Trib article suggests end is near for inept coaching staff!

[CuseCubFan69]

I don't believe a GM can make statements like that and not end up doing something. The writing is now firmly on the wall.

 

It's too bad it's taken Hendry too long to be able to read it though. Beggars can't be chosers I suppose.

 

If this does happen, it shouldn't take Baker long to find a new job since he hasn't done anything wrong in his whole coaching career.....according to him.

 

Yikes....what if the overhaul is having even more vets/horses on the team to please Baker? Or making Pie come up too early while keeping the Baker man around? This should be interesting.

[Sammy Sofa]

Oh God, Razor Shines would rule, just for the name alone...I figure either Rothschild gets singled out and gets the boot since he was brought in before Dusty, or he goes with Dusty and his boys. There's no way Dusty goes and Clines and Sarge stay. Either way, Rothschild is done, though I'm worried he may be the only one at this point.

[NCCubFan]

I wonder if Dusty will see the writing on the wall and resign at the break rather being fired.

 

I remember Shines from his minor league playing days. He played a couple years at Indianapolis (when they were the Expos' AAA team) when I was living in Indiana, and he was their top hitter, so he got quite a bit of publicity. That's a name you never forget once you see it.

[mlarner]

I wonder if Dusty will see the writing on the wall and resign at the break rather being fired.

 

I remember Shines from his minor league playing days. He played a couple years at Indianapolis (when they were the Expos' AAA team) when I was living in Indiana, and he was their top hitter, so he got quite a bit of publicity. That's a name you never forget once you see it.

 

I was there too while he played for the Indians and he was about as popular as a minor leaguer could be, I think. Not sure about his stats, but it always seemed like he was a career AAAA player as he did well at Indy but very rarely got to get up to the majors. The city loved him back in those days.

[goonys evil twin]

I don't think he is referring to the Cubs currently having a "quality pitching staff". I think he is saying the Cubs currently have the nucleus in terms of position players(the ones he mentioned) now they need to put together a quality pitching staff to complement.

 

The Cubs do not have a nucleus of position players, their position players suck. They need to put together a lineup and a pitching staff.

[CubsInNC]

I wonder if Dusty will see the writing on the wall and resign at the break rather being fired.

 

I remember Shines from his minor league playing days. He played a couple years at Indianapolis (when they were the Expos' AAA team) when I was living in Indiana, and he was their top hitter, so he got quite a bit of publicity. That's a name you never forget once you see it.

 

I was there too while he played for the Indians and he was about as popular as a minor leaguer could be, I think. Not sure about his stats, but it always seemed like he was a career AAAA player as he did well at Indy but very rarely got to get up to the majors. The city loved him back in those days.

 

Absolutely, those were my immediate thoughts on the subject. I have a hard time taking some of the minor league manager stats seriously though. Such as a W-L record. It's a lot easier to win (I would assume) when you have a talented farm system, and not so easy when you don't.

 

Razor was one of my favorite Indianapolis Indians, probably only though because of name and duration of stay. He was there for 9 years. Moreso than Randy Johnson, DeShields, etc. He seems to be rockin' the ML levels though.

[CuseCubFan69]

I wonder if Dusty will see the writing on the wall and resign at the break rather being fired.

 

I remember Shines from his minor league playing days. He played a couple years at Indianapolis (when they were the Expos' AAA team) when I was living in Indiana, and he was their top hitter, so he got quite a bit of publicity. That's a name you never forget once you see it.

 

I was there too while he played for the Indians and he was about as popular as a minor leaguer could be, I think. Not sure about his stats, but it always seemed like he was a career AAAA player as he did well at Indy but very rarely got to get up to the majors. The city loved him back in those days.

 

A manager that might know baseball....now that's a very nice concept.

 

IMO Hendry is going to go to the yell and scream let's get the job done type of manager. He saw what Leylend did at Detroit and he often has to copy success. I'm getting ready for a retread to manage the Cubs.

[cubfan1955]

I'll believe Baker & Co. will be fired when I see it.

 

And I have 100% faith in Hendry to make a horrible choice as their replacement if it does happen. Whatever the most logical choice you can bet the Cubs will do the opposite.

[Tracer Bullet]

I don't think he is referring to the Cubs currently having a "quality pitching staff". I think he is saying the Cubs currently have the nucleus in terms of position players(the ones he mentioned) now they need to put together a quality pitching staff to complement.

 

The Cubs do not have a nucleus of position players, their position players suck. They need to put together a lineup and a pitching staff.

 

Do you really want to get rid of all the position players? If not, who would you keep. I'd guess DLee. Anyone else? Barrett? ARam? Murton? Cedeno? Walker (maybe for one more year)? None of the above?

[goonys evil twin]

I don't think he is referring to the Cubs currently having a "quality pitching staff". I think he is saying the Cubs currently have the nucleus in terms of position players(the ones he mentioned) now they need to put together a quality pitching staff to complement.

 

The Cubs do not have a nucleus of position players, their position players suck. They need to put together a lineup and a pitching staff.

 

Do you really want to get rid of all the position players? If not, who would you keep. I'd guess DLee. Anyone else? Barrett? ARam? Murton? Cedeno? Walker (maybe for one more year)? None of the above?

 

Only Lee approaches irreplacable status, but I'd trade any of them in the right deal.

[cubfan1955]

You have to believe the Cubs already have sorted through their alternatives to Baker. Such changes aren't made overnight without forethought. Among the potential managers who could be plugged in immediately are Lou Piniella, Tom Kelly, Jimy Williams, Gene Lamont and Fredi Gonzalez -- all of whom have big-league managing experience, except for Gonzalez.

 

Gonzalez is the Atlanta Braves' third-base coach, but the Braves might allow him to leave now because they have fallen out of playoff contention. Lamont is on Jim Leyland's coaching staff with the Detroit Tigers, who might be averse to tampering with their success.

 

Piniella, Kelly and Williams might be available to start today under the right circumstances. Whether they would take the job, however, without any commitment beyond this year, would be a factor in the hiring process.

 

The venerable Kelly could be a caretaker. He managed the Minnesota Twins to two World Series titles when Cubs president Andy MacPhail was the Twins' general manager and would bring a no-nonsense attitude to the clubhouse.

 

Williams is highly respected by Hendry as a solid baseball man with good instincts. He managed the Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox and Astros and was a coach for Bobby Cox with the Braves, an organization for which Hendry has the highest esteem.

 

Cubs third-base coach Chris Speier and Class AAA Iowa manager Mike Quade also seem likely candidates if Hendry chooses to go the rest of this season with an interim manager. He and MacPhail did that when Don Baylor was fired July 5, 2002, but Bruce Kimm didn't work out well and the team sunk even further.

Chicago Sun-Times

That would be my guess. Horrible.

[RynoRules]

I don't think he is referring to the Cubs currently having a "quality pitching staff". I think he is saying the Cubs currently have the nucleus in terms of position players(the ones he mentioned) now they need to put together a quality pitching staff to complement.

 

The Cubs do not have a nucleus of position players, their position players suck. They need to put together a lineup and a pitching staff.

 

Do you really want to get rid of all the position players? If not, who would you keep. I'd guess DLee. Anyone else? Barrett? ARam? Murton? Cedeno? Walker (maybe for one more year)? None of the above?

 

Only Lee approaches irreplacable status, but I'd trade any of them in the right deal.

 

Agreed.

 

BTW, I l read up on Shines in Rogers' article this morning. Seems like a sharp guy.

 

8-[

 

Lets hope that Sullivan is dead on here.

[TheDude]

What I find interesting is that nobody has commented on this line:

 

The failure of the club to at least tread water during the early-season injuries to Derrek Lee, Mark Prior and Kerry Wood, along with Corey Patterson's development with Baltimore after struggling with the Cubs, are among the reasons Hendry may decide to purge Baker and most of his staff.

 

"When you don't have success and people go elsewhere and have success, then you're going to have to endure some of that criticism," Hendry said. "We had a path and we were developing pitchers at a young age and getting up here and being successful, and obviously that can fall apart on you in a hurry too. It's called professional sports. It's easy to focus on one or two situations (like Patterson's) when you're going this bad. The criticism has to be taken constructively."

 

Numerous folks on this board have commented on this already, and a long discussion exists. But to have Hendry see that is nice and helps disprove the blind faith theory many fans apply to him. Hopefully it goes a step further and a youth development oreinted manager is brought in.

Edited July 5, 2006 by TheDude

[Connor McConnor]

Lots of coaches have been churned up by the Cub experience over the last 100 years. Baker is just the latest.

 

I wouldnt get your hopes up on this making much of a difference.....no matter who is chosen.

[Jehrico]

I keep wondering why Dierker and Johnson's names don't get mentioned with the likes of Fregosi, Williams, and Piniella.

 

Apparently Davy Johnson refuses to be dragged away from his fishing boat.

Davey Johnson might be a possibility. Bowden lured him out of retirement, he's serving as a scout for them right now. I wonder if he is interested in a return, and if Washington would let him go. If I were Hendry, he'd be my #1 pick.

 

Out of the aforementioned names, Fredi Gonzalez should be the first considered, IMO.

 

Is Girardi under contract beyond this year?

[impaler_240]

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

 

Thank you, Lord!

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I keep wondering why Dierker and Johnson's names don't get mentioned with the likes of Fregosi, Williams, and Piniella.

 

Dierker I can somewhat understand, but Johnson's an interesting one. Did he punch someone's kid in the face and none of us know about it? Was he one of the guys on Dateline's To Catch A Predator? It's almost as though nobody knows he exists.

[CUBZ99]

I was feeling pretty good about Dusty getting fired until I read this from Bruce's article this morning. Which made me think either Bruce meant that Dusty's job was safe until the All Star break or Sullivan and co. are exaggerating Hendy's statement.

 

Baker’s job appears safe at the moment, but if Hendry decides to fire him in season, Hendry would probably go with an interim manager until he could interview a full-time replacement.

 

http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/cubs.asp

[Pinktermite]

Sniff the air...that smell is Dusty's corpse. He will be gone soon. Hendry needs more credit here I think. Give the guy a chance to overhaul things. Changes are coming.

[impaler_240]

Sniff the air...that smell is Dusty's corpse. He will be gone soon. Hendry needs more credit here I think. Give the guy a chance to overhaul things. Changes are coming.

 

Return of the Living Dusty. http://www.cooljeans.info/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/monster_28.gif

[JDE]

How much blame do you guys/gals put on Dusty and how much on Hendry? Until this season, it seems Hendry addressed every part of the team except the bullpen. So, I think Dusty was forced, many times, to stick with his starters longer than he would have wanted. I know he does some dumb things but with a better GM, he could have been better.

[Brendan]

maybe i'm totally off, but wasn't it razor shines that made that famous catch back in the 90s when he literally ran through the outfield wall?

[Sammy Sofa]

maybe i'm totally off, but wasn't it razor shines that made that famous catch back in the 90s when he literally ran through the outfield wall?

 

If that's true, the man should be running the whole friggin' league.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

How much blame do you guys/gals put on Dusty and how much on Hendry? Until this season, it seems Hendry addressed every part of the team except the bullpen. So, I think Dusty was forced, many times, to stick with his starters longer than he would have wanted. I know he does some dumb things but with a better GM, he could have been better.

 

That's a tough question. Dusty has no concept of how to fill out a lineup that will put his team in the best position to succeed. He cannot seem to figure out that if you're going to give one of your best offensive performers a day off, it's best not to give them all that same day off especially when one of your higher ERA pitchers is starting. Even with a deep bullpen, he leaves his starters in too long. Even with that same deep bullpen, he overuses them while others get no action.

 

Hendry gets votes for adding players like Neifi and Rusch when already relying on unprovens such as Murton and Cedeno on a daily basis. He brings in players who are declining (Pierre/Jones) and not very good overall while never seriously entering in the bidding for premium FAs because we already have dead weight under contract at that position. Instead of having some vision when building his teams, he tries to copy what last year's flash-in-the-pan team did with ugly results.

 

Man, this post could go on all day.

[Soul]

Very interesting. I won't believe it until I see the change though.

 

But this is the first time I've even heard Hendry is going to "re-evaluate" Baker & Co.

 

Firing Baker is a foregone conclusion almost every Cub fan has accepted. It's just a matter of when. You don't come back from this level of suckage. Just doesn't happen. I wish Hendry would have realized this in May: even a 5-under .500 team would still have a fighting chance in this crappy division. But I guess a change too late is better than none at all.

 

It's time to pull the trigger. The Dusty era is a failure. Time to move on.