Rogers: Dusty and management "not on the same page.&quo

[RynoRules]

While Baker's status for 2007 is unresolved, comments he has made over the last week suggest a widening gulf that could lead to a nasty split come October.

 

For instance:

 

In response to a question about the possibility of a contract extension, Baker said, "I've got a choice too."

 

In response to a question about the fairness of evaluating him on an injury-plagued season, he said, "You should've been judging me on the last 13 or 14 years versus these last three or four months."

 

So it has been obvious that Baker and general manager Jim Hendry aren't exactly on the same page.

 

chicagosports.com

 

Looks like exit visa is imminent. =D>

[C.C.]

While Baker's status for 2007 is unresolved, comments he has made over the last week suggest a widening gulf that could lead to a nasty split come October.

 

For instance:

 

In response to a question about the possibility of a contract extension, Baker said, "I've got a choice too."

 

In response to a question about the fairness of evaluating him on an injury-plagued season, he said, "You should've been judging me on the last 13 or 14 years versus these last three or four months."

 

So it has been obvious that Baker and general manager Jim Hendry aren't exactly on the same page.

 

chicagosports.com

 

Looks like exit visa is imminent. =D>

 

Yep, I think it's obvious now. I'm just so curious to see who our next manager is?

[CheeseHead Cubs Fan]

In the Trib today, Fredi Gonzalez name came up (3rd Base Coach - Atlanta Braves) ... Intersting as I do not know much about him....

[C.C.]

In the Trib today, Fredi Gonzalez name came up (3rd Base Coach - Atlanta Braves) ... Intersting as I do not know much about him....

 

I've actually been hearing his name for the past couple of years. Everytime a job opens his name seems to surface...Don't know much about him.

[Caryatid]

The WORST thing Hendry could have done (from a PR standpoint) was let this guy play out the string for the remainder of the year. I'm amazed that he didn't realize that this would happen. Baker can't stand to manage young players, but he's going to make it about that over the next two months; he's going to make it about Hendry 'sticking it to him.'

 

Baker's already starting to shape his message for when/if he doesn't get a contract for '07-"It wasn't my fault, that place is messed up, look what I did in San Francisco, etc."

 

No matter what, Baker is already starting to remove the blame from himself and on to Hendry-that's the kinda guy Baker is.

 

I guarantee that Hendry will come out of this situation looking like the bad guy in the national media.

[C.C.]

The WORST thing Hendry could have done (from a PR standpoint) was let this guy play out the string for the remainder of the year. I'm amazed that he didn't realize that this would happen. Baker can't stand to manage young players, but he's going to make it about that over the next two months; he's going to make it about Hendry 'sticking it to him.'

 

Baker's already starting to shape his message for when/if he doesn't get a contract for '07-"It wasn't my fault, that place is messed up, look what I did in San Francisco, etc."

 

No matter what, Baker is already starting to remove the blame from himself and on to Hendry-that's the kinda guy Baker is.

 

I guarantee that Hendry will come out of this situation looking like the bad guy in the national media.

 

I kinda disagree with you. If you fire Baker mid-season who would you get to replace him? Most mid-season replacements are "Temporary" managers anyway. The right move was for him to finish this diaster and start fresh next year.

[erik316wttn]

For the life of me I can't understand why Hendry doesn't just give him the ax now and let someone else take over for the rest of the year, then find a permanent manager in the off-season.

 

Oh wait, yes I do. It's Jim Hendry! It makes perfect sense to me now.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

When the job opens, Cubs, please consider the following:

 

1. Larry Dierker

2. Davey Johnson

3. Fredi Gonzalez

 

That is all. Thanks.

[C.C.]

When the job opens, Cubs, please consider the following:

 

1. Larry Dierker

2. Davey Johnson

3. Fredi Gonzalez

 

That is all. Thanks.

 

Actually I wouldn't even consider Dierker until I actually started to read about him and he's very impressive, but you have to wonder if the first two (on your list) want to manage anymore...

[NCCubFan]

I kinda disagree with you. If you fire Baker mid-season who would you get to replace him? Most mid-season replacements are "Temporary" managers anyway. The right move was for him to finish this diaster and start fresh next year.

No, the right move would have been to replace Dusty during the season, even if it was with an interim manager. At least an interim manager may have done a competent job of handling the pitching staff, as opposed to Dusty abusing Zambrano this year just as he did with Prior and Wood in 2003.

[Caryatid]

The WORST thing Hendry could have done (from a PR standpoint) was let this guy play out the string for the remainder of the year. I'm amazed that he didn't realize that this would happen. Baker can't stand to manage young players, but he's going to make it about that over the next two months; he's going to make it about Hendry 'sticking it to him.'

 

Baker's already starting to shape his message for when/if he doesn't get a contract for '07-"It wasn't my fault, that place is messed up, look what I did in San Francisco, etc."

 

No matter what, Baker is already starting to remove the blame from himself and on to Hendry-that's the kinda guy Baker is.

 

I guarantee that Hendry will come out of this situation looking like the bad guy in the national media.

 

I kinda disagree with you. If you fire Baker mid-season who would you get to replace him? Most mid-season replacements are "Temporary" managers anyway. The right move was for him to finish this diaster and start fresh next year.

 

Does it really matter who would have replaced him? Speier, Pole, a manager from the minors, Bruce Kimm, whoever. It wouldn't have affected the team's record over the last few months. Who replaces Baker is pretty irrelevant.

 

Regardless, I was speaking more from a PR standpoint, because baseball stopped mattering for this team in June.

[C.C.]

I kinda disagree with you. If you fire Baker mid-season who would you get to replace him? Most mid-season replacements are "Temporary" managers anyway. The right move was for him to finish this diaster and start fresh next year.

No, the right move would have been to replace Dusty during the season, even if it was with an interim manager. At least an interim manager may have done a competent job of handling the pitching staff, as opposed to Dusty abusing Zambrano this year just as he did with Prior and Wood in 2003.

 

Who knows, I'm on the fence with this one. If Hendry did fire him during the ASB I would'nt be upset about it...It's a bit too late now anyway.

[Sammy Sofa]

Fired, quit, whatever...Dusty, JUST GO.

[NCCubFan]

Who knows, I'm on the fence with this one. If Hendry did fire him during the ASB I would'nt be upset about it...It's a bit too late now anyway.

Paging Marty McFly and Dr. Brown. :D

[Too Tall]

While Baker's status for 2007 is unresolved, comments he has made over the last week suggest a widening gulf that could lead to a nasty split come October.

 

For instance:

 

In response to a question about the possibility of a contract extension, Baker said, "I've got a choice too."

 

In response to a question about the fairness of evaluating him on an injury-plagued season, he said, "You should've been judging me on the last 13 or 14 years versus these last three or four months."

 

So it has been obvious that Baker and general manager Jim Hendry aren't exactly on the same page.

 

chicagosports.com

 

Looks like exit visa is imminent. =D>

 

Maybe we should look to sign Sammy again.. I mean, if you judge him by his last 10-13 years and not his last 3 years, well, thats a no brainer..

[Caryatid]

As a side note, I hope this isn't offseason number three where the biggest offseason news made by the Cubs is who they've gotten rid of rather than who they've acquired.

 

I'm tired of seeing joy from the general fandom about getting rid of someone because there's zero acquisititions to actually be happy about.

[RynoRules]

Re Fredi (a Vance fave, I know):

 

Fredi Gonzalez is in his fourth season as the Braves third base coach after spending 2002 as manager of their Triple-A Richmond affiliate.

Gonzalez, 42, was the Florida Marlins third base coach from 1999 through 2001. Before joining the Marlins major league club, he managed in the minor leagues for nine years, earning league manager of the year honors from Baseball America three times: in 1993 when High Desert finished 82-52 in the regular season and won the Class-A California League championship; in 1994, when Brevard County went 78-61 in the Class-A Florida State League; and in 1997, when he guided Portland (ME) to a 79-63 record and first place in the AA Eastern League.

 

Gonzalez began his managerial career in 1990, taking over the unaffiliated Miami Miracle of the Florida State League with 20 games to play. He continued with the Miracle in 1991 before becoming the first minor league manager in Marlins franchise history in 1992, leading Erie to the New York-Penn League championship series. After spending 1993 with High Desert, he managed Brevard County from 1994 through 1996, and then moved up to Portland in 1997 and Charlotte of the AAA International League in 1998.

 

Atlanta Braves.com

[biittner77]

The WORST thing Hendry could have done (from a PR standpoint) was let this guy play out the string for the remainder of the year. I'm amazed that he didn't realize that this would happen. Baker can't stand to manage young players, but he's going to make it about that over the next two months; he's going to make it about Hendry 'sticking it to him.'

 

Baker's already starting to shape his message for when/if he doesn't get a contract for '07-"It wasn't my fault, that place is messed up, look what I did in San Francisco, etc."

 

No matter what, Baker is already starting to remove the blame from himself and on to Hendry-that's the kinda guy Baker is.

 

I guarantee that Hendry will come out of this situation looking like the bad guy in the national media.

 

I kinda disagree with you. If you fire Baker mid-season who would you get to replace him? Most mid-season replacements are "Temporary" managers anyway. The right move was for him to finish this diaster and start fresh next year.

 

That kind of thinking was fine when they were still clinging to the slim chance of turning things around.

 

It doesn't matter who they get to replace Baker now. Whoever took the job would be doing it as a favor to Hendry which would be rewarded further down the line or take it as an opportunity to show what he could do by making some lemonade out of this rotten basket of Lemons.

 

The biggest dangers of keeping Baker around the rest of the way

 

1. Eyre and Howry get run out there every other game. If the Cubs are going to do anything at all next year they'll need these guys. Running them out there for 80+ appearances is taking an unnecessary risk

 

2. Over extending young starting pitchers. Baker's track record of running up pitch counts is well documented.

 

3. Overtaxing the rest of the BP needlessly. Baker manages every game as though it were game 7 of the WS. Sometimes when the starting pitcher makes an early exit, it's better to let your mop up guy eat some innings rather than use 5 relievers, 4 double switches and have 3 guys not available the next game.

 

4. Neifi Perez should never start another game this season.

 

5. Mabry should makes as few starts as possible and should never start again once rosters expand. How about playing Murton at 1st. That allows the Cubs to get a look at Pagan without having to bench Jones. Murton won't be Derrek Lee over there but he can't be any worse than Phil Nevin.

[Banedon]

Didn't Bruce just say that the chances of Dusty being fired was 50/50? I really hope Sullivan is reading this situation right, but I'm unconvinced so far...

[dew1679666265]

Re Fredi (a Vance fave, I know):

 

Fredi Gonzalez is in his fourth season as the Braves third base coach after spending 2002 as manager of their Triple-A Richmond affiliate.

Gonzalez, 42, was the Florida Marlins third base coach from 1999 through 2001. Before joining the Marlins major league club, he managed in the minor leagues for nine years, earning league manager of the year honors from Baseball America three times: in 1993 when High Desert finished 82-52 in the regular season and won the Class-A California League championship; in 1994, when Brevard County went 78-61 in the Class-A Florida State League; and in 1997, when he guided Portland (ME) to a 79-63 record and first place in the AA Eastern League.

 

Gonzalez began his managerial career in 1990, taking over the unaffiliated Miami Miracle of the Florida State League with 20 games to play. He continued with the Miracle in 1991 before becoming the first minor league manager in Marlins franchise history in 1992, leading Erie to the New York-Penn League championship series. After spending 1993 with High Desert, he managed Brevard County from 1994 through 1996, and then moved up to Portland in 1997 and Charlotte of the AAA International League in 1998.

 

Atlanta Braves.com

 

The way I see it is Fredi has been in the Braves organization, that's good enough for me. With Ned Yost as a perfect example, most anyone from that organization understands exactly what it takes to win on a consistent basis and have learned from one of the best, Bobby Cox. I would love to see Fredi Gonzalez become the next manager of the Cubs.

[Outshined_One]

Who knows, I'm on the fence with this one. If Hendry did fire him during the ASB I would'nt be upset about it...It's a bit too late now anyway.

Paging Marty McFly and Dr. Brown. :D

 

Hit the Quantum Leap music!

 

Also, as well as the Braves have been doing, I'm convinced that Ned Yost is only a hair better than Dust-for-brains. His lineups, pitcher handling, and calling of the game (hit & runs, SBs, etc) leave much to be desired. However, he should get kudos for hiring Mike Maddux as his pitching coach.

[hitamprun]

In the Trib today, Fredi Gonzalez name came up (3rd Base Coach - Atlanta Braves) ... Intersting as I do not know much about him....

 

 

Another Phil Rogers article. This guy is so all over the map, it's a joke. First he writes the Cubs should hire Razor Shines as their next manager, and then two weeks later he does a 180 and says they should keep Dusty.

 

Who knows what will come next, but you can be assured, the Cubs will need to hire a manager who will be a name that will appease the fan base and send a positive PR message, and I don't think that person is Gonzalez.

[Abe Frohman]

I have a nice Dusty Baker BP jersey for sale. Anyone interested?

[biittner77]

Who knows what will come next, but you can be assured, the Cubs will need to hire a manager who will be a name that will appease the fan base and send a positive PR message, and I don't think that person is Gonzalez

 

Anyone they hire will be welcomed by the fanbase. The Cubs have floundered with 2 big names: Don Baylor (who was highly thought of at the time) and Dusty Baker. The marketing will be young team, young manager.

[3Dog]

I agree with Caryatid, that Baker will use the occasion of his departure to take shots at the front office and blame everyone but himself.

 

We'll be treated to stuff like "I was never given the proper players to win with" or "Promises were made to me but never honored". It would also not be surprising to hear "I'm not the first person of color in this town that never got a fair shake". He'll blame everything and everyone under the sun...and what do you know, he's already blamed the sun itself ("all those day games, dude")!

 

I have followed this team since the Herman Franks era, and I can say with all certainty that Dusty Baker is THE WORST Cub manager I've seen. Make no mistake that since he's been here, it's been All About Dusty. He didn't manage the Cubs so much as he used them for his own self-aggrandizement. He came to Chicago not for what he could do for the Cubs, but instead for what the Cubs could do for him - namely, enhance his already over-inflated reputation. Two young power arms, the 2nd best power hitter in the NL (at that time), a nationwide fan base, and a huge media market...no wonder he said "I'm here to win, not develop"!

 

The end of this miserable season can't get here fast enough.