Bleacher Bums Forum

You might be right, Ron.  But I think, unless things turn around and there is reason for optimism by the end of the year, keeping Hendry will suppress attendance and revenue.  In the face of that, you would have to be an awfully strong believer in "the system" that Hendry has in place to make the investment that keeping him would entail.  So what data would support such a belief and investment?  He has had 15 years to implement a successful system and he has failed rather dramatically.  And our farm now -- while perhaps providing a basis for some guarded optimism -- isn't THAT promising.

The respected Bruce Miles has already been beating the "hire a baseball man as President" drum.  I think that this theme will likely catch on big time by the end of this year.

But then again, Nostradamus I am not.  It is hard to find people who are more frequently wrong in their predictions than I am.

Yeah, meddling owners like Steinbrenner and Cuban are the worst.  Thank God for Ricketts.

It's amazing to me that the Cubs have done such a good job sabotaging Zambrano's value (through bad PR and the unnecessary bullpen debacle last year) that he is perceived as being close to immovable in a trade.  If you list his accomplishments, he should be one of the hottest commodities on a potential trade market if the Cubs throw in a couple million dollars.  121-76, 3.53 ERA (39-21, 3.78 ERA over the last 3+ years).  Never had an ERA over 3.95 in a full season.  Compared to other pitchers, he adds real value with the bat in the NL.  Even though he's been around for 10 years, he just turned 30 yesterday. 

Yes, he has issues.  But despite his on-field antics, his teammates have consistently said he's a good teammate behind the scenes.  His craziness doesn't translate to the locker room like it does with Carlos Silva or Milton Bradley.  I have no doubt that if the Yankees or Red Sox PR people were behind Zambrano, his faults would be perceived as nothing more than intensity and acceptable quirks for a player as productive as he is.  And he'd be positioned as the marquee pitching name on the potential trade market in July.

I have no doubt that if the Yankees or Red Sox PR people were behind Zambrano, his faults would be perceived as nothing more than intensity and acceptable quirks for a player as productive as he is. 

Just Z being Z . . .

Only five teams have had a more significant drop in per game attendance than the Cubs 

Cubs      - 3644
Braves   -  3857
Mariners - 3959
Rays      - 3086
Mets      - 4057
Dodgers  - 7161

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/current_attendance.shtml

Cubs
2011 - 34,818
2010 - 37,814
2009 - 39,611
2008 - 40,743

This is the first Barry Rozner column I've read in a while, and honestly, I think a lot of it is spot on for once.
 
Quade can start managing Cubs any time
 
http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110601/sports/706019764
 
But now you can count me among those wondering if he was ready for this, who think he's going to have a very short major-league career if he doesn't stop being pals with the players and start understanding he's their boss, not their friend.
 
-------------------------------
 
No wonder the players wanted him back last fall, with Ryan Dempster saying, “He's one of us.”
 
So far, he has been one of them. He's their friend. He lets veteran starting pitchers decide how long they want to stay in games, and he's reluctant to move former stars out of key spots in the order despite poor performance. He doesn't bench the lazy and unproductive.
 
-------------------------------     
 
He seems unwilling to criticize or discipline, and when players know this they take advantage, which is what they've done.
 
There have been dozens of examples so far this year with “Demp,” “Garz,” “Z,” “Sori,” and “Rami,” to name just a few of his buddies.

I've never been a Hendry basher and I think he's a smart baseball guy, but I'm also kind of curious what a younger, more "modern" type of GM could do with the franchise.  I know that some of those types have not panned out, but I'd be curious how a different approach might work for the Cubs.  I'm also fine with keeping Hendry on for the time being too, probably because I remember Jim Frey and Ed Lynch and Larry Himes and you can do a whole lot worse.