great and it will be like our very own form of Disneyland. ”

Hendry: “Will it be near a donut shop?”

Laura: “No, Jim. There will be no donut shop near the new spring training facility.”

Hendry: “Damn!”

Crane: “Next order of business…who will be our next manager.”

Todd: “I think we should pick Ryne Sandberg. He’s cute.”

Tom: “Um…Jim has already selected us a new manager.”

Crane: “What? You never even consulted me?”

Laura: “Well, we left you a memo last week, Crane.”

Crane: “Oh, well, I haven’t been to my office in 3 months.”

Todd: “Oh…well, cool. I’m glad we have Ryno aboard, then.”

Hendry: “Um, sorry Todd. I chose Mike Quade.”

Todd: “But he’s bald!”

Tom: “So?”

Todd: “Well, isn’t Ryno pissed?”

Tom: “ Yeah, but we’re going to put a statue of him up at Wrigley next season to make him happy again. We plan to put it in left field…we figure it will play better defense than Soriano anyway.”

Crane: “Ok, well, I guess that’s settled. Next up, payroll. What will it be next season?”

Tom: “Well, the Giants just won the World Series and their payroll was $96 million this past season. I believe, in order for us to compete, we’ll make the sacrifice financially and raise our payroll to about that level this coming year, if you all are ok with that.”

Laura: “Works for me.”

Todd: “Seems a bit high.”

Jim: “Um…guys…um…we have two problems here. First, our payroll this past season was almost $50 million more than that.”

Tom: “Really? CRANE! Why don’t you tell me these things?”

Crane: “I had no idea.”

Laura: “WTF, Jim…you’re telling me we gave you $146 million last year and the best you could do was fifth place in our division?”

Tom: “Well, even so, it looks like $96 million should be enough for us to win the World Series next year, so I think we’ll just stick with that.”

Hendry: “That brings me to problem number two. Right now we are committed to paying $95 million to 9 players under contract already for next year.”

Laura: “Dammit, Jim! What the heck were you thinking? Who are we paying all that money to?”

Hendry: “Soriano, Zambrano, Dempster, Grabow, Byrd, Ramirez, Silva, Samardzija, and Kosuke.”

Tom: “Holy crap, Jim….you seriously didn’t give all those guys long extended contracts…did you?”

Hendry: “Um…no…that was the GM before me.”

Laura: “You’ve been GM for 8 years.”

Hendry: “Oh.”

Tom: “Ok…what if we say the payroll should be about $135 million…will that work?”

Hendry: “No.”

Crane: “Can I get a raise?”

Laura: “NO! Next agenda item?”

Crane: “Damn…ok…um…areas of focus for improving the ballclub.”

Todd: “We could use a new manager.”

Laura: “Todd, shut up! Sandberg will not be the manager.”

Tom: “What about first base?”

Hendry: “Micah Hoffpauir.”

Tom: “I repeat, what about first base?”

Hendry: “Xavier Nady.”

Tom: “Jim, shut up.”

Laura: “Make every effort to get Mark Grace.”

Hendry: “He’s retired. Micah Hoffpauir is looking a lot better now, doesn’t he?”

Tom: “Jim, go out and get Adam Dunn. Ok...second base.”

Hendry: “Blake DeWitt.”

Tom: “Wrong, try again.”

Hendry: “Ronnie Ced….oops…I mean Darwin Barney.”

Laura: “Good grief!”

Hendry: “I think Aaron Miles is available in free agency.”

Todd: “Ryne Sandberg?”

Tom: “All of you shut up. Go out and get Orlando Hudson. He’s not great…but he’s a lot better than any of the other crap you’ve brought in here the last 3 years.”

Laura: “What’s left on the agenda for today, Cranie?”

Crane: “Renovations and improvements to the ballpark.”

Laura: “Ok, boys…I want you to give me all your ideas here…what should we do with that old place.”

Hendry: “A donut shop would go over big.”

Crane: “How about getting rid of the old crappy scoreboard in centerfield?”

Todd: “We should have clowns, jugglers and magicians going around the ballpark to entertain the fans…to distract them from what’s going on in the field.”

Tom: “How about knocking out some more ramps and putting in more troughs to pee in.”

Laura: “You’re all idiots. Forget it…we’ll just take out some more of those concrete slabs and add bison pretzels to the concessions.”

Crane: “Is that it for today? I want to go out and get a manicure.”

Tom: “Yes. Well done everyone. I think we are finally moving in the right direction!”

Jim Hendry should be promoted

The question of what the Cubs should do with GM Jim Hendry has been asked for a long time now. I said previously that he should be fired.

I was wrong.

He should be promoted.

What?

Yes…the Cubs should fire Crane Kenney and promote Jim Hendry to president of the Cubs.

Here is why.

First off, while Jim Hendry has been widely accused of overspending on players, many sources have reported that this wasn’t entirely his fault. Near the end of their time as owners, the Tribune Company pretty much gave the directive to Hendry to “win at all costs” which pushed him to over pay for players that, while may have been the best available, were probably not the best fit for this team. Dave Kaplan supposedly has even said that the Soriano signing wasn’t even Hendry’s doing.

Second, if you blame Hendry for the current mess that the 25 man roster is right now, well, you also have to give him credit for the state of the farm system which has started to produce some nice players. Tim Wilken, the Cubs scouting director, is a Hendry guy. He has done a very good job at rebuilding a farm system that was pretty much garbage. And there are a number of other front office people that Hendry has brought in that are doing a very good job as well. If Jim Hendry were to get fired, most of those people, including Tim Wilken, would probably leave out of loyalty.

Finally, despite what you think about Jim Hendry, the truth is, they Cubs had their most successful stretch under Hendry since the early 1970’s….and in-fact, have achieved more during that stretch than the Cubs have during any other stretch of time in almost a century. He should be rewarded for that.

Let Jim Hendry stick around and give him some different responsibilities. We all know that Crane Kenney doesn’t do anything as president, so let Jim take that position…that way we keep all the other good people that are currently in the organization and we still get what we want, a new GM.

This all sounds fine and easy…and, I know things aren’t this simple…but I think this idea of promoting Hendry instead of firing him is something worth considering.

Why does Crane Kenney have a job?

I'm not quite sure what the purpose of the Cubs having a team president is.  He doesn't own the team.  He doesn't make personnel decisions.  So what exactly does Crane Kenney do?  (Well, besides making completely stupid and insane statements.)

On Thursday, when Crane Kenney gave his "State of the Cubs" press conference thingy, and when asked about Lou Piniella's expiring contract and whether or not he'll stay on as manager after the 2010 season, Kenney responded with this:

"If he feels well and wants to keep going, we'll have an interesting conversation."

What?

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

You don't want him back? Why would you put an almost "lame duck" tag on a manager right before the season starts?

If you ask Jim Hendry, the decision is up to Lou if he wants to come back.  If you ask our insect overloads, the decision is up to Lou if he wants to come back.  Then this jack-ass is asked and he says that they would need to discuss it.

Huh?

Why would Kenney even be involved?  But lets say he is involved. The only interesting part, in a conversation like that, is what the number should be before the six zeros for a salary on his new contract.

Kenney inherited his job when John McDoughnah left the Cubs during the 2008 season.  He had been the executive overseer of the Cubs for the Tribune Company before that.  All he did was wear a nice suit and tie to Tribune Tower, and look at the financial numbers to make sure the Cubs helped keep the whole company out of bankruptcy for as long as they could.

So the Cubs were sold and they no longer had an owner that was a faceless corporation with a bunch of lackeys overseeing their last prized possession.  The Ricketts family took over.  They've been visible.  They've been hands on.  They appear to be intimately involved in much of the non-baseball operations of the team.  Jim Hendry and Lou Piniella are in charge of the on field operations

So, what does Crane Kenney do?  I was stunned that the Crickets kept the position of team president, especially knowing the likelihood that they would be as hands on as they are.  But they did decide to keep the position.  That's fine.  It's not a bad thing to have a person to take the heat for some of the decisions, as an advisor or something of the sort.  But why keep Kenney?  He's just a suit, a generic corporate executive.  Don't you want a baseball person in that position? Here are some of the other people around baseball who are team presidents: John Schuerholz, Walt Jocketty, Bill DeWitt, Andy McPhail, Larry Lucchino, David Dombrowski, Nolan Ryan, Paul Beeston...all people with extensive histories in baseball. Another 8 to 10 presidents are part of the ownership groups for their teams. A handful of teams don't even have team presidents.

Their are 4 principle owners with the Cubs...the four Ricketts kids. (I'm excluding the fact the Tribune still owns 5% of the team.) Tom is chairman of the board. So make Laura the president or something.

Kenney should have been removed as president the day he brought that orthodox priest to the park before the 2008 playoffs. And it didn't help his case as he would constantly trot buddies of his around the clubhouse during the 2009 season, as if he was a kid showing off a new toy.

The incident on Thursday just adds to the list.

This guy is lucky to have his job and I hope the Ricketts family really examines the executive structure of the team during this season. Kenney adds nothing to the franchise. Either eliminate the position or bring in a smart baseball person to run the day to day operations of the team. Don't keep this guy on as a spokesperson for the ownership group...because really, that's all he is right now, and he doesn't do a very good job of that.

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Well, yesterday was a bit of an eye opener for me. A couple of observations that I made...

Tyler Colvin has been really impressive this spring...more so than any other player in camp. I'm not sure what the Cubs have planned for him in the future, but this kid isn't too far away from making a contribution to some team. The outfield is kinda clogged up right now. Soriano is signed through the next millennium. Byrd has a back weighted 3 year deal. Fukudome and Nady are around for a little yet.

If Colvin goes to Iowa this year and does what Fox did last year and Hoffpauir did two years ago, the Cubs will have to make some decisions.

It's really good to see...that's for sure.  It's been a while since the Cubs have had so many young (and by young, I mean under 25) position players that have sparked this much excitement and interest. 

The other observation?  Samardzija is better than he was, but he still appears to need some polishing if he is to make a positive contribution at the big league level. 

Gorzelanny pitched well yesterday, and may have taken the lead in the 5th starter sweepstakes. Spellcheck was rocked a bit by the Brewers yesterday. He gave up a 3 run shot to (who else...) Jim Edmonds. He gave up another homer right after that too.

The Brewers rocked the Cubs 12-3 yesterday in the first of the two games. Then last night the Cubs beat the Sox in Vegas 6-5. Neither games was hugely interesting.

Today, the Cubs play the Reds in Arizona at 2pm CT (or right now!) and an hour later, the Cubs meet the Sox again in Vegas. Marshall is starting against the Reds as he tries to stake claim to the 5th start slot. Ryan Dempster wills start against the Sox.

One last note: Starlin Castro was 0-3 yesterday. The Cubs should probably release the kid. He's no good. :)

The State of the Cubs (with commentary)

Crain Kenney, the man who's lucky to even have a job, addressed the media today giving us almost no new information about the state of the Cubs as an organization.

Carrie Muskat sums everything up for us.

And I'm going to add smart-ass commentary to it.

First, about the new spring training facility:

The plan for the Cubs' facility can be managed through the Mesa property tax referendum, that will happen in November, and the car rental tax. The proposed Cactus League ticket surcharge is not needed for what the Cubs are building, Kenney said. The team needs $84 million to build the facility, and a portion of that comes from the city of Mesa, a portion comes from the state and a portion comes from the Cubs

So it looks like the "Cubs Tax" is out. Darn. I wanted Sox fans to pay for this place. Dammit!

Even if the referendum passes in November, Kenney expected the Cubs would play two more years at their current site in Mesa.

No matter what, they will only play at their current site for 2 more years because the apocalypse comes in 2012.

Triangle building: ... Kenney said they're halfway through finalizing those plans. The goal is to complete it by 2014, which is the 100-year anniversary of Wrigley Field.

Four more years before we see the Triangle building? Boo!!! Expect an actual plan and new pretty drawings for this building to be unveiled around All-Star break (to help distract us from the horrible season the team is having).

The men's and women's restrooms on the concourse level have been renovated. 

 They've installed the latest cow feeding troughs from all the most modern farms.  Enjoy peeing in them, guys!

The scoreboard is being re-faced

 Instead of green, it's going to be a wonderful shade of purple.

The batting tunnel in the outfield is being turned into a lounge and there will be a one-way window in which fans can watch players hit.

 So you can flip off Soriano during batting practice, and he won't be able to see you.

There's $100 million budgeted for restoration and renovation of the stadium.

That's a lot of money for troughs.

Player development: The Cubs have added an academy in the Dominican Republic and expanded their scouting internationally to try and develop players in the system. The future is bright with players like Andrew Cashner, Brett Jackson, Starlin Castro and Tyler Colvin in the system. Kenney said that's a credit to people in the organization like Tim Wilkens, Paul Weaver and Jose Serra, among others.

I can't make fun of this.  Good work, guys!

Team payroll: Kenney said the situation has improved with the Ricketts family because they are not putting a penny in their pockets, but re-investing all profits into the team and the facilities. "Every time we can stage a concert or a hockey game or a football game or bring a new marketing partner in or find a way to grow the business, it directly impacts what we can do on the field and with the facility," Kenney said.

Great...more concerts so we can pay for more players like Carlos Silva.

If the Cubs need to make a player move by the trading money, Kenney said GM Jim Hendry should have funds. A year ago, the team owner was bankrupt and the sale was still being finalized. It's a different situation with the Ricketts family in control.

So hurry up and trade for Kerry Wood!

Kenney said the Cubs have a long-term agreement with WGN-TV and they have not forgotten how important broadcasting the games on that station are.

I've forgotten.  I WANT A CUBS NETWORK!

Free agents: What will the Cubs do with Derrek Lee and Ted Lilly, who are in the last year of their contracts? "That will be down the road and that will be mostly Jim," Kenney said.

Trade 'em.

Lou Piniella: This is Piniella's last season on his contract. Kenney said they will talk at some point.
"If he feels well and wants to keep going, we'll have an interesting conversation," Kenney said. "He's done a great job. He's raised the bar and that's a little bit of the burden we all carry now. As I tell everybody in our organization, it's a lot better than being picked to finish fourth or fifth and having everybody talk about failure all the time."

Um, I hate to tell you, but there are a lot of people picking the Cubs to finish fourth this year.  Fire him. 

Ok...that's all.  Like I said, nothing new here.  So BLAH!

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Silva pitched a scoreless 1st.  So the Cubs have declared him ready to be the #5 starter.