tom ricketts – Page 5 – Obstructed View

Relax, Cubs fans!

Brett on Bleacher Nation has done a fantastic job rounding up the Theo rumors over the past week. It’s been one of the few sites I even bother to check for info. It’s something that would drive most people mad seeing as how conflicting the reports are. The only quibble I have with any of the reporting has been how the Chicago media and their fans have tried to pin the delay on the Sox.

When the negotiating began we expected the Red Sox to ask for Starlin Castro and Wrigley Field. Instead, it appears they only asked for Matt Garza, which was a hell of a lot less than I thought they would. We expected the Cubs to offer someone like Matt Camp. Instead, they seemed to have offered cash, which is considerably more than I expected. That’s how negotiations work. You offer as little as possible and move toward the center.

From the Cubs perspective, there’s no reason whatsoever to pay a penny more than you have. As a result, you offer the least amount possible when the negotiation begins. You then begin to offer more and eventually settle on something more reasonable.

It’s the exact opposite for the Red Sox perspective. They’re asking for billions in value and will come down to something more reasonable.

Factor in that there is discussion about who Theo can and can’t take with him from the Red Sox organization, and how it may even be part of the compensation discussion, you can see how it would take a lot of time.

People seem to be under the illusion that the two sides are in constant contact with one another. I get the impression some think there are 187 phone calls per day going back and forth, but when you consider the number of people you’d need to consult with, it’s quite likely there is only 1 call each day between the owners. My guess is that it is a very civil discussion and they exchange some names and work toward getting a deal done. They hang up and Tom calls his guys. His guys call their guys and their guys call them back and Tom’s guys call Tom back and we’re at dinner time. Tom thinks it over, maybe calls one back and they get back to one another at 10 pm before bed. The same thing happens in Boston.

There’s still no reason to think the deal will fall through. What are the Red Sox going to do with Theo if this deal doesn’t go through? They’ve already appointed a GM and even if they get a take-back, it would be the second time it’s happened to Cherrington. He’d be none too pleased and may even walk out the door. The Red Sox can’t risk that. Are they going to employ a GM who doesn’t even want to be there? Some have said they could just demote him to some irrelevant role, but are we even sure they can do that? Theo and the Sox do have a contract with one another. That contract states that Theo Epstein is the General Manager of the Red Sox. I’m sure these guys who sign these contracts are smart enough to put some kind of clause in there that does not allow for them to be demoted. It’s probably why it has never happened as far as I know.

So the Red Sox may very well be left with the option of firing him. If they do that, he’s available to the Cubs for no compensation other than the salary Theo would get.

This is why I don’t buy that the Red Sox have all the leverage. They certainly do have some leverage. Theo is their employee so they obviously have some leverage, but this has gone so far that there is no turning back. Taking Theo back as GM would undoubtedly piss some front office people off. Some of them would certainly leave their job. Some guys already promised promotions aren’t going to accept a demotion without a fight. Some will leave. Maybe even the guy they have pegged as the future GM. The team has spent a lot of time trying to make sure that their front office is taken care of if Theo leaves and this is about the worst thing they could do to ensure that.

There’s no way the Red Sox are going to allow that to happen. They may very well be in violation of the contract if they demote Theo in some way leaving Theo to sign with the Cubs for no compensation.

Not to mention, both teams stand to lose a considerable amount if this falls through. Tom Ricketts is going to be the guy who couldn’t get a deal done for the best GM in the game. It was right there and the difference between Theo in Chicago and elsewhere was some measly prospect who may or may not be any good. John Henry has already taken a beating and there’s so much more to harp on there, but seeing several front office people leave with Theo back would be yet another disaster. There would be no way Theo would re-sign beyond the one year remaining on his contract. The Red Sox will be seen as the team that stood in the way of a person’s professional advancement. Others won’t be eager to work for the Sox because of that.

Both sides have leverage here. The Cubs want to pay as little as possible to the Sox to get Theo and the Sox want as much as possible. There are a lot of little things to work out. This kind of transaction doesn’t happen quickly and there’s no reason to rush into it. If Ricketts had rushed into this he’d have given the Red Sox Matt Garza. By taking his time that is out of the question and so apparently is Brett Jackson. Now Ricketts is trying to make it out of the question that they get Trey McNutt. Maybe he succeeds. Maybe not. Either way, it’s exactly what you want to see here.

Give this some time. I’d like it to be done so we can move on to more important business, but I don’t want the Cubs to pay any more than they have to. It’s difficult to believe any announcement would come today. Tom Ricketts would presumably like to introduce Theo at Wrigley Field and all reports still have Theo in Boston. It’s hard to imagine a scenario in which a deal gets done quickly today and Theo flies to Chicago to be introduced as the new GM. I don’t know how much of an issue Selig would have with the Cubs announcing it tomorrow afternoon prior to the start of the World Series. That’s more likely than today, but if Selig doesn’t want it then it’s probably not going to be finalized until after the World Series. My guess is that it won’t be finalized until after the World Series. It’s not that big of a deal. What pressing business matters do the Cubs have that can’t wait 10 days?

Continue reading “Relax, Cubs fans!”

Theo is a Cub so what next?

When the reports of Theo Epstein signing with the Cubs began to trickle in this morning (or actually last night), I started thinking about what it means in the short-term for the Cubs. The truth is that I, and you, have literally no idea. I wrote this before reading Aisle 424’s most recent article so there may be some similarities.

We could look at Theo’s record in Boston to use as an example for what may happen in the near future, but the 2002 Red Sox were a really good team that missed the playoffs. The 2011 Cubs were a well below average team. When I’m talking about record, I’m not talking about the wins and losses. I’m speaking of the official transactions.

If we use that next year’s Red Sox team as an example, we don’t get anywhere. The starting 9 for the Sox in 2003 were an older bunch. David Ortiz was the spring chicken among them at the age of 27. That’s the age at which most Cubs fans think players can still be top prospects for some reason. Three were 29 years old: Nomar Gariaparra, Johnny Damon and Trot Nixon. Todd Walker was 30. Jason Varitek, Kevin Millar and Manny Ramirez were 31. Bill Mueller was 32. There was no infusion of youth into this lineup, but again, the 2002 Red Sox were a far better team than the one Theo will be taking over in Chicago.

Casey Fossum was the youngest starting pitcher for the Sox in 2003. He was 25 years old. He’s also the only starter younger than 30. Derek Lowe was 30, Pedro Martinez 31, Tim Wakefield 36 and John Burkett was 38. They did get 5 starts from 24-year old Byung-Hyun Kim (44 relief appearances). They got another 5 from 31 year old Ramiro Mendoza and 10 starts by 28 year old Jeff Suppan.

Shea Hillenbrand, Tony Clark and Brian Daubach were gone. Not sure why. Not that important. Lowe, Pedro and Burkett were their top 3. Frank Castillo (yeah, you remember him!) was their 4th starter and they got some starts from next year’s starter Casey Fossum and some from Tim Wakefield as well. So there wasn’t much turnover from one roster to another.

There was some additional turnover after 2003, but nothing major. The Red Sox roster did not change much after Theo was signed. It probably changed as much or maybe even less than it would have with another GM.

But these 2011 Cubs are different than the group he took over in Boston. Most of the guys on the Sox you wanted to keep around. That 2003 team was going to contend. Those players were valuable and you weren’t getting rid of them. The 2012 Cubs won’t contend without an overhaul of the roster. Looking at what Theo did at first in Boston is pointless because the situations are entirely different.

We could talk about what he shoud do, or rather what we think he should do. We’re all better suited to run this organization than the guy who will be paid $20 million over the next 5 years. Actually we’re not. I don’t expect to agree with every decision the Cubs make from this point forward, but I will give Theo the benefit of the doubt. He’s earned that.

It’s a rather lazy approach, but I don’t really have any suggestions for what should be done. Someone far, far more qualified than I is now running the show. I’m anxious to see where he starts and am confident the Cubs are a better organization now than they have been in the past. I’m not as confident as a lot of fans who think the Cubs are going to win the World Series. Not just next year or the year after or even the year after that. I swear some of these people think the Cubs are going to win all of them from here out.

There’s a lot of work to do. It will require some good decisions, a lot of money, and a lot of luck. The Cubs may never win a World Series with Theo. It’s entirely possible. In fact, I’d probably bet money on the Cubs not winning one while he is the GM. This assumes he’s the GM no longer than 10 years. It’s difficult to win a championship. You have to be good, which I am confident the Cubs will be eventually. Even if you’re good, you still have to be lucky.

Who was the best team this year through 162 games? The easy answer is to look at wins and say the Phillies. Maybe you know the AL is the superior league so you’re adjusting for that and say the Yankees. Maybe you’re adjusting in some way that takes pre-season projections into consideration and also say the Yankees (or maybe even Red Sox). Maybe you’re a Rays fan and think it’s the Rays. Do any of these teams have a chance to win it all this year?

Entering the season I thought the Yankees were the best team in baseball. They had the best record in the AL. They’re eliminated already. A lot of people thought the Red Sox were the best. Some thought they were the best ever. They didn’t even reach the postseason. The Phillies? Gone. Beaten in the NLDS by the Wild Card team.

This happens often. Maybe even every single season depending on how you’re figuring who the best team was. It’s takes a lucky team to win it all. Notice what I didn’t say. Being good obviously helps. You put yourself in a better position more frequently. It’s unlikely you’ll be affected by luck in one direction several years in a row. The better you are the better chance you have to win. This is obvious, but it does not mean that you have to be good to win. Less than good teams have won it all before and will do so again. I’m sure it could be and has been argued that at one point or more a bad team won it all.

Betting on the Cubs to win it all in the next 5 years is foolish. Betting on them to do it in the next 10 is less foolish, but still not advisable. If you tell me that Theo will be GM for 20 years, I’d put my money on the Cubs winning it all, but in all honesty, I’d put my money on them winning it all regardless of who the GM is.

There’s been discussion about whether the Cubs need to rebuild or try to contend. Several years ago I saw things in that way. You could either rebuild or try to contend, but the reality is that you can do both. To prove this point, it’s best to look at college sports. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about football, baseball or basketball. Or volleyball. Whatever. Those programs are constantly working to contend now and build the program so that it can contend years down the road. They do both at the same time. They are rebuilding and contending. The same can and has been done in MLB. It’s also what we’re more than likely going to see the Cubs do.

It’s highly unlikely that Theo would take this job just to have a fire sale and lose a million games next year, have little shot at contending in 2013 and probably 2014. If you have a fire sale, maybe you are contending in the 4th year of his contract or maybe it’s the 5th. Maybe it’s not at all. A fire sale doesn’t guarantee success down the road.

It’s also important to consider the quality of players the Cubs would be trading in a fire sale. There are only two players who are close to becoming expensive that the Cubs could trade. Those are usually the guys you consider trading in a fire sale. Geovany Soto and Matt Garza both will becoming more expensive and are eligible for free agency within the next 2 years (Garza after 2012 and Soto after 2013). The Cubs could get something decent for both of them, but they’re not going to dramatically improve their farm system by trading either of them. Marlon Byrd and Ryan Dempster have some value. So does Sean Marshall and maybe even Carlos Marmol. Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Zambrano have no value at all on the trade market. Randy Wells might bring a B prospect. Darwin Barney is still cheap, but even if you traded him you’d not get much in return. No chance the Cubs are trading Starlin Castro.

The Cubs won’t get much in return if they had a fire sale. The best and most reasonable plan of action for the Cubs at this point is to do both. Get rid of some of the bad contracts like Carlos Zambrano and Alfonso Soriano. Maybe you add Prince Fielder. You don’t have to contend in 2012. It’s not like you’re in a situation where you have to contend in 2012 or have a fire sale. You can begin to rebuild, but not have a fire sale. You can accept you probably won’t contend in 2012, but refuse to trade everything away thinking it’s more than possible to find yourself in contention in 2013. Maybe even in 2012 if you get lucky.

Regardless of what the Cubs do, there’s more reason to be optimistic about the team’s future than there has been in the 30 years I’ve been a fan. Sure, I’ve been more optimistic about an individual Cubs team (2008 Cubs as an example), but never before have I been this optimistic about the team’s future. I’m fairly sure if that’s not true for someone then it’s because they’re simply looking for reasons to not be.

This optimism brings up another point that’s worth talking about. Tom Ricketts has been made fun of on this blog. Much of the time it was for a good reason and some of the time it was more just because it was fun. He made a commitment this past summer to player development and then he acted on it. The Cubs spent a lot of money and went overslot several times to sign guys. They spent a lot of money on the international free agent market.

Ricketts said he was going to go after a guy essentially matched Theo Epstein, I think we all were hopeful it would be Theo or Andrew Friedman or maybe even Brian Cashman. Ricketts went all out in acquiring Theo. Kaplan even says that Theo was blown away by the owner’s commitment. If you can blow away one of the most brilliant general managers in sports, you have gone the additional mile and then some to secure the best possible person for the job. That’s all you can ask of an owner. He can’t make Theo sign. He couldn’t have made Friedman sign. There’s only so much he can do and the rest is up to the individual. Ricketts obviously went out of his way here to see to it that Theo would feel welcome and receive an impressively large salary for a GM. Prying away a Boston guy from the Red Sox wasn’t going to be easy, but Ricketts did it.

He’s shown the kind of commitment that we’ve all wanted this organization to have for as long as we’ve been fans. This commitment does not guarantee a championship. It does, however, make the odds of winning one a hell of a lot higher. And that’s something to be optimistic about. That’s something to be happy about. After a shitty season, this is definitely the best news we could get and the World Series hasn’t even started.

The tough work is ahead. Going that extra mile as Ricketts did or showing up to work for the Cubs as Theo will do doesn’t mean anything. Together they have a lot they need to accomplish in order for this team to be the annual contender it should be. If that happens, given the Cubs payroll advantage over the rest of the teams in the Central, the Cubs can walk away with the division title most years.

Continue reading “Theo is a Cub so what next?”

In Theo We Trusty (or something)

The Cubs signing of Theo Epstein is all but officially official. The Cubs have a penchant for blowing things that seem certainties, so until this is finally final and Theo is standing up at a podium with Tom Ricketts grinning from ear to ear, I know it should be wise to temper my enthusiasm. But I can't help myself.

I'm thrilled. I'm beyond thrilled. I'm giddy.

I am not, however, giddy because I think the Cubs will definitely win the World Series now. I've seen numerous conversations on my Facebook wall, other's Facebook walls, Twitter, and message boards all revolving around people making the point that hiring Theo doesn't guarantee us winning anything. That is true. I never said it did.

The Cubs are an old-fashioned team in more ways than just where they play their home baseball games. Jim Hendry never actually laughed out loud at people who asked about advanced analytics, but he came as close as one can without actually doing it. The farm system doesn't teach its players fundamental skills that are important to winning baseball games. Namely, getting on base.

Sam Fuld indicated that the Cubs valued batting average above on base percentage in their development system to the point where anything else he did as a player was overlooked.

I suppose it depends on who your manager is, and who your front office is. I came up in the Cubs system, and they’re probably not as involved in the statistics side of the game as some other organizations. It still is important to me to get on base, even though (laughs) there were some guys who, all they cared about was my average.

If I recall correctly, Ryan Theriot has made similar statements about the Cubs wanting him to hit for more power and basically be aggressive early in the count, which seems counter-intuitive to the type of players that both Fuld and Theriot are because the Cubs do not value their skills.

The Cubs valued toolsy athletes. To hell with the fact that none of them could recognize a fastball from a breaking ball or a strike from a ball. The Cubs figured they could teach them that, and very often, they couldn't. Hence, you get the Corey Pattersons and Felix Pies of the world.

There comes a time when you have to separate the baseball skills from the athletic skills and the Cubs have never done that well for any consistent period of time. Sure, they signed Carlos Pena and his anemic batting average because he was a great OBP guy, a good defender, and great in the clubhouse. He was also dirt cheap. The fact that the Cubs happened upon a guy who was undervalued was not necessarily the result of a superior process, it was blind luck and happenstance.

This is what will change under Theo (provided he is given the kind of autonomy that Ricketts has indicated his "baseball guy" would have). The Cubs entire evaluation process is subject to revision. The entire developmental philosophy of the minor league system can be in lockstep with a long-term organizational personality. Instead of constantly reaching for the Cubs' patented Handbook of Short Term Solutions to Long Term Problems, the Cubs have hired a guy capable of diagnosing the actual underlying flaws within the Cubs system.

But that alone is not the reason for jubilation. Any number of GMs out on the market could do that for the Cubs in their own way. Andrew Friedman of the Rays was a favorite around this blog and many other places. He was one of my top choices at one point based on his phenomenal results in the draft over the years. Billy Beane "invented" the Moneyball concept in actual practice in an organization. There are tons of up and coming talent that would love a chance to put their imprint on a team like the Cubs, from Ben Cherington to Rick Hahn to Kim Ng.

But none of them, besides Theo, has led a team that is "cursed." Laugh if you want, but the curse is a real psychological factor with the Cubs. The one thing that I came away with from watching "Catching Hell" was how a singular incident that didn't really conclusively even impact the game became an instant turning point for both the players and the fans that night. The Curse may not be real in a mystical sense, but it is a real obstacle the Cubs must overcome.

Theo has been there. He has constructed teams and put people in place that managed through the gloom of being down 3-0 to the Yankees in a best of seven series. They were down in the 9th inning to Mariano Rivera in a clinching game and they survived. Was it luck? Almost assuredly. If you put those same teams in those same situations 99 more times, the Yankees would probably be the American League World Series representative all 99 of those times. But that doesn't matter psychologically.

The gravitas of having a leader that can recall that story at times when things seem darkest at the corner of Clark and Addison can make whatever the Cubs are facing seem a little less impossible. If it helps the players relax even a little bit, it will help tremendously on the field.

But that can all be dismissed as hokey nonsense, so that isn't even why I am jubilant. I'm ecstatic because the Cubs haven't done anything like this in my lifetime. I said on my Facebook wall that this is the biggest acqusition since the Cubs desegregated and signed Ernie Banks.

Melissa pointed out Dallas Green and I would probably place him second on my list. He could have been first and probably should have been first and therefore this move might not have even been necessary, but ultimately just putting a new guy in the office won't cut it.

Dallas Green came in and trashed the Cubs image of being lovable losers. He fired Billy Williams, Ernie Banks and Randy Hundley among other former Cubs in the organization. He then started rebuilding the farm system that produced guys like Greg Maddux, Mark Grace, Rafael Palmeiro, Shawon Dunston, Jamie Moyer, Dave Martinez, and Joe Girardi.

But Dallas was not a people person and the Tribsters were not in it to change the organization. They wanted to make money and that meant being competitive on the major league roster while the rest of the system was fixed behind the scenes. That part didn't go so well after the 1984 NLCS crash and the 1985 Season of the Injured Pitcher where every pitcher in the rotation was on the DL at one point. Not separately throughout the season, all of them at once.

So the major league team fell apart, Dallas Green was pretty much forced out and in came Jim Frey to re-fuck everything that Dallas had un-fucked about the organization. So he came close, but he was never given the power to do as he saw fit to fix the Cubs. He pretty much forced his will on the team until they got sick of him and canned him. The Cubs at that time were not interested in anything but cosmetic changes to how they did business.

The same can be said for the next great organizational move with the hiring of Andy MacPhail. He was supposed to bring his small-market smarts to the Cubs where he would be in a big market. The problem was MacPhail was just the wrapping on a package of the Cubs going cheap. They wanted to spend like a small-market team, so they got themselves a small-market guy with an old-school philosophy about how money doesn't win championships as a bow on top for the fans.

Of course, the Cubs organization has remained pathetically ill-equipped over the years. They have one of, if not the smallest front offices in baseball. They have player facilities that make my out-classed Division III school's facilities look cutting edge. Seriously, take the Wrigley Tour and see the Cubs home clubhouse. It is a joke. The Spring Training facilities are out-dated (which is being addressed now).

This is due to an organization that either was led by a Team President that either didn't know it was a problem, didn't care it was a problem, or didn't have the support of the ownership to make the real changes necessary to turn the Cubs around.

If Tom Ricketts has shown anything over the two years he has been in power, it is his willingness to try to fix the underlying issues. Until this point, that philosophy had been restricted to the business aspect of the team and the physical facilties. He built new revenue streams wherever he could find them, he strong-armed Mesa into ponying up money to build a new Spring Training Facility, and he is sinking millions into a Dominican training facility. But the baseball operations side remained rooted in old-school "see what happens" cronyism that Hendry seemed to embody to the point of being a caricature.

We started to see signs that maybe Ricketts was getting it when the Cubs parted ways with Carlos Silva by basically calling him a sunk cost. Then they actually went out and spent money like big boys on the draft and landed many extremely talented players that had been passed over due to "signability issues." The Cubs signed them.

So when it came to light that Jim Hendry had been relieved of his duties, those of us that had been so critical of the new regime saw an opening for a real change. Could the Cubs take this opportunity to not just change the nameplate on an office door, but fundamentally change the way they do business? Theo is the one candidate that I have confidence in accomplishing such a Herculean task.

They may never win a World Series under Theo Epstein. In fact, the odds are still pretty much against it, but I think we will start seeing the Cubs act like a major market team that knows how to spend its resources more effectively than just throwing cash at long-term problems. It will not be easy and it will not be quick, because nothing worth doing right ever is.

But Theo is capable of bringing about change I can believe in and something that makes the Cubs an annual threat, which is all I really want.

Continue reading “In Theo We Trusty (or something)”

Tom Calls Theo

The Red Sox have apparently granted the Cubs permission to speak with Theo Epstein about their vacant general manager position. Paul Sullivan has reported that his best friend’s sister’s boyfriend’s brother’s girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who’s going with the girl who saw Theo pass out at 31 Flavors last night in Chicago (or something like that).

(h/t @adaveyouknow)

But I’ve always just assumed that any interview would probably transpire over the phone, since a face-to-face is probably not really necessary since Tom Ricketts spent a weekend oogling Theo in May when the Cubs visited Fenway. So we have focused our efforts on trying to learn if that phone call has been placed, and it turns out our Obstructed View advanced network of spies has managed to bug Tom Ricketts’ phone. We picked up this conversation from earlier today:

(Phone ringing)

Theo: Hello… Theo Epstein speaking.

Tom: Hi Theo, this is Tom Ricketts. I own the Cubs.

Theo: Uh, yes Tom, I remember…

Tom: I just like to say that. Actually, I’m technically the Executive Chairman of the Cubs. The Ricketts family as a whole owns the team. It gets kind of complicated.

Theo: OK…. whatever you say. How can I help you?

Tom: Well, that’s why I wanted to touch base with you, Theo. My family and I have been big admirers of yours for a long time and I wanted to talk to you about the possibility of you coming to Chicago to help us out with this whole World Series drought thing.

Theo: I thought that might be why you were calling.

Tom: I just think that it would be in both of our interests…. um, hold on for a second…. (muffled) I’m asking him! Yes, dad, it’s him on the phone now. Will you let me please just do this? You never let me do anything without a hassle! I’ve got it! Jeez!… (sigh) Sorry, Theo, small family thing. You know how it is. Where were we?

Theo: Something about both of our interests.

Tom: Right… um…. (papers crumpling)…. (whispers) big admirers, World Series drought…. Ah! Here we are! We just really think it would be in both of our interests if you were to come to Chicago. As you know, we recently had to part ways with Jim Hendry.

Theo: That’s a shame, he was a good guy.

Tom: Oh yes, wonderful man. Great guy. But we just really thought our team needed to go in a different direction.

Theo: What direction is that?

Tom: Well, you know… the, um, Moneyball stuff.

Theo: The Moneyball stuff…

Tom: Yes! Exactly!

Theo: What is it about the “Moneyball stuff” that’s so appealing to you as a franchise?

Tom: Well, I’m not an “expert” in the sabermeters or anything like you (laughs), but we feel that we can really enhance the efficiency of our outlay of capital assets as it pertains to the acquisition of baseball personnel-wise.

Theo: I’m not sure what you’re talking about.

Tom: You know… the maximization of victory potential through the cross-analysis of advanced statistics! OBP, WAR, etc.

Theo: Uh huh. So you’re interested to see if I would bring… say… my expertise in phalangee regression models to the Cubs? Maybe employ the flux capacitor strategy?

Tom: Um… yes.

Theo: I see. Before you go on, I have to say that I’m still pretty content in Boston. We were pretty disappointed in our season and I’m looking forward to getting us right back in the playoffs and another World Series in 2012.

Tom: That’s one of the things we really like about you, besides that Moneyball stuff, of course: your loyalty. So we’re prepared to give you as much money as it takes to convince you to leave the Red Sox.

Theo: So you like my loyalty and you want me to break my contract with the Red Sox?

Tom: Absolutely. I have to tell you that you are by far my top choice to fill the vacant GM position.

Theo: Well, that’s very flattering, but I should tell you that I’m looking to do a little more than traditional GM responsibilities. I could be interested if you could offer me a next step in my career.

Tom: I’m not following you.

Theo: Well, maybe if it was something like… Team President?

Tom: Ohhh… I see what you mean. The thing is that Crane Kenney is our Team President already. We have the opening for a general manager.

Theo: OK, but I’m not interested in reporting to Crane Kenney.

Tom: No problem, you would report directly to me. I’m the Executive Chairman.

Theo: Yes. You mentioned that. So the President doesn’t have anything to do with baseball operations?

Tom: No, not at all. Crane is in charge of business.

Theo: Business….

Tom: Yeah, whenever I see Crane around the office, I say “Hey Crane, what’s going on?” And then he says, “Takin’ care of business!” It’s our little joke.

Theo: Good one.

Tom: Thanks, we have lots of little in-jokes and stuff around the office. We try to keep it kind of loose. For instance, everyday is Hawaiian shirt day.

Theo: You don’t say.

Tom: We have a pretty good time, but when it comes down to it, we have a lot of hard work to do to win a championship. We never lose focus on that. I want to assure you of that.

Theo: That’s good to hear, but if we can get back to the title and responsibilities…

Tom: Before I forget, I do have to ask you about your position on urinal troughs.

Theo: My what on what?

Tom: Urinal troughs. You see, Wrigley Field is all about tradition and its grand history. Of course, I don’t have to tell you about traditions and history, but the urinal troughs are a real hot button topic with our fans, so I wanted to see where you come down on the issue.

Theo: The fans really care about where they piss during a game?

Tom: Oh yes, we have lots of data from surveys and they have very strong feelings about the urinal troughs.

Theo: Well, I guess I would have to say that it is my hope that as your Team President or Director of Baseball Operations…

Tom: But Crane Kenney is our President. We just need a General Manager.

Theo: OK. We’ll come back to the title later, but my point was that I think I can help the Cubs establish themselves as a power in the National League where the product on the field is the focus so much that they wouldn’t even think about the bathrooms anymore.

Tom: So you don’t like the troughs?

Theo: No. I mean yes. I mean…. I don’t think it matters what I think about the troughs. I hope that we can focus on the product on the field and building a strong organization from the farm system all the way through to the major league team. My vision for the Cubs would be to establish a culture of rigorous analysis along with a strong scouting network to eventually build up an organization that would be like the New York Yankees of the National League. In your market, and in your division you have access to enough revenue and an absence of any opponents who can rival you monetarily There is no reason why you can not become a dominant force in your division and in the league itself on an annual basis. The Yankees will suddenly want to become more like the Cubs! How does that sound to you?

Tom: But we’re molding ourselves after the Red Sox.

(click)

Tom: Hello? Theo? Todd! Were you playing with the phone wires again?

Continue reading “Tom Calls Theo”

Cubs GM Search Update: Day 77, Still No Update

Holy mother of God, would something just happen? The way things are going, I assume man will be living on Mars before the Cubs have a new GM.

They have been without one now for almost 3 months. Sure, we’ve only known about the vacancy for 2 months, but that is just semantics. It doesn’t change the fact that every damn thing this team does lately can be measured on a geological scale.

It all started with the sale from the Tribune. That was announced on Opening Day 2007. The housing market was booming. The Dow was soaring. Barack Obama was trailing the presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton by a wide margin. iPhones hadn’t gone on sale yet. MySpace was still being used.

Granted, it’s not like Nixon was still in the White House or anything, but things move fast these days. Except for the Cubs. The rest of the world is Tony Campana and the Cubs are Hector Villanueva.

I get the feeling the Cubs have spent the last 3 months arranging GM candidates names on color-coded post-its and having a meeting everyday to decide if the order of the post-its is current as of the latest news cycle. In fact, they probably had a month long exploratory committee that’s main purpose was to determine which color post-it belonged to which candidate. Meanwhile, Todd sat in the corner playing with crayons.

The sales process took over two years, and now it has taken almost two years for Ricketts to start disassembling the Tribune structure that was left behind. Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY who followed this team in even the slightest way over the years had come to the basic conclusion that Hendry had run his course, that Crane Kenney was a retarded greasy weasel in a suit, and the best thing about the sale is that the Cubs could start fresh. But not the uber-fan Tom Ricketts. Oh no. He needed to see the team go on a 100-game losing pace before acknowledging that maybe the Cubs weren’t the contenders he had supposedly bought with Dad’s money.

So did he make any sweeping changes then? No, he stuck with his new frat buddy in the President’s job, and let his general manager hire his 3rd manager in 6 years. Nobody let’s their GM hire three different managers. After the 2nd manager, it is usually understood that maybe the on-field manager isn’t the problem. So the Cubs parted ways with a team legend, which in and of itself isn’t the worst thing in the world for his sake, but nevertheless completely unnecessary.

Finally when his 30-year journeyman manager couldn’t wrangle a winning record out of the flotsam and jetsam of the organization, Ricketts came to the conclusion that Jim Hendry was not going to be able to untangle the mess he had made with Zell’s money under the financial restrictions they now found themselves. It’s not like they had much choice after amassing so much debt that they violated MLB policy. Money wasn’t going to fix it this time, or at leat, there wasn’t any money available to fix it.

So Ricketts secretly pulled the trigger. Even if they didn’t have a short list made of the colored post-its on July 22nd, when they actually fired Hendry, they could have easily had it together a month later when they announced it to the press. So what’s the hold-up?

Oh our top candidates work for teams that are still vying for the playoffs. Well, Theo’s plate suddenly got a lot lighter at the end of September. That was almost 2 weeks ago. Hell, Friedman hasn’t had much going on since Tuesday night, and now Cashman is done.

Can we finally have a new GM already since every single presumable candidate is done with their season? Can we at least know whether the Cubs have talked to anybody?

No.

There will almost assuredly not be any news this weekend because of Yom Kippur and the Cubs wouldn’t want to make an announcement about their prized candidate who happens to be Jewish during a Jewish high holiday. So now even God himself is slowing the Cubs down.

Of course, it will turn out that Theo has merely been using the Cubs as leverage to gain more power and money in his current job, so the Cubs will have to go back to their post-its to figure how who they should call next.

Meanwhile on the other side of town, Kenny Williams needed a manager, so he threw a dart out his window and happened to hit Robin Ventura who was in town for a card signing. If he had thrown it 10 seconds sooner, it would have hit Milt Johnson, CTA bus driver extraordinaire (who was passing the Cell on his way home from work) and he would have been the new White Sox manager.

I’m not saying Kenny’s way is better, but at least it is something.

If the Cubs expect us to wait on Ricketts for two years to get his shit together just to get STARTED on the process of building a competent organization, I can’t imagine how long he will be content to take our money in ever increasing sums as the process occurs. We could be on the forefront of a bold new 30 year plan to win a World Series.

It’s getting to the point where I wish Ricketts would just use the dart-throwing method. I noticed Ned Coletti has been hanging around outside Ricketts’ office window just in case.

Continue reading “Cubs GM Search Update: Day 77, Still No Update”

Roasting the 2011 Cubs

WARNING: Before we get started, I’m assuming most people who come to this site don’t need to be told this, but for those who are not familar with a roast, they are rude, crude, and definitely not politically correct. If you are easily offended, please just stop reading right here. Bleed Cubbie Blue is that way. —–>

——————————–

Thank you all for coming to the 2011 Roast of the Chicago Cubs.

As Cubs fans this year, we have been subjected to nearly six months of excruciatingly painful experiences that no baseball fan should have to endure, and if we took a moment to stop reading Paul Sullivan articles to actually see the Cubs play, it wasn’t much better.

I’m not saying the Cubs were bad at baseball. I’m saying they were fucking horrible at it. It’s like they were the Chicago Cubs of playing baseball.

From top to bottom, the Cubs embarassed themselves with more frequency than Charlie Sheen on a bender. This is what happens when you put together your coaching staff on Craigslist. Mark Riggins looks like he is taking a break from his normal job of gay porn fluffer to be the pitching coach. Of course, he was probably the right man for the job since the straightest thing about Jeff Samardzija is his fastball.

The only good thing Ivan DeJesus has ever done for the Cubs was get traded for Ryne Sandberg. Now I’d be happy to trade him for Cindy Sandberg so the wind wouldn’t be the only thing blowing at Wrigley. I’d feel bad for Bobby Dernier always being so lonely over there at first base, but he’s usually too drunk to even know where he is anyway. Have you noticed he always whispers to runners when they reach first base? He’s not giving advice, he’s asking for a dollar so he can go buy some Mad Dog because Randy Wells broke into his secret stash again.

And what about Mike Quade? My God, he is an ugly motherfucker. The only thing uglier than Mike Quade are his lineups. The man had Jeff Baker batting clean-up at times this year. Jeff. Baker. The last thing Jeff Baker was good at cleaning was his 3rd-degree ass burns.

Not that Quade had all that many options. The Cubs are so bad that Marlon Byrd was happy to get nailed in the head with a fastball so he could see some stars around him. The Cubs’ big free agent acquisition was Carlos Pena. He seems like a good guy, but I’ve been looking at the videos and I think I’ve found a hole in his swing. It’s called the strike zone.

Even the guys who have actual talent are crappy. Take Alfonso Soriano. Seriously. Take him and never bring him back. Could he possibly move any slower on the field? The only thing that moved more slowly on the Cubs was Tom Ricketts’ decision to finally fucking fire Jim Hendry. Ron Santo is dead and doesn’t have any legs and he STILL moves faster than Alfonso Soriano.

But who would they replace him with? Bryan LaHair? Bryan LaHair is so old he remembers threatening Ernie Banks when the league desegregated. How about Tyler Colvin? He once scored after being stabbed in the chest. I know after this year many Cub fans would like to stab him again to see if that helps.

The brightest spot is Starlin Castro but the Cubs will fuck him up too. Nobody has bothered to explain to him that there is no rule that says you have to swing at every pitch that is thrown to him. At least when he swings at them, we know he was at least paying attention. Bobby Valentine got all over Castro for not paying attention to a couple of pitches in a game earlier this year but I don’t think that’s very fair. After about five pitches (also known as five Cubs plate appearances), I stop paying attention too. Who could watch this shit for more than a few minutes at a time?

For God’s sake, this fucking team is so fucking bad from top to bottom that nobody could push Koyie Hill off the team. Koyie Hill would have trouble challenging Timmy Lupus for a roster spot on the Bad News Bears and he’s been getting paid almost a million dollars by the Cubs this year. The only thing Koyie Hill is worse at than playing baseball is using a table saw. I’m not saying Koyie Hill is a useless fucking piece of no-talent shit because it would be an insult to useless fucking pieces of no-talent shit everywhere (don’t say I never did anything nice for you, Steve Rosenbloom).

We could probably put up with the shitty offense, and the shitty pitching, and the shitty baserunning, and the shitty managing if maybe the ballpark where we watched it didn’t put ALIEN SHIT IN OUR FUCKING ICE CUBES! Twenty critical health code violations at Wrigley concession stands? I can see Wally Hayward’s new slogan for next year: “Come to Wrigley for that good nostalgic, old-timey feel, now with extra Bubonic Plague!”

I know the Ricketts are obsessed with the troughs, but can we draw the line at serving beverages out of them? It is seriously safer to eat your nachos directly off of Bob Brenly’s taint.

Speaking of Judd Sirott… the only thing worse than watching the Cubs try to play baseball is having Judd scream vague descriptions of what they are doing as they fuck everything up. If I ever invent a time machine, I’m going to go back in time and convince Bob Sirott to be a cliff diver so that when Judd follows in his uncle’s footsteps without any of the same talent, he’ll die.

But the dark times are drawing to an end at Clark and Addison. Tom Ricketts has shrewdly arrived at the same conclusion everyone else had two years ago and fired Jim Hendry. The future is bright! Tom has stated that he wants to hire someone from a winning tradition and who has advanced analytic skills. As soon as he can locate the kid from Little Big League, we have ourselves a new General Manager. Hint to Tom: check Tony Campana’s resume.

We’re all putting an awful lot of faith in Tom Ricketts on this one. Holy shit are we screwed. The only thing in which Tom has showed the lightest aptitude is glad-handing the dopes who actually bought tickets to watch this mess. But the joke is on you, Tom. All those people shaking your hand had probably just touched one of the concession stands’ syphilis dogs.

But good luck to you, Tom. Know that we only roast the ones we love and remember, from here the sky is the limit… for your revenue streams. The team will probably still suck, but as long as they keep playing out there in that glorified minor league ballpark, we’ll keep shelling out the cash like Charles Barkley at a blackjack table.

Thank you and good night. Don’t forget to tip your waitress.

Continue reading “Roasting the 2011 Cubs”

The hunt for a new GM

Shortly after Jim Hendry was fired I wrote about why every big name GM, current or not, is a candidate for the Cubs job. If they are, so is everybody else. The reason I wrote that is that the GM who wins a World Series with the Cubs is going to be the most popular GM in history. He can name his price to the Cubs or any other team after that.

Phil Rogers has an article up about how Ricketts is going to wait until the season is over for the big name free agents before making any decisions. He also has some interesting things to say about Ricketts, as well as some quotes from others.

Theo Epstein is bored in Boston. Brian Cashman tires of having Yankees President Randy Levine and two Steinbrenner brothers tell him what to do.

That’s what Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts is hearing when he asks about the possibility of bringing Epstein or Cashman to Chicago. Along with the chance to explore the interest of the Rays’ Andrew Friedman and possibly the A’s Billy Beane, it’s why the Cubs’ search for a general manager is ambling along, no end in sight.

There’s certainly no reason to hurry and I’m glad to hear that Ricketts won’t be doing that.

“People in baseball talk about it like it’s the Holy Grail right now,” one major league executive said. “You have a chance to break a curse that’s longer

It is the Holy Grail. Right now, the best job in baseball is the next GM of the Chicago Cubs. It’s why people close to Theo think he’s interested. It’s why the Cubs are targeting the best GMs in the game. They know they have the best job in baseball to offer and almost any GM would leave behind his current job for the position.

Continue reading “The hunt for a new GM”

Why extending Oneri Fleita and possibly Tim Wilken's contract doesn't matter

A part of me does wonder whether these kind of moves aren’t as bold or suggestive as I think. Consider this: we fully expect the Cubs to dump Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Zambrano this Winter, eating tens of millions of dollars in the process. Would it really be so shocking for Ricketts to be willing to eat these personnel extensions, too, if the new GM wants to bring in his own guys? — Bleacher Nation

Exactly. The days of the Cubs being unwilling to eat a contract like Milton Bradley‘s are done. When you think about that situation the Cubs handled that perfeclty in that they didn’t just release him and they actually got a player who was useful for a year. The Cubs were reportedly interested in paying a huge percentage of Soriano’s contract to trade him and will do the same with Zambrano this offseason. Fleita and Wilken if signed will make probably less than a million bucks per year combined so that won’t be an issue.

Not to mention the buyouts included in the contract for Fleita and surely included in Wilken’s if he gets one. Ace goes on a bit and reaches a different answer than I did.

I actually think the answer is yes, despite the apparent bent of my rhetorical question. Sure, the financial cost would be relatively low – I have hard time imagining that Fleita and Wilken, combined, make more than $1 million per year. But the personal cost would be quite high. What kind of name do you make for yourself when you sign guys – expressly so they don’t take opportunities with other clubs – and then can them a couple months later, knowing all the while that it was how you expected things to play out?

As cold and calculating as Ricketts might be (and that’s a compliment), I don’t think even he wants to start out in baseball with that reputation – it remains a “people” business.

It is a people business, but there are ways to handle a situation like this if it comes up. Ideally Ricketts would have told Fleita and Wilken the situation, and by including buyouts and such in their contracts, he actually did so it would seem to me that these guys are well aware of what may happen. I also think the “name” he’d make for himself is one that shows that he’s not going to meddle in the business side of things if such a decision was made. I don’t think it would reflect poorly on Ricketts, but quite the opposite to be honest.

The reality here is that Fleita was kept around because he’s familiar with the system and any GM would want him around for at least the first season since he wouldn’t be taking over until sometime in November. Wilken has made one hell of a name for himself so I think most people not named mb21 thought that Wilken would be retained anyway. After all, when Andrew Friedman took over as the Rays GM, Tim Wilken was the scouting director and he didn’t fire him. Wilken left the following year for the Cubs.

Regardless of why the Cubs did it, or whether or not it may reflect poorly on Ricketts, signing Fleita and eventually Wilken remain mostly inconsequential. Neither is going to make that much money and the Cubs are already interested in shipping away about $60 million or more so I’m pretty sure another million won’t be an issue.

Continue reading “Why extending Oneri Fleita and possibly Tim Wilken's contract doesn't matter”

Cubs likely to extend Tim Wilken's contract

In a move that will surely anger even more people, Tom Ricketts will sit down with Tim Wilken in a couple weeks to discuss the state of the system and Wilken’s contract status. In other words, Ricketts is very likely to extend Wilken’s contract. I’ve not been too pleased with Wilken, but one thing we have to consider is the lack of money the organization has given him to spend. Considering how highly he’s thought of in the business, most close to the situation figured there wasn’t much chance Wilken would be gone. A lot of people think he’s one of the best scouting directors in the game. Levine sheds a little light on the contract for Fleita and probably to the one Wilken will receive.

Like Fleita, Wilken will have a number of teams interested in his services. If the Cubs decide to make a further commitment to Wilken, the next general manager will have two vital positions in place when he takes over. There will, however, be some flexibility for Ricketts and his next general manager to make changes to those spots in the near future. Fleita’s deal (and a possible one for Wilkens) will be structured creatively with buyouts and options to benefit both the team and the executives.

Makes sense. Levine also adds this:

It’s possible that some GM candidates may initially balk at having both a minor league director and scouting director in place. However, Ricketts is staunchly supportive of the current and future value of Fleita and Wilken in the Cubs organization.

It’s his business, his money and his investment so if he thinks they need to be a part of the organization, so be it.

Continue reading “Cubs likely to extend Tim Wilken's contract”

Oneiri Fleita Getting An Extension is Clearly a Sign of the End of the World

Bruce Levine is reporting today that Oneiri Fleita got a four-year extension as Vice President of Player Personnel earlier this week. This is huge for a couple of reasons: 1) it means a Cubs beat reporter may have reported a story within the same calendar week as when the events actually occurred (largely believed to be an omen signaling the beginning of the end of the world) and 2) the Cubs made this move without first having a new General Manager in place (which is largely believed to be an omen signaling the beginning of the end of the world – on Twitter anyway).

I’m not nearly as concerned as the people OMGing all over the place like the Cubs just signed Aaron Miles to a 10-year, $300 million contract as a pitcher.

How much money could Oneiri Fleita possibly make? A million dollars a year? Maybe? I can’t find anything solid, but Ivychat Chuck said Hendry was rumored to make $2.5 million per year as the GM, so the guy reporting to him probably makes less, and probably significantly less. That would make the Cubs on the hook to Oneiri Fleita for an additional $4-$6 million total.

I understand that is a lot of money, but when you are talking about the kind of money that streams through a major baseball organization like the Cubs, that is nothing. This is a team that is looking at pissing away tens of millions to rid themselves of Zambrano and Soriano. What’s a few more if the new GM decides he doesn’t like Oneiri Fleita when he gets here?

There are a lot of important details missing before we all go jumping off a bridge because Ricketts made a move that is, admittedly, a bit out of the ordinary. Is he guaranteed that position? Is he guaranteed certain job responsibilities?

Fleita gets four more years as VP of Player Development. It isn’t out of the realm of possibility that the Cubs create a position above Fleita (a President of Player Development?) inserted above him in the organizational hierarchy. Shit like that happens in corporate America all the time, and we know Tom is fluent in corporate-speak and double-talk.

In the last thread, MB hypothesized that maybe the Ricketts already have the GM choices down to a short list and could have determined from each of them that they would be amenable to having Fleita kept as part of the organization if they got the job. The fact that this has not been reported doesn’t mean anything since we are just now learning from the Chicago press that Kennedy was shot.

We know that the reason Ricketts extended Fleita is because he is highly regarded and being sought by opposing teams. Maybe the Cubs locked him up to keep him a Cub, knowing that no contract in sports is an iron-clad blood oath between the two parties if there are other interested parties involved. Maybe the Tigers will be willing to part with a prospect in order to get their hands on Fleita if the next GM decides he’s not his man.

The worst case scenario is that the new guy comes in and fires Fleita on the first day he’s on the job and the Cubs pissed away $4-$6 million. That is hardly the end of the world for this team.

Continue reading “Oneiri Fleita Getting An Extension is Clearly a Sign of the End of the World”