NOW Can Tommy Boy Finally Evaluate Jim Hendry?
If there’s one sports radio refrain that annoys me, it’s, “Tom Ricketts is being SO SMART AND CAREFUL about his evaluation of Jim Hendry.” Bullshit. The Cubs are now halfway through their first season under Ricketts’ ownership. They’re 39-50, with the third-highest payroll in all of Major League Baseball. The only two more expensive teams are the 56-32 Yankees and the 51-37 Red Sox, both of whom play in a far tougher division than the Cubs do. The Cubs are saddled with the following virtually untradeable contracts: Alfonso Soriano, Kosuke Fukudome, Carlos Zambrano, Aramis Ramirez, Jeff Samardzija, and John Grabow. Jim Hendry built this team.
I don’t understand why some people are acting like Ricketts is evaluating Hendry in a vacuum. Yes, Ricketts didn’t own the team until last fall, but it’s not as though he’s Leonard from Memento. It’s not as though Hendry’s entire body of work couldn’t have been known prior to Ricketts taking control of the team. Hendry has been the general manager for over eight years. Certainly, someone in the front office wrote down the things he’s done in those eight years. He’s exhibited a pretty clear pattern of (1) making trades which have either worked out well (Lee, Ramirez), worked out terribly (Pierre), even if the idea was good (Nomar), or been completely baffling and pointless (Trachsel); (2) handed out far too many years at free agents, whether they’ve worked out (Soriano) or not (Marquis); (3) given a no-trade clause to every asshole who’s asked for one (Samardzija); and (4) torpedoed the trade value of several of his players just before he ships them out of town (Farnsworth, Patterson, Sosa, Pie, Bradley, possibly Zambrano). Why would Ricketts assume that Hendry would change his managerial style going forward?
How long did it take Hendry to replace Derrek Lee during the 2006 season, and why did we have to wait that long for Phil Nevin? Why did Greg Maddux have to trade himself for Cesar Izturis? Why hasn’t there been a backup third baseman on the roster for the past couple of seasons? Why wasn’t Dusty Baker fired after the debacles that were the end of the 2004 season, all of the 2005 season, and all of the 2006 season? WHY IS DARYLE WARD GONE?
A popular counter-argument has become, “It’s not Jim Hendry’s fault that Aramis and Lee aren’t hitting.” No shit. It’s also not Lou Piniella’s fault, yet a disturbing number of fans have decided to crucify him. But it is Jim Hendry’s fault that the oft-injured Angel Guzman was expected to play a crucial role in the bullpen. It is his fault that, once again, there was no legitimate backup for Aramis Ramirez. It is his fault that- well, Jeff Samardzija.
Some fans argue that a switch now won’t help the team. Why not? If this isn’t Hendry’s team moving forward, it stands to reason that a new G.M. should take over prior to the trade deadline. 2010 is over. I’m frustrated to the point where I don’t even care if Hendry is the G.M. in 2011. But cut the wishy-washy nonsense. There’s no reason a decision on Hendry couldn’t have already been made. And if it has been made already, God help us all.
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BigFlax
PenFoe
StPatrick
CT
CactusMcHarris
I have to agree here. It’s not like the general public, including Cubs-fan Ricketts hasn’t seen what Jimmy been able to (not) accomplish. The only thing that changes now if that Tommy gets to see what hasn’t been done and gets a cleared picture of why. I think a lot of folks were upset last year when the Peavy trade fell through. All we knew was that it was roughly a 4-1 or 5-1 deal. Some names were bandied about,but we have no idea how the actual negotiations went. Maybe Tyler Colvin was a must part of that deal. I think we’d all be happy knowing that trigger wasn’t pulled.
Regardless, the smart business play is to get this out of the way now. However, the Ricketts have made it clear they’re going to give it a year. So we wait….some more…again
I completely fucking agree with everything written here, including the first comment. I was going to contribute my own thoughts…but when I actually tried to put all of that frustration and disgust with the baffling stupidity of this entire organization (except lazy Aramis, he pwnz) into words, my vision started to blur as my brain cramped up into a huge headache.
It was like my thought process concerning this team got all jammed up like that car crash at the end of The Blues Brothers. My nose might even be bleeding GOCUBSGOOOO-OH NO
@OMC – Maybe they could use dog years? This moron needs to go, he should have been fired immediately when he gave Noter Dame a no trade clause.
Screw Daryle Ward….I want good old Spliff Floyd back. Geovany just isn’t allowed to hang out with him.
WHY WASN’T THUNDER MATT MURTON EVER GIVEN A FAIR SHAKE?
Just thought I’d join the SHOUTING IN ALL CAPS party.
How much do you hold Hendry accountable since November 2009? I don’t see the point in cutting Soriano & saying good bye to his contract. I’d rather have him at 18M than Fuk at 12M
Hendry has demonstrated an arrogant and baffling attachment to strategies that have failed more than they’ve succeeded. This kind of obstreperous commitment to failed paradigms is what Captains of Industry and Innovation like Ricketts are supposed to detest. It’s an old refrain, but as long as Cubs ownership can make more money relying on the devotion of fans to a mediocre team than by being committed to building a viable long term contender, we’re going to keep getting what we’ve always gotten. I think the consensus is that those years when we contended were largely the result of Hendry (at the behest of the Tribune Co.) spending whatever it took and mortgaging whatever was necessary to build a short-term contender and pump up the team’s sale price. Cubs fans (myself included) reward this failure, and in return ownership will continue to reward its buffoonish architects (Hendry, Crane, et al). I agree with you 100% that Hendry is a terrible GM from the perspective of those of us who want a winning baseball team. But from the perspective of ownership, I think he’s a usefully halfwitted company man who will do as he’s told and keep humming whatever idiot tune he’s taught.
There is talk of unloading one of those big contracts, but it involves a low-cost role player. When the Phillies come into town , just after the all-star break, they intend to depart with an infielder, to deal with injuries they have. They really can’t wait for the July 31 trade deadline. They are one of six teams that has inquired about Mike Fontenot,, as he doesn’t get to play, anyway. The Cubs may not get much money for him, but they are trying to get rid of one of their more expensive contracts, as part of the deal. My source does not know which player, probably as it is yet to be worked out or agreed upon. The deal may never get done, as other teams are also looking for infield help. The Cubs, reportedly are offering Theriot at a higher price, but with no strings attached. The other problem is that Fontenot’s shoes have to be custom made, as the professional model does not come in size 6½ Wide, and the youth model has only molded cleats. Players have to wear shoes in their team’s colors, and the Phillies wear red. Even though the decision is not his to make, we could have Font-a-thon replacing LeBron-a-thon, as the new intrigue. If you stand them next to each other, Mikey comes up a little past LeBron’s waist.
101 losing years and the Cubs are starting over again?? WTF??
It’s Year One, you fool.
IMHO, the Ricketts have two options:
1) Fire Sweet Lou and the rest of the coaching staff, and replace them with Marine Corps Drill Instructors (okay, you got any other ideas on how to fix the lack of discipline, lack of fundamentals and overall malaise on this unorganized grabass masquerading as a Major leauge Basesall team?)
2) Fire Hendry and Lou, promote Ryne Sandberg to the Cubs manager, dump as many bodies off the roster that you can, and start building from the farm system. The way I see it, the sooner the Cubs begin the inevitable purge the better.
Great comment, blueslacker.
On a hunch, Wally Hayward will get more power as Kenny and hopefully Cruller Jim are shown the door.
Going off-topic, Marion Byrd, aka the Cubs only representative on the NL Al-Stars, scored the go-ahead run and make a critical 9th inning play to help win the game.
That means that the eventual NL champion, even if said champion finishes 81-81, will have home field advantage in the 2010 World Series…with no small help from a representative from one of the worst teams in baseball. And Marion Byrd’s 2010 salary is barely a dent in the #2 highest payroll in MLB.
Eventual 2010 NL champs…you’re welcome.
@DVXPrime – Hope it’s not the Reds, Joey Votto is a douche
http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/1474/byrd-helps-nl-with-bat-glove
@santo10 –
Hope it’s not the Cardinals either (1 game back).
Gonna be a long-ass summer.
@santo10 – All I know is, Joey Votto’s getting booed every time I see him in a game. What a useless flaming sack of crap.
Ok, hear me out on the Hendry situation……..
Let me preface by saying he is terrible and absolutely needs to go. My gut is that he IS gone along with Lou in November.
The reasons you don’t do it now, and let him finish out the season are:
1. You can cast a wider net to replace him during the off season. Beinfest, Daniels and Huntington absolutely deserve consideration for the job. Yet there is no way you can interview them during the season.
2. Who takes the job on an interim basis? Why pay 2 guys for 3 more months of work?
3. You aren’t getting any top shelf prospects for anyone we are trading. Why make a hasty GM hire in July?
4. Hendry does have some level of familiarity with the other GM’s. So even if its dealing Lee, Lilly and Nady for 6 level C prospects. At least he has shown capable enough to pull that off. Especially if its mandated from the owners box.
End of the day, getting the best GM going forward is more important than getting our “Pound of flesh” today. 3 more months isn’t hurting anything. Fire him in October and cast a wide net to look for replacements. Hopefully the list includes:
Logan White
Neal Huntington
Josh Byrnes
Larry Beinfest
Jon Daniels
Add another 5-8 candidates to that list, and we are starting to get somewhere.
If Lou or Hendry can solve the mystery of the big high heels, he should remain for the rest of the season.
@aaronb – My god please take Josh Byrnes off that list. As someone living in Arizona now who has seen what he helped do to that franchise, it would be in our best interest to keep him as far away from this team as possible.
Otherwise, pretty much totally agreed with you on waiting until the offseason to purge the front office.
If you followed AZ from day to day you would know better than me. I thought he would deserve an interview, simply because he did assemble a lot of young talent with a small payroll in AZ. Injuries have really derailed that team the last 2 seasons.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Byrnes
You could always promote from within on an interim basis. If the job of disposing of the Cubs’ veterans for prospects is so mindless that you would trust Hendry to do it, then why not let Wilkens or somebody else do it? Does Ricketts have a trusted baseball advisor to oversee baseball operations whether the GM is Hendry or someone else?
Also, does baseball prohibit employees from interviewing for positions with other teams if it involves a promotion?
@FrankS –
You could probably get interviews with guys like Byrnes who isn’t working, or Logan White who is in a scouting directors role.
However a Daniels,Huntington or Beinfest would most likely be off limits. Though any of the 3 would surely listen this winter.
And for all the Wilkens love thats been out there recently. The guy still hasn’t drafted a corner bat worth mention since he got here in 2005. He is just like Hendry in that he loves athletes over ballplayers. Unless we are looking to deal Lilly, Lee and Nady for 8 Minor league SS’s, I doubt he is the answer either.
This next GM hire is of the most vital importance. Ricketts needs to cast a wide net and get the best guy possible. Even if we have to wait til January.
I’m not saying that you can’t hire a new guy after the World Series. I’m just saying that I think Hendry either needs to be gone with an INTERIM GM taking his place or he needs someone with a clue (and apparently it isn’t Tom Ricketts who had no idea a team with so many holes before the season would be this bad while plenty of bloggers expected it) overseeing what he does.
I think that Ricketts probably had an idea. The fact that he didn’t let us add payroll and trade Tyler Colvin for bullpen help (Frasor/Gregerson were both mentioned) told us something.
This mess is all on Hendry. Sure can’t blame Ricketts for spending 140 Million on this trainwreck.
I get that they suck, but damn I actually wanted to watch tonights game, why are they still showing games on WCIU?
WCIU is a free channel, available to everyone in the Chicago area. It has an HD version, so you can watch it in widescreen. There is little news from the front office, probably due to the 3-day break. Players are trying not to sit next to Lou, as his farts are getting stinkier and more frequent. As of late, no one has admitted to owning the big high heels. Jeff Baker is only 29, but one of his butt cheeks has collapsed, like an old man’s, and it is NOT the one that got blistered. Ryan Theriot got the shits on Monday, after stuffing himself with wings at a BBQ. He wanted to keep other people from eating too many, he said. There are some men who sit along the first base side, who have long telephoto lenses, and take pictures of players private areas when they are bending over, stretching, etc. The photos can be had for a price at a store on Halsted and Grace. Just business as usual.
@aaronb – Byrnes has done some good things, especially with the payroll for the most part (Byrnes contract excluded). The problem with Byrnes is that almost all the hype with him was built off of just that, hype. There was a ton of talk about the good young talent he had assembled and what a great position he put this team in, except that very few of them actually turned into quality major league players. I mean the best player this year out of all that young talent (most in year 4 or 5 in the majors now) is their all-star by default Chris Young, who is batting .266 and has an ops of .735. Upton is having a down year and will most likely be the best player out of that group, but there still isn’t exactly a whole lot to show for the great young talent hype. His young talent has them at 34 wins to this point. Really the only major injury has been Webb and even with him healthy this team isn’t remotely close to the playoffs.
He has also managed to pretty much completely gut their minor league system of talent with trades the past few years. He’s left them with a terrible team and essentially no chance to rebuild through home-grown talent in the near future. He’s young and probably deserves another chance, especially if he learns from his mistakes. But honestly it would worry me having him run the Cubs, seeing the position he left that team in. I suppose an interview couldn’t hurt. And I probably should be thankful that he played a hand in me actually getting to watch the Cubs pull off a sweep here. My team may be shitty, but it’s not nearly as shitty as most people’s here.
@Collin –
From the sounds of things the Byrnes deal was a PR move by the owner. Also some of his moves ended up being hindered by cheap ownership (trading for Dunn, then not even offering arbitration, trading Valverde once he hit arbitration, etc.)
Not saying the guy is great by any means. Just that you have to judge his moves in the context they were made. If the owner overstepped him to resign Eric Byrnes. Then Arizona has been operating with a Pittsburgh Pirates/KC Royals level of payroll.
Too many people touted that guy to think he is a total incompetent. So he probably at least deserves an interview.
@Edelweiss – Why do your sources only seem to be in-tune to the bowel movements and flatulence of the team?
@SR My source tells me about other things, as well. There are certain things one cannot, and should not say on blogs, as they could be, first of all, not completely true, and secondly, very damaging to morale, and, thirdly, make my source not tell me anything again. That said, there are six items in my silly little ditty, and only two of them have to do with flatulence or BMs. There was one thing I neglected to mention, that is of the anal variety, sort of. One of the Cubs has been pulling an old trick I haven’t heard of since my college days – I graduated in 1966. He has been carefully putting Saran Wrap over the toilet bowls in the visitors clubhouse when the Cubs are on the road.. Hope Theriot doesn’t get the shits when that happens, unless he is the one doing it.
@aaronb – Agreed, it couldn’t hurt to give the guy an interview and see what he says outside of that ownership situation.
Excellent post.