Insert Hendry joke here __________

The Yankees hired Jim Hendry as special assistant to GM Brian Cashman and special assignment scout.

This obviously has spun off a ton of smart ass comments...so here are a few:

• Jim Hendry has been named Executive VP of Doughnut Operations of the Yankees.
• Yankees hope to lure Alfonso Soriano home.
• Jim Hendry:  Assistant to the Traveling Secretary.  
• Yankees continue to pluck former Cubs to create a culture of losing.
• A-Rod signs contract extension for $300 million through the year 2042.
• Hendry looks to reunite Aaron Miles, Milton Bradley and Jason Marquis in New York.
• Yankees look to re-sign Jorge Posada to a backloaded, 8 year contract.
• Restaurants in the Bronx rejoice!
• Constantly winning is boring.
• Cubs fans eagerly wait news of Crane Kenney joining the Yankees.
• Yankees look to rework all contracts to include no-trade clauses.
• The Yankees actually hired Hendry 4 months ago, but kept it a secret.
• The Yankees decide to start ignoring all advanced statistics.
• George Costanza has finally been replaced.
• The job of Jim Hendry's dream.  Unlimited money to spend!
• This is the compensation to the Red Sox for Theo Epstein.

And the jokes keep coming.

Do you have any to add?

Jim Hendry's plan to turn this team around.

After listening and reading various comments made recently by Cubs General Manager, Jim Hendry, this is what I have determined to be his big plan to turn this team around for the 2012 season.

Step 1: Let huge contracts expire and go off the books.
Step 2:
Step 3: World Series title.

I can't see how this plan can fail.

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.

Hop into my time machine...Hendry selecting his new manager.

October 15th, 2010

Tom Ricketts office…

Jim Hendry walks in.

Hendry: “Well, Tom, we narrowed down our list of candidates, you’ve interviewed them all and it is now time to make a decision on who our next manager is going to be.”

Tom: “Well, Jim, yes it is time. And that’s Mr. Ricketts to you.”

Hendry: “So, Mr. Ricketts, you have anything to add to this before I tell you who I have selected?”

Tom: “Ok…just to review, I’ve interviewed Quade, Ryno, Listach, Valentine, Gonzalez, Brenly, and Wedge… all these candidates seem great and will probably do a great job as manager. So the decision, then, is yours, Jim.”

Hendry: “Great, well, then here is who I have selected…”

Tom: “OOOHH!!! This is exciting!”

Hendry: “Fredi Gonzalez.”

Tom: “Um…ok any of those candidates except him. Try again.”

Hendry: “Oh…crap…really?  Ok, well, then I select Mike Quade.”

Tom: “Or him.”

Hendry: “What the hell? Surely, you can’t be serious.”

Tom: “I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley…it’s Mr. Ricketts to you.”

Hendry: “Erik Wedge?”

Tom: “Wrong”

Hendry: “Listach, Valentine, Brenly””

Tom: “Nope, nope, and nope…anyone else on our short list but them.”

Hendry: “Sandberg.”

Tom: “Really? You think Ryno is the best choice to manage the team? Wow! I would never have thought that. Good call, Jim. Go have yourself a cheeseburger.”

Hendry: “Thanks, Mr. Ricketts.”

Don't worry, Tom Ricketts won't have any say in this process, my friends.

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.

Hey...is there any way this team can win the first game of a series?

I've been off in house shopping hell over the last few days.

And once again, the Cubs dropped a series opener last night.

Why is this a big deal? Well, the Cubs haven't won a series opener since May 25th. Since then, the Cubs have managed to win only one series. When you consistently lose the first game of a 3 game series, it becomes extremely difficult to win that series. The likelihood of them coming back and winning the next two games against a surging Mariners team is remote at this point...boo!

I haven't really reported here since the LOHO get-together on Saturday...which was loads of fun (well except for the game)...but it really appears there is currently a common thread amongst most (not all) Cubs fans right now...they don't want Lou Piniella fired. And believe it or not, I understand why. But basically every reason is based on compassion for the best Cubs manager in the last 20 years. I feel letting Lou (and Jim Hendry) go is, logically, the right move.

 "So, Lou, the retirement home is over there."

(Otto Greule Jr, Getty Images)

This team is not going to win the division or even make it to the playoffs this year. Hopes for a turnaround are practically pointless. Why? Because this team is showing no signs of being able to turn things around.

Here is something else...

Often times we hear the term (especially during this season) that the Cubs let a game slip away. Basically, what this means is that the Cubs had a game that was winnable (like last night), but were unable to come up with any big hits, or the bullpen let them down late in the game.

We have had a lot of that this year.

But, when was the last time the Cubs "stole a win"...meaning that they came from behind in a game that looked as if they where going to lose?

Honestly...I can't think of any games like that over the last month and a half. The most statistical way to look at this is what the Cubs record is in 1 and 2 run games. I don't have the time to look it up, but I bet that record is horrendous right now.

Ok...so back to Piniella...with the season a lost cause, you start looking what what changes can be made for the future. I don't see any way in hell that Piniella will come back next year. So why keep him around for a lost season?

Rebuilding this team starts at the top...and Jim Hendry and Lou Piniella should be replaced...now! My feeling is (and it is based on nothing) that the Ricketts family wants Ryne Sandberg to be the next manager. So bring him up now. Let him manage this group of clowns and see if anything comes from it. If this job is completely over Sandberg's head...well, we will have lost nothing since the season is pretty much over anyway and then the Cubs can go ahead and search for the next Joe Maddon.

There is no reason to take a chance on Sandberg next year when we can find out about his managerial ability now. Why possibly waste another season?

My biggest issue with Sandberg being a big league manager has been the idea that Sandberg would be able to gain the respect of veteran players. He has proven himself with young players...but I'm not sure if his style would actually work with a team of veterans. What better way to find out than to have him manager this group of jokers?

The Cubs trade options are quite limited right now...no body wants Kosuke...Derrek Lee waives his no-trade clause around like a WWII veteran waiving a flag at a Fourth of July parade. So that leaves nothing except new management.

I'll keep harping on this all year (or at least until the Cubs get above .500).

Ok...back to house issues.

(And at least Milton Bradley went 0-3 last night.)

Time to start the list...preliminary list of reasons to fire Jim Hendry

I'm not entirely saying the Cubs need to fire Jim Hendry yet...but with loss number 7 in the last 8 games, even my magic can't help this team any more.  Yes, last night was my first live loss of the year.

So now the time has come to start assembling a list of reasons to fire this man who has been GM of the Cubs for almost 8 years.

1. Back-weighted contracts:  This, unfortunately, has become a way of life in baseball...back-weighted contracts to veteran players that end up paying a majority of the money when the player is past his prime is part of the business now.  I'm not saying this behavior is Jim Hendry's fault, but he has used this policy quite frequently and the Cubs have had to suffer the last two seasons because of it.
2. Jeff Samardzija's contract:  A lot of people will disagree with me on this.  Fine, I don't care.  I didn't like this contract.  I like Jeff Samardzija...and I love Notre Dame (so shoot me!)...but this contract was a poor move for a team who, looking at the contracts it had, was going to have payroll problems in the future.
3. Jeff Samardzija's development:  Is he a starter?  Is he a reliever?  I don't know...and it appears the Cubs don't either.  In their rush to make their poor investment choice pay off, the Cubs brought Samardzija up to the big leagues way way too early and while all of his time in the minor leagues (until this year) has been spent trying to develop Spellcheck into a starting pitcher, almost every time he is brought up to the Cubs, he is used as a reliever.  No wonder this hasn't worked out.  Keep he down in the minors and let the kid learn how to pitch.  Geez.
4. Felix Pie:  Another mishandling of a young player.  Pie was never used as a lead-off hitter in the minor leagues.  The Cubs brought him up and told him that he will suddenly become a lead-off hitter.  Then he failed...and the Cubs basically ran him out of town.  Boo!
5. Rudy Jaramillo:  He'll solve all our offensive woes!  WRONG!  Hitting coaches don't make that much of a difference.  It's the talent, stupid!
6. John Grabow:  Inexplicable.  Positively inexplicable.
7. The Alfonso Soriano contract:  I never liked it, and I never will.  The Cubs were bidding against themselves when Fonzi was a free agent.  Here is a free piece of advice...if most other teams are shying away from signing a player...find out why!  The Rangers didn't want him.  The Nationals didn't want to re-sign him.  Why? 
8. Starlin Castro:  I'm going to write up more about this later tonight when I get home from work...but he doesn't belong here right now.
9. Aaron Miles replaces Mark DeRosa:  What can I say here?
10. Kevin Gregg replaces Kerry Wood:  Yes, the team was strapped for cash.  But Kevin Gregg was removed as a closer in Florida in 2008.  Why?  Because he wasn't very good at that roll.  Kerry Wood would have given the Cubs a discount for keeping him.  Yes, he was injury prone.  Yes, he's been less than successful in Cleveland.  But this still was a bad trade-off.
11. Milton Bradley:  Blame the media for driving Bradley out of town...fine!  But Hendry said that no one could have predicted that the media would do this to him.  WRONG!  I, and many others, predicted, almost exactly, the course of events that happened during Bradley's one year stay in Chicago.  The media is what it is, like it or not.  While we should trying to work to get the media to behave better, that process isn't going to fix itself overnight.  But back to the point, Jim Hendry had once again bid against himself to get Milton in a market with a large number of other free agent outfielders were available, and available for a low price...and Jim Hendry picked the one that no one else wanted, paid him more than any other player, and gave him more years than any of those other players. 

There are more reasons than this, this is just a preliminary list.  I have a longer list...but that will have to wait until my deadline for this team to turn it around at the end of the month.  Add more reasons in the commentes if you want.