I am not saying that I think TR is smart; I just think that it is impossible for him to keep Hendry et al. after this year. I think the pressure will be enormous to appoint a real president and let him set up his own team.
If he stays with this same arrangement after this year, well, then, there simply are no words.
I suggest you prepare for a sustained period of silence then. While I think it is conceivable that Hendry would lose his job after this year, I doubt there's better than a 50-50 chance of that, maybe far less.
There are loads of people here who have thought Hendry to be a lousy to mediocre GM for a long time. That's clearly not been Ricketts' view, and I doubt that one season - a season in which Ricketts himself placed severe limits on Hendry's options - will change that. While Ricketts has talked about wanting to be competitive in the short run, his emphasis has been on building a strong organization for the future. If his priority had been the short run, he wouldn't have reduced the major league budget this season.
And I don't think external pressure is going to mean much to Ricketts. I think his decision on Hendry will probably rest primarily on whether he believes that the guy has put into place a system that is likely to create a strong major league team over the coming years (presumably sometime beyond 2012). And frankly, I think that ought to be his primary concern - not quieting frustrated fans or judging Hendry on this year.
I say this not because I want Hendry retained. At this point, assuming the right person replaced him, I'd like to see someone else take a crack at the job. I just think that the decision whether to keep Hendry as GM will be made based on Ricketts' assessment of the future, not the present or past.