Phil Rogers wonders how much longer Jim Hendry and Crane Kenney will be employed by the Cubs in his most recent article.
In baseball, you usually can see the end coming, whether it’s for a player, manager or executive. It was a relief for almost everyone, not a surprise, when Lou Piniella opted to resign last August. His team was in freefall, having lost 20 of 24, and a feeling of defeat had taken hold on the franchise.
That feeling has returned over the last couple of weeks. Recurring mistakes, a run of injuries and a lack of timely hitting have buried first-year manager Mike Quade under a 24-36 record, and both the schedule and the public outcry for change are unrelenting.
Something has to give, and probably soon, even if the calls for an organizational clean sweep have yet to penetrate the clubhouse doors.
I recently said that Mike Quade would be fired before long and I still believe that. Take the last two managers who have left mid-season. Don Baylor was fired in 2002 (Hendry was assistant GM) and Lou Piniella was forced to resign last season. The 2002 Cubs were 35-50 when Baylor was fired. The 2010 Cubs were 51-74 when Lou resigned. Baylor’s team was playing .408 ball while Lou’s team was playing .412 ball.
The 2006 team is the only other team in Hendry’s time with the Cubs as assistant GM or GM in which the team has played as poorly as that and that was in 2006. That is until 2011 of course. Baker was not fired as you know and was allowed to finish the season. Two other times though, the manager has been relieved of his duties.
You may say that Baylor and Lou were in the final season of their contract and that’s true, but each of those managers was due about the same amount of money after being let go as Quade is through the end of his contract. Money isn’t going to prevent the Cubs from firing Quade. It didn’t prevent them from spending the same amount in getting rid of Baylor or in getting Lou to retire. I doubt it stops them now.
The other thing to consider is that while actual attendance was down late in 2006, the reported attendance was 4,000 higher per game than it already is in 2011. The 2006 tickets sold were higher than in 2004 and 2003. Attendance is already down and it will only continue to decline. The empty seats we saw at the end of 2006 are already comparable to the empty seats we saw early in the 2011 season. The empty seats we see late this season will be similar to the empty seats we regulary saw in the 1980s and 1990s.
Even if it’s a mostly empyt gesture, the Cubs will have to be seen as doing something to correct the problems we see on the field. Unless this team turns it around, and if you look at the roster you realize that’s not possible, I find it hard to believe Quade lasts the entire season.
I also doubt Jim Hendry does either. I’m not sure what will happen with Crane Kenney and don’t actually care. Phil Rogers points out that Andrew Friedman is not under contracty by the Rays after this season so I wouldn’t be too surprised to see him named the next General Manager.
Comments
Nah, I’m gonna keep Friedman for the Rays.
MishQuote Reply
*schwing*
/preemptive faget
Rice CubeQuote Reply
i actually disagree- i dont think there is any way Quade gets fired this year. But he will be gone in the offseason. I fully expect Hendry to be fired any day now and Wilken to be named GM
dylanjQuote Reply
If we sign Andrew Friedman I would be thrilled. I would buy cubs merchandise to celebrate and I would start giving a shit about the team again
dylanjQuote Reply
[quote name=dylanj]i actually disagree- i dont think there is any way Quade gets fired this year. But he will be gone in the offseason. I fully expect Hendry to be fired any day now and Wilken to be named GM[/quote]If Hendry is fired, Quade is gone. A new GM is going to get his people in place. He’s not going to keep Quade. The only way you fire Hendry is if you want to make wholesale changes with the coaching staff. I would assume a new GM would come in and clean house with the coaching staff. I’d be surprised if Rudy Jaramillo was fired, but other than they’d be gone.
mb21Quote Reply
When the Dbacks fired their GM last year, he fired their manager. That’s just how it works. A new GM means new manager.
mb21Quote Reply
[quote name=mb21]I’d be surprised if Rudy Jaramillo was fired, but other than they’d be gone.[/quote]
I know he doesn’t have the best tools to work with to improve hitting, but I don’t think he’s immune to the chopping block.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Think of it this way, dj. You’re the new GM. The team’s performance reflects on your ability to do your job. Are you going to keep around the previous administration that has failed or go your own way? I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to let someone else’s hire reflect poorly on me. I can make enough bad decision to do that myself, but Jim Hendry’s hiring of Quade is not in any way going to reflect poorly on me. He gone.
mb21Quote Reply
[quote name=Rice Cube]I know he doesn’t have the best tools to work with to improve hitting, but I don’t think he’s immune to the chopping block.[/quote]You could be right, RC. I just think you have to keep someone around. I guess I wouldn’t be surprised if he was named the interim manager. It’s rare you fire everybody midseason.
mb21Quote Reply
I don’t want Wilken as the GM. I could actually see that happening, which pisses me off. Hadn’t thought of it before DJ mentioned it. I hope he’s wrong on that one.
mb21Quote Reply
I don’t even Wilken as the Scouting Director. If I’m Ricketts, the 3 people I make a point to fire in the near future are Hendry, Wilken and Quade.
mb21Quote Reply
[quote name=mb21]I don’t want Wilken as the GM. I could actually see that happening, which pisses me off. Hadn’t thought of it before DJ mentioned it. I hope he’s wrong on that one.[/quote]
He’s supposedly a good scout but I was just thinking that now, instead of drafting kids nobody’s ever heard of, now he’ll make weird Billy Beane-signings without the desired effects (dying laughing)
Rice CubeQuote Reply
I’m sure he’s a good scout, but for whatever reason it hasn’t worked with the Cubs. I don’t know whose fault that is. Maybe it’s not Wilken’s, but I guess I don’t care. The farm system is a reflection of the scouting director and it’s not that good. The Cubs had a better farm system when Stockstill was their scouting director.
mb21Quote Reply
Has Rudy J actually managed a team before? I thought he’s always been a hitting instructor.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
[quote name=Rice Cube]Has Rudy J actually managed a team before? I thought he’s always been a hitting instructor.[/quote]He has been, but it’s not that uncommon for interim managers to be guys with no experience (see Quade, Kimm, and many others).
mb21Quote Reply
Re: Friedman…how likely is it that he’d want to leave TB? I thought he was buddy-buddy with the owner.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
[quote name=Rice Cube]Re: Friedman…how likely is it that he’d want to leave TB? I thought he was buddy-buddy with the owner.[/quote]I don’t have any idea, but imagine what he could do with money. He has to know he could put together some ridiculously good teams if he had more money. That would seem appealing to me.
mb21Quote Reply
[quote name=mb21]I don’t have any idea, but imagine what he could do with money. He has to know he could put together some ridiculously good teams if he had more money. That would seem appealing to me.[/quote]
What are the rules for talking to GMs under contract? I often wonder what the Cubs would look like under Billy Beane but he’s a strange one…
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Anything is better than this. Maybe a new GM/manager combination can rip the bandaid off and let the healing begin.
joshQuote Reply
Incidentally, the A’s fired Bob Geren.
joshQuote Reply
[quote name=Josh]Incidentally, the A’s fired Bob Geren.[/quote]
After they drafted his son? That’s stone cold.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
[quote name=Josh]Incidentally, the A’s fired Bob Geren.[/quote]I don’t think we’re too far away from seeing Quade fired. This roster right now isn’t any good at all and there’s just no chance they even get lucky and start winning. I predict Quade is fired before the end of the month.
mb21Quote Reply
I honestly have no idea how interested Friedman would be in this job; I could see it going either way.
MishQuote Reply
[quote name=Mish]I honestly have no idea how interested Friedman would be in this job; I could see it going either way.[/quote]I don’t either. I just figure right now he’s a great GM who will have competitive teams and reach the postseason on occasion. With a team that has the money he could be a great GM that runs a dynasty.
mb21Quote Reply
This assumes that Friedman would be the same quality GM if he had money and that’s not certain.
mb21Quote Reply
[quote name=Rice Cube]After they drafted his son? That’s stone cold.[/quote]
Dr. Aneus TaintQuote Reply
[quote name=mb21]This assumes that Friedman would be the same quality GM if he had money and that’s not certain.[/quote]
Truth, and I think a lot of people just assume it would be. Another thing is the ferocity of the fanbase – while Rays fans can have same of the many faults (Fuld = Theriot, Upton = Zambrano), as a whole they are a lot less tenacious, and one wonders if some of his moves would garner the same reception here.
MishQuote Reply
http://www.cubsstats.com/2011/06/anatomy-of-cubs-losing-streak.html
MishQuote Reply
[quote name=Mish]I honestly have no idea how interested Friedman would be in this job; I could see it going either way.[/quote]
Spoken like every fan of a small market team when their rising star approaches free agency. When is the part where we mention how his family loves Tampa or is from there?
Chris DickersonQuote Reply
Ok.
MishQuote Reply
[quote name=Chris Dickerson]Spoken like every fan of a small market team when their rising star approaches free agency. When is the part where we mention how his family loves Tampa or is from there?[/quote]Agreed. I always assume people take jobs that pay them the most money. It’s an almost certainty the Cubs would pay him more money and give him more years on the contract, too. If the Cubs want Friedman, he’ll be their GM.
mb21Quote Reply
[quote name=Mish]http://www.cubsstats.com/2011/06/anatomy-of-cubs-losing-streak.html[/quote]In retrospect, a couple of things in Spring Training might have been warning flags: Quade wanting to “run more” then realizing the team can’t run indicated Quade has no idea what to do with this team, and Carlos Silva getting cut, eliminating whatever depth we had to cover Cashner and Wells.
joshQuote Reply
And maybe Jeff Samaradzija not dying in a fire?
joshQuote Reply
[quote name=Josh]and Carlos Silva getting cut, eliminating whatever depth we had to cover Cashner and Wells.[/quote]
(dying laughing). Silva could be even worse than the shitpile of 5th starters the Cubs have been running out there. That was absolutely the right decision.
BerseliusQuote Reply
[quote name=Mish]Ok.[/quote]
Nice snark.
Dr. Aneus TaintQuote Reply
The depth was hurt more by McNutt and Jackson getting hurt than letting Silva go.
MishQuote Reply
[quote name=Josh]And maybe Jeff Samaradzija not dying laughing?[/quote].
Dr. Aneus TaintQuote Reply
[quote name=Jame Gumb]Nice snark.[/quote]
Apparently admitting that I might be ignorant of someone else’s desires means I’m reading from some script for a hysterical fan of a small market team.
MishQuote Reply
[quote name=Berselius](dying laughing). Silva could be even worse than the shitpile of 5th starters the Cubs have been running out there. That was absolutely the right decision.[/quote]I guess I was thinking he had to be marginally better than Dough Davis and crew. I at least wonder if his jabs at the pitching coach weren’t on the money.
joshQuote Reply
[quote name=Mish]The depth was hurt more by God punishing Cubs fans for being retarded than letting Silva go.[/quote].
Dr. Aneus TaintQuote Reply
F7 is (dying laughing) all the way to the bank.
MishQuote Reply
Using “retarded” is insensitive to retards, faget.
MishQuote Reply
[quote name=Mish]a hysterical fan of a small market team.[/quote]
Oh, so you’re one of the five?
AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH
/SDSJM
Dr. Aneus TaintQuote Reply
[quote name=Mish]Using “retarded” is insensitive to retards, faget.[/quote]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nasp3euSqjM#t=0m16s
Dr. Aneus TaintQuote Reply
[quote name=Josh]I guess I was thinking he had to be marginally better than Dough Davis and crew. I at least wonder if his jabs at the pitching coach weren’t on the money.[/quote]
They had McNutt and Jackson in the minors at the time – everyone got hurt. There was a lot more reason to be optimistic about Casey Coleman being able to eat some innings at the time too.
I definitely harbor doubts about Riggins too.
BerseliusQuote Reply
I too doubt Mr. Riggins.
MishQuote Reply
[quote name=Jame Gumb]Oh, so you’re one of the five?
AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH
/SDSJM[/quote]
Can’t tell if this is mockery or actual quoted text. (dying laughing)
MishQuote Reply
[quote name=Mish]Apparently admitting that I might be ignorant of someone else’s desires means I’m reading from some script for a hysterical fan of a small market team.[/quote]
Oh, I missed that “ok”. Whoops.
I didn’t want to continue sounding like a dick – but whatever
The fact that no one gives a shit about his team, is probably an unlikely reason for a person to stay in a job, especially the guy who runs it.
I’m glad you’ve taken the high road, and refuse to speculate on this blog. Bravo. On another note, the world may not end tomorrow, it could go either way.
Chris DickersonQuote Reply
[quote name=Mish]Can’t tell if this is mockery or actual quoted text. (dying laughing)[/quote]
.
Dr. Aneus TaintQuote Reply
[quote name=Chris Dickerson]I’m glad you’ve taken the high road, and refuse to speculate on this blog. Bravo. On another note, the world may not end tomorrow, it could go either way.[/quote]
Ok. I don’t know that much about Friedman beyond what I read on blogs and Keri’s book; he’s quelched rumors linking him to Houston and the Mets, so there might be something to it.
MishQuote Reply
One of the things that cracks me up about Cubs fans.
Nearly 9 million people “like” McDonald’s on facebook. Fewer than 2 million people “like” In-N-Out Burger on facebook. Welp, I guess liking McDonald’s is better.
Dr. Aneus TaintQuote Reply
[quote name=Mish]Ok. I don’t know that much about Friedman beyond what I read on blogs and Keri’s book; he’s quelched rumors linking him to Houston and the Mets, so there might be something to it.[/quote]
Typical small-market fan. Or not. It could go either way.
Dr. Aneus TaintQuote Reply
[quote name=Jame Gumb]One of the things that cracks me up about Cubs fans.
Nearly 9 million people “like” McDonald’s on facebook. Fewer than 2 million people “like” In-N-Out Burger on facebook. Welp, I guess liking McDonald’s is better.[/quote]
In-N-Out >>>>> McDonald’s
/small market fan
Rice CubeQuote Reply
http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2011/6/9/2215498/ichiros-long-slow-decline-a-graphic-journey
Ichiro is consistently good at baseball. The end draws nigh though…
Rice CubeQuote Reply
[quote name=Rice Cube]In-N-Out might not sell all their burgers to McDonald’s and shut down.
/small market fan[/quote].
Dr. Aneus TaintQuote Reply
And yeah, clearly the Rays don’t have a large fanbase, and nothing that compares to Chicago, for some reasons in their control (fielding spectacularly awful teams for its first 9 years of existence) and others not (simply only being around 13 years or so). As you said, SDSJM is just making an appeal to the majority.
It’s also worth noting that Rays do well on TV/Radio. Yes, the ticket gate is AWFUL and may be a reason this team eventually moves, but it seems that the lack of attendance is conflated with no fanbase, when they aren’t the same thing.
MishQuote Reply
[quote name=Mish]And yeah, clearly the Rays don’t have a large fanbase, and nothing that compares to Chicago, for some reasons in their control (fielding spectacularly awful teams for its first 9 years of existence) and others not (simply only being around 13 years or so). As you said, SDSJM is just making an appeal to the majority.
It’s also worth noting that Rays do well on TV/Radio. Yes, the ticket gate is AWFUL and may be a reason this team eventually moves, but it seems that the lack of attendance is conflated with no fanbase, when they aren’t the same thing.[/quote]
Is that what the other two Rays fans say?
(dying laughing)
San Diego Smooth Jazz ManQuote Reply
Someone’s bored as all hell.
MishQuote Reply
[quote name=Mish]Someone’s bored as all hell.[/quote]
Or not. It could go either way.
Dr. Aneus TaintQuote Reply
…and thus a new meme is born.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
I like it. One of the few in which I’m part of the genesis.
MishQuote Reply
I’m not trying to suggest that the Cubs have a better product, but in your analogy, it’s hard to refute that the Golden Arches have infinitely more resources than In N Out.
The Cubs have tremendous resources compared to a team like Tampa. Players, like employees, will go where the money is.
Chris DickersonQuote Reply
[quote name=Chris Dickerson]I’m not trying to suggest that the Cubs have a better product, but in your analogy, it’s hard to refute that the Golden Arches have infinitely more resources than In N Out.
The Cubs have tremendous resources compared to a team like Tampa. Players, like employees, will go where the money is.[/quote]
CHC/McDonald’s has way more resources than TB/INO and puts out an inferior product. Yet moron humans still resoundingly “prefer” the inferior product.
Sensible people will still pay more for INO than McD’s.
What’s going on?
Dr. Aneus TaintQuote Reply
[quote name=Jame Gumb]CHC/McDonald’s has way more resources than TB/INO and puts out an inferior product. Yet moron humans still resoundingly “prefer” the inferior product.[/quote]
I can’t argue with you today…
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Q: If a tree falls in the forest and no one sees it, will Joe West still pick a fight with it?
Yes. After which the tree will be suspended for three games and nothin’ happens to Joe West.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
[quote name=Rice Cube]Q: If a tree falls in the forest and no one sees it, will Joe West still pick a fight with it?
Yes. After which the tree will be suspended for three games and nothin’ happens to Joe West.[/quote]
Pictures or it didn’t happen.
WaLiQuote Reply
[quote name=Rice Cube]Q: If a tree falls in Tropicana Field’s stands during a game, will it harm anyone?
A: The two people watching at home said it didn’t land on the only fan there.[/quote]
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
San Diego Smooth Jazz ManQuote Reply
[quote name=WaLi]Pictures or it didn’t happen.[/quote]
Requires better photoshop skills than I have. I imagine it’d look something like Joe West superimposed on the forestgif while the dancing fat dude chops down a tree.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
(dying laughing) SDSJM/Ryno
MishQuote Reply
Even the Wall Street Journal’s legal blog thinks the Cubs suck:
[quote name=.]Hear that slight wheezing noise blowing in from the west?
No, it’s not the collective sound of the Chicago Cubs, who, in 2011, are gasping for air even sooner than usual. This sound comes from a bit farther west — Redmond, Wash., to be precise — where higher ups at Microsoft just got word that they lost bigtime at the U.S. Supreme Court in a highly watched patent battle against a Toronto-based technology company called i4i.[/quote]
WenningtonsGorillaCockQuote Reply
Jimmy Johns is insulting their best customers today by selling their sandwiches for $1.
Aisle424Quote Reply
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/06/09/dylan-bundy-would-hit-bryce-harper-four-times-if-he-blew-a-kiss-at-him
MishQuote Reply
[quote name=Aisle424]Jimmy Johns is insulting their best customers today by selling their sandwiches for $1.[/quote]
In an act of hypocrisy and disloyalty, I, one of their best customers, got a $1 sub.
MishQuote Reply
[quote name=Mish]http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/06/09/dylan-bundy-would-hit-bryce-harper-four-times-if-he-blew-a-kiss-at-him[/quote]
He doesn’t sound ready for pro ball yet. I think he should honor whatever college commitment he made.
Dr. Aneus TaintQuote Reply
Yeah, the Jimmy John’s in Willowbrook had 75 people waiting in line outside.
There were 72 more people in line than the total number of Rays fans.
Serbianking33Quote Reply
Everyone thinks the Rays have 3 or 388 fans. This is retarded.
MishQuote Reply
[quote name=Mish]In an act of hypocrisy and disloyalty, I, one of their best customers, got a $1 sub.[/quote]
Bullshit. I still have to pay full priced subs because I’m not in the Chicagoland area.
WaLiQuote Reply
KG
Matt Szczur, OF, Cubs (Low-A Peoria): 4-for-5, R, 4 RBI, CS. 11-for-24 in last six games and .345/.402/.462 in 40 games.
MishQuote Reply
TPA repost on benefits of changing managers midseason:
http://www.platoonadvantage.com/2011/06/re-post-when-you-change-horses.html
MishQuote Reply
preview up http://obstructedview.net/chicago-cubs/previews/series-preview-iowa-cubs-24-36-at-philadelphia-phillies-37-25.html
BerseliusQuote Reply