All the coaches fired...

[EricG]

I'm going to miss Dick Pole.

[CubmanPi]

I didn't see this thread until after I found the article on Cubs.com a few minutes ago, and the immediate problem I had with it is that Hendry's philosophy of allowing the manager to select all the coaches leaves him wiggle room if next season sucks too and he wants to side-step the blame and keep his job. After all, "the manager got to pick his own staff." I don't think any manager in his right mind would take this job, it's a trap waiting to happen.

 

Throw on top of that the good point brought up earlier that he is taking his sweet time coming up with a new manager, and in the meantime watching all the good coaches disappear. It almost sounds to me like he knows he's created more of a mess than he can handle, but now he's going to have a manager who steps into a position to possibly absorb enough blame to buy Hendry more time to fix things himself with more 8-hole hitters who know how to catch the ball.

 

I have long since quit thinking well of the job he has done, but since the end of the season he has sunk to an all-time low in my book, and he can't be fired soon enough.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I didn't see this thread until after I found the article on Cubs.com a few minutes ago, and the immediate problem I had with it is that Hendry's philosophy of allowing the manager to select all the coaches leaves him wiggle room if next season sucks too and he wants to side-step the blame and keep his job. After all, "the manager got to pick his own staff." I don't think any manager in his right mind would take this job, it's a trap waiting to happen.

 

Throw on top of that the good point brought up earlier that he is taking his sweet time coming up with a new manager, and in the meantime watching all the good coaches disappear. It almost sounds to me like he knows he's created more of a mess than he can handle, but now he's going to have a manager who steps into a position to possibly absorb enough blame to buy Hendry more time to fix things himself with more 8-hole hitters who know how to catch the ball.

 

I have long since quit thinking well of the job he has done, but since the end of the season he has sunk to an all-time low in my book, and he can't be fired soon enough.

 

Managers have historically been responsible for bringing in most of the rest of the coaching staff.

[SouthSideRyan]

I didn't see this thread until after I found the article on Cubs.com a few minutes ago, and the immediate problem I had with it is that Hendry's philosophy of allowing the manager to select all the coaches leaves him wiggle room if next season sucks too and he wants to side-step the blame and keep his job. After all, "the manager got to pick his own staff." I don't think any manager in his right mind would take this job, it's a trap waiting to happen.

 

Throw on top of that the good point brought up earlier that he is taking his sweet time coming up with a new manager, and in the meantime watching all the good coaches disappear. It almost sounds to me like he knows he's created more of a mess than he can handle, but now he's going to have a manager who steps into a position to possibly absorb enough blame to buy Hendry more time to fix things himself with more 8-hole hitters who know how to catch the ball.

 

I have long since quit thinking well of the job he has done, but since the end of the season he has sunk to an all-time low in my book, and he can't be fired soon enough.

 

I think it'd be pretty tough for Hendry to get away with blaming another horrible season on the manager. If the Cubs suck next year, I have to believe Hendry's gone.

[A New Era]

I didn't see this thread until after I found the article on Cubs.com a few minutes ago, and the immediate problem I had with it is that Hendry's philosophy of allowing the manager to select all the coaches leaves him wiggle room if next season sucks too and he wants to side-step the blame and keep his job. After all, "the manager got to pick his own staff." I don't think any manager in his right mind would take this job, it's a trap waiting to happen.

 

Throw on top of that the good point brought up earlier that he is taking his sweet time coming up with a new manager, and in the meantime watching all the good coaches disappear. It almost sounds to me like he knows he's created more of a mess than he can handle, but now he's going to have a manager who steps into a position to possibly absorb enough blame to buy Hendry more time to fix things himself with more 8-hole hitters who know how to catch the ball.

 

I have long since quit thinking well of the job he has done, but since the end of the season he has sunk to an all-time low in my book, and he can't be fired soon enough.

 

Managers have historically been responsible for bringing in most of the rest of the coaching staff.

 

Plus, who would you rather pick the coaches. Hendry or Girardi? I view this as a good thing. We can get some compitant coaches now.

[Laura]

Jeff Vorva / The Daily Southtown[/url]"]

Some Cubs pitchers hope the team will retain Rosthschild.

 

"Larry is great. He helped me find a breaking ball that I haven't had for any of my career," veteran reliever Bob Howry said. "Once we started working on it, it went quick. It's still a work in progress but just the suggestions on how to do it worked for me."

 

"I think Larry is exceptional," reliever Will Ohman said, "and I have beyond enjoyed my time with him. I would like to spend any chance I could learning from him. If I had my say, he would be back."

 

Starter Rich Hill, who struggled in his first three major league stints but blossomed in the second half of the 2006 season, credited Rothschild.

 

"I learned a lot," Hill said. "We talked a lot about the mental side of the game. He helped me prepare for the major leagues. I don't know any other (major league) pitching coaches out there, but he's, if not the best, he's one of the best out there."

[daske17]

Jeff Vorva / The Daily Southtown[/url]"]

Some Cubs pitchers hope the team will retain Rosthschild.

 

"Larry is great. He helped me find a breaking ball that I haven't had for any of my career," veteran reliever Bob Howry said. "Once we started working on it, it went quick. It's still a work in progress but just the suggestions on how to do it worked for me."

 

"I think Larry is exceptional," reliever Will Ohman said, "and I have beyond enjoyed my time with him. I would like to spend any chance I could learning from him. If I had my say, he would be back."

 

Starter Rich Hill, who struggled in his first three major league stints but blossomed in the second half of the 2006 season, credited Rothschild.

 

"I learned a lot," Hill said. "We talked a lot about the mental side of the game. He helped me prepare for the major leagues. I don't know any other (major league) pitching coaches out there, but he's, if not the best, he's one of the best out there."

 

Not to brush this praise aside, but the pitching staff said the same thing about Oscar Acosta when he was canned, and the pitchers from those teams didn't suddenly forget how to throw.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Jeff Vorva / The Daily Southtown[/url]"]

Some Cubs pitchers hope the team will retain Rosthschild.

 

"Larry is great. He helped me find a breaking ball that I haven't had for any of my career," veteran reliever Bob Howry said. "Once we started working on it, it went quick. It's still a work in progress but just the suggestions on how to do it worked for me."

 

"I think Larry is exceptional," reliever Will Ohman said, "and I have beyond enjoyed my time with him. I would like to spend any chance I could learning from him. If I had my say, he would be back."

 

Starter Rich Hill, who struggled in his first three major league stints but blossomed in the second half of the 2006 season, credited Rothschild.

 

"I learned a lot," Hill said. "We talked a lot about the mental side of the game. He helped me prepare for the major leagues. I don't know any other (major league) pitching coaches out there, but he's, if not the best, he's one of the best out there."

 

Aardsma also said he hoped Rothschild would come back.

[goonys evil twin]

Not to brush this praise aside, but the pitching staff said the same thing about Oscar Acosta when he was canned, and the pitchers from those teams didn't suddenly forget how to throw.

 

I'm not afraid tro brush it aside. When players talk about liking coaches and not wanting to see them go, I assume it's either PC "don't burn fences" stuff or I'm comfortable doing what we did to bring about 95 losses and don't want change.

[jtownie]

Jeff Vorva / The Daily Southtown[/url]"]

Some Cubs pitchers hope the team will retain Rosthschild.

 

"Larry is great. He helped me find a breaking ball that I haven't had for any of my career," veteran reliever Bob Howry said. "Once we started working on it, it went quick. It's still a work in progress but just the suggestions on how to do it worked for me."

 

"I think Larry is exceptional," reliever Will Ohman said, "and I have beyond enjoyed my time with him. I would like to spend any chance I could learning from him. If I had my say, he would be back."

 

Starter Rich Hill, who struggled in his first three major league stints but blossomed in the second half of the 2006 season, credited Rothschild.

 

"I learned a lot," Hill said. "We talked a lot about the mental side of the game. He helped me prepare for the major leagues. I don't know any other (major league) pitching coaches out there, but he's, if not the best, he's one of the best out there."

 

Not to brush this praise aside, but the pitching staff said the same thing about Oscar Acosta when he was canned, and the pitchers from those teams didn't suddenly forget how to throw.

 

Interesting that Hill is quoted as a supporter. If I recall, he was one of the pitchers that was rumored to constantly ignoring Rothschild and that it wasn't until he quit listening to him that he started to perform at the ML as he did in the lower levels.

[RichHillIsABeast]

Jeff Vorva / The Daily Southtown[/url]"]

Some Cubs pitchers hope the team will retain Rosthschild.

 

"Larry is great. He helped me find a breaking ball that I haven't had for any of my career," veteran reliever Bob Howry said. "Once we started working on it, it went quick. It's still a work in progress but just the suggestions on how to do it worked for me."

 

"I think Larry is exceptional," reliever Will Ohman said, "and I have beyond enjoyed my time with him. I would like to spend any chance I could learning from him. If I had my say, he would be back."

 

Starter Rich Hill, who struggled in his first three major league stints but blossomed in the second half of the 2006 season, credited Rothschild.

 

"I learned a lot," Hill said. "We talked a lot about the mental side of the game. He helped me prepare for the major leagues. I don't know any other (major league) pitching coaches out there, but he's, if not the best, he's one of the best out there."

 

Not to brush this praise aside, but the pitching staff said the same thing about Oscar Acosta when he was canned, and the pitchers from those teams didn't suddenly forget how to throw.

 

Interesting that Hill is quoted as a supporter. If I recall, he was one of the pitchers that was rumored to constantly ignoring Rothschild and that it wasn't until he quit listening to him that he started to perform at the ML as he did in the lower levels.

 

I think Hill is probably playing the PC game after his AJ/Barrett comments rubbed management the wrong way.

 

I don't doubt that Larry has done some good things, but the failures to prevent serious injuries to Wood and Prior (well, he can't stop Giles and Hawpe) are so large that we can't risk having him back.

 

Maybe Baker just didn't listen to Larry.

[CubColtPacer]

Jeff Vorva / The Daily Southtown[/url]"]

Some Cubs pitchers hope the team will retain Rosthschild.

 

"Larry is great. He helped me find a breaking ball that I haven't had for any of my career," veteran reliever Bob Howry said. "Once we started working on it, it went quick. It's still a work in progress but just the suggestions on how to do it worked for me."

 

"I think Larry is exceptional," reliever Will Ohman said, "and I have beyond enjoyed my time with him. I would like to spend any chance I could learning from him. If I had my say, he would be back."

 

Starter Rich Hill, who struggled in his first three major league stints but blossomed in the second half of the 2006 season, credited Rothschild.

 

"I learned a lot," Hill said. "We talked a lot about the mental side of the game. He helped me prepare for the major leagues. I don't know any other (major league) pitching coaches out there, but he's, if not the best, he's one of the best out there."

 

Not to brush this praise aside, but the pitching staff said the same thing about Oscar Acosta when he was canned, and the pitchers from those teams didn't suddenly forget how to throw.

 

Interesting that Hill is quoted as a supporter. If I recall, he was one of the pitchers that was rumored to constantly ignoring Rothschild and that it wasn't until he quit listening to him that he started to perform at the ML as he did in the lower levels.

 

I think Hill is probably playing the PC game after his AJ/Barrett comments rubbed management the wrong way.

 

I don't doubt that Larry has done some good things, but the failures to prevent serious injuries to Wood and Prior (well, he can't stop Giles and Hawpe) are so large that we can't risk having him back.

 

Maybe Baker just didn't listen to Larry.

 

Bruce did say something to the effect of on this board the other day that Baker should have listened to Larry more than he actually did.

[soccer10k]

Jeff Vorva / The Daily Southtown[/url]"]

Some Cubs pitchers hope the team will retain Rosthschild.

 

"Larry is great. He helped me find a breaking ball that I haven't had for any of my career," veteran reliever Bob Howry said. "Once we started working on it, it went quick. It's still a work in progress but just the suggestions on how to do it worked for me."

 

"I think Larry is exceptional," reliever Will Ohman said, "and I have beyond enjoyed my time with him. I would like to spend any chance I could learning from him. If I had my say, he would be back."

 

Starter Rich Hill, who struggled in his first three major league stints but blossomed in the second half of the 2006 season, credited Rothschild.

 

"I learned a lot," Hill said. "We talked a lot about the mental side of the game. He helped me prepare for the major leagues. I don't know any other (major league) pitching coaches out there, but he's, if not the best, he's one of the best out there."

 

Not to brush this praise aside, but the pitching staff said the same thing about Oscar Acosta when he was canned, and the pitchers from those teams didn't suddenly forget how to throw.

 

Interesting that Hill is quoted as a supporter. If I recall, he was one of the pitchers that was rumored to constantly ignoring Rothschild and that it wasn't until he quit listening to him that he started to perform at the ML as he did in the lower levels.

 

I think Hill is probably playing the PC game after his AJ/Barrett comments rubbed management the wrong way.

 

I don't doubt that Larry has done some good things, but the failures to prevent serious injuries to Wood and Prior (well, he can't stop Giles and Hawpe) are so large that we can't risk having him back.

 

Maybe Baker just didn't listen to Larry.

 

Bruce did say something to the effect of on this board the other day that Baker should have listened to Larry more than he actually did.

 

I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Baker frequently overruled Larry and ignored his advice.

[BigbadB]

Well. I'm excited that my wish has been granted. Almost. Hendry is still here, but that might not be a bad thing. Depends on which team wins the World Series and how they constructed their team to win the World Series, so that Hendry can emulate that team next. :D

 

Better late than never. I am disappointed that the new fixtures won't be announced for another month. He's had 2 years to analyze the coaching talent that might be available this offseason. I suppose the delay means he was NOT analyzing the coaching talent that might be available. For shame.

 

What will most likely do Hendry in this offseason will be a combination of a weak free agent market and coming off a horrible enough season that players might look elsewhere for a possible playoff caliber team.

 

I'm about as pessimistic about 2007 as I can possibly be. To land the quality coaches and players to do a complete turnabout in the standings is not something I have any trust in Hendry to make happen.

 

The guys that I feel the Cubs should be focusing their energies on this offseason will likely not be the guys that Hendry will be focusing on.

 

In other words, I don't see Hendry pulling off a Jones/Drew switch. I don't see him putting in any effort to steal away Carl Crawford. I think he likes Izturis too much to improve OBP at one of the middle infield positions. As far as landing the top free agents, the Cubs don't have a very good history of making it happen. Hendry spent the entire first half of the offseason last year putting all of his eggs in the Furcal basket, and that produced nada.

 

He kicked Nomar to the curb with the impression that Furcal was his for the taking. He just doesn't seem to look at the big picture. He traded 3 prospects for a 1 year rental in Juan Pierre. If Pierre was coming off a career year, it might have made a bit of sense. I won't bring up Brian Giles, but Hendry didn't focus any attention to the power corner spots in the outfield until all that was left was Reggie Sanders, Jacque Jones and Juan Encarnacion.

 

I've got news for you, Jim. Sitting on your thumbs is not going to get it done this offseason. It's going to take creative trades to improve this team, and I'm not so sure you have the creativity to make it happen.

 

My interest in the 2007 Cubs season is waiting for you to create the magic necessary to turn one of the worst teams in baseball this past year into one of the best teams. Good luck with that.