Cubs fire Von Joshua

[jersey cubs fan]

If the Cubs hire Sandberg as manager in 2011, I'm going to have to find a new team. I can't have my son growing up thinking Sandberg's stupid managerial style is "playing the game the right way." Not only that, but it'll just be that many more years without a title as we piss away outs left and right.

 

 

You lived through Donny Buntball and Dusty Baker, I think you can live through the failings of Ryno.

Mike Scioscia is kind of like what I picture Sandberg would be like if he managed. We all have to hope that the Cubs keep the talent spigot flowing one way or the other, because it is the only thing that keeps Scioscia in a job.

 

Well there's that, and the mess that is the rest of the AL West.

 

That's a good point though. It is all about the talent. The biggest problem with Dusty is that team had no hitters and relied exclusively on young arms, which are the exact things Baker is most harmful toward. The Cubs have a huge payroll advantage and with competent GM should have a huge talent advantage. They need to "manager proof" their team. Pretty much all these guys like giving up outs. Lou's is a OBP fanatic in comparison to most, but he still hit and runs into outs and has incompetent base stealers getting picked off repeatedly.

 

If the Cubs have the talent, they can succeed regardless of who the manager/hitting coach is. These guys don't matter nearly as much as the GM matters.

[Guest]

If the Cubs hire Sandberg as manager in 2011, I'm going to have to find a new team. I can't have my son growing up thinking Sandberg's stupid managerial style is "playing the game the right way." Not only that, but it'll just be that many more years without a title as we piss away outs left and right.

 

 

You lived through Donny Buntball and Dusty Baker, I think you can live through the failings of Ryno.

Mike Scioscia is kind of like what I picture Sandberg would be like if he managed. We all have to hope that the Cubs keep the talent spigot flowing one way or the other, because it is the only thing that keeps Scioscia in a job.

 

Well there's that, and the mess that is the rest of the AL West.

 

That's a good point though. It is all about the talent. The biggest problem with Dusty is that team had no hitters and relied exclusively on young arms, which are the exact things Baker is most harmful toward. The Cubs have a huge payroll advantage and with competent GM should have a huge talent advantage. They need to "manager proof" their team. Pretty much all these guys like giving up outs. Lou's is a OBP fanatic in comparison to most, but he still hit and runs into outs and has incompetent base stealers getting picked off repeatedly.

 

If the Cubs have the talent, they can succeed regardless of who the manager/hitting coach is. These guys don't matter nearly as much as the GM matters.

I think a manger is only good for plus or minus a handful of games a year, and most of that is probably due to random variation. It is maddening though to see a team not be put in the best position to win during a tight game.

 

The GM seems to be much more important. It's one of the main reasons why I don't care for Hendry. He seems to have no overriding philosophy at all. He's a scout who worked his way up the ladder and hasn't developed a strategic vision. He's always focusing on tactics. I also think he lets his manager make far too many personnel decisions but I think that is an effect of not having a philosophy.

 

He's been fortunate to be there when deals fell through (Lee to Baltimore) and to take advantage of small market teams needing to unload payroll. He's made some good free agent signings (Lilly), but overall he's mostly used resources poorly.

[Wheelimus]

You have to love the Cubs. With numerous people staring them in the face who would absolutely deserve to be fired based on the teams performance...they fire the one guy who didn't.

 

If I were Von Joshua, I'd look long and hard for a job with a different organization. He's never going to get a fair chance with the Cubs.

[jersey cubs fan]

You have to love the Cubs. With numerous people staring them in the face who would absolutely deserve to be fired based on the teams performance...they fire the one guy who didn't.

 

If I were Von Joshua, I'd look long and hard for a job with a different organization. He's never going to get a fair chance with the Cubs.

 

He's a 60-something year old coach who has had his chances in the majors and has a job waiting for him in AAA if he wants. He's hardly being kept from having a chance in the game.

[Clem Fandango]

The first move by the Cubs next GM should be to hire Gerald Perry as the Cubs hitting instructor.

 

Hendry has completely lost his freakin' mind.

 

Someone please sneak into his office and tell me that Hendry has one of those wheel spinner things that dictates what his next move will be. That's got to be it.

 

Get more left handed, sign guys who can catch the ball, fire talented hitting coaches, trade for guys with World Series rings, sign someone to a ridiculous, long term contract that will haunt the Cubs for longer than people will remember who Jim Hendry WAS, etc.....

 

He does this...

 

http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/222638/?tag=chicken

[Exile on Waveland]

Wow, this is nonsensical/irrational/dumb, even grading on the Cub curve.

[Tyrant]

Wow, this is nonsensical/irrational/dumb, even grading on the Cub curve.

 

It's also just not that big of a deal.

[Guest]

This is exactly what I was talking about

"Obviously, we're disappointed that we didn't do better," Hendry said before Sunday's finale at Wrigley Field, a 5-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. "We're disappointed we didn't get in. There's no sense in rehashing who could have done better or what we should or shouldn't have done."

 

This from a Bruce Miles article (here)

 

I'm sure he's saying that he doesn't want to talk publicly about what went wrong, but judging from his past behavior I don't think he will reflect at all. Instead, he'll go about trying to plug holes without regard to shaping an organizational philosophy.

 

Damn, it pisses me off to no end.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Joshua coaching in lower levels is better for the organization than him coaching MLB hitters. If this move forced him out of the organization, then it's really dumb.

 

 

Wittenmeyer's Twitter said that Sandberg will not get an interview. Dave (I think it's Dave) Keller will get an interview, and they'll look outside the organization as well.

[Guest]

Joshua coaching in lower levels is better for the organization than him coaching MLB hitters. If this move forced him out of the organization, then it's really dumb.

 

 

Wittenmeyer's Twitter said that Sandberg will not get an interview. Dave (I think it's Dave) Keller will get an interview, and they'll look outside the organization as well.

I agree. I wonder if he had a confrontational style with the players and that's why Hendry canned him. He did get into it with Bradley (but who didn't?).

 

Maybe he saw some things and wanted to talk to the players about it and they wouldn't/didn't want to listen to him. The other explanation is that maybe he and Lou didn't see eye to eye. Lou has a reputation as a good hitting instructor. Maybe he saw or heard some things Joshua said and didn't like them. I don't know, but it make sense to me.

[jersey cubs fan]

This is exactly what I was talking about

"Obviously, we're disappointed that we didn't do better," Hendry said before Sunday's finale at Wrigley Field, a 5-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. "We're disappointed we didn't get in. There's no sense in rehashing who could have done better or what we should or shouldn't have done."

 

This from a Bruce Miles article (here)

 

I'm sure he's saying that he doesn't want to talk publicly about what went wrong, but judging from his past behavior I don't think he will reflect at all. Instead, he'll go about trying to plug holes without regard to shaping an organizational philosophy.

 

Damn, it pisses me off to no end.

This is the part that pisses me off.

 

"I'm not worried about that; it's not tricky," Hendry said. "What's been a little bit different is a club of this magnitude being for sale for 21/2 years through a couple of different transitions. The old Tribune selling out to Sam Zell and obviously the latest transaction taking a long, long time.

 

"We don't make excuses around here. We had a very high payroll around here for a couple of years but obviously the last eight, nine months has been a little different than the first couple of years.

 

"It was obviously in total transition, and then obviously we went through the company having their bankruptcy issues that probably did affect the way the sale was done. We're just glad to have finally an end to it."

 

In other words, I don't want to make an excuse, but here's an excuse for you, and it's not even valid since the payroll went up during the sale process. The only thing the sale did was slow the rate at which Hendry could increase his throwing of good money after bad. He's the one who tied up all that cash longterm. Don't go whining about the sale and things being more difficult this year. You had a crap ton of financial resources and you blew it.

[Guest]

This is exactly what I was talking about

"Obviously, we're disappointed that we didn't do better," Hendry said before Sunday's finale at Wrigley Field, a 5-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. "We're disappointed we didn't get in. There's no sense in rehashing who could have done better or what we should or shouldn't have done."

 

This from a Bruce Miles article (here)

 

I'm sure he's saying that he doesn't want to talk publicly about what went wrong, but judging from his past behavior I don't think he will reflect at all. Instead, he'll go about trying to plug holes without regard to shaping an organizational philosophy.

 

Damn, it pisses me off to no end.

This is the part that pisses me off.

 

"I'm not worried about that; it's not tricky," Hendry said. "What's been a little bit different is a club of this magnitude being for sale for 21/2 years through a couple of different transitions. The old Tribune selling out to Sam Zell and obviously the latest transaction taking a long, long time.

 

"We don't make excuses around here. We had a very high payroll around here for a couple of years but obviously the last eight, nine months has been a little different than the first couple of years.

 

"It was obviously in total transition, and then obviously we went through the company having their bankruptcy issues that probably did affect the way the sale was done. We're just glad to have finally an end to it."

 

In other words, I don't want to make an excuse, but here's an excuse for you, and it's not even valid since the payroll went up during the sale process. The only thing the sale did was slow the rate at which Hendry could increase his throwing of good money after bad. He's the one who tied up all that cash longterm. Don't go whining about the sale and things being more difficult this year. You had a crap ton of financial resources and you blew it.

I thought you were going to mention the many uses of obviously. That was pretty bad too.

[Tarver]

 

"I'm not worried about that; it's not tricky," Hendry said. "What's been a little bit different is a club of this magnitude being for sale for 21/2 years through a couple of different transitions. The old Tribune selling out to Sam Zell and obviously the latest transaction taking a long, long time.

 

"We don't make excuses around here. We had a very high payroll around here for a couple of years but obviously the last eight, nine months has been a little different than the first couple of years.

 

"It was obviously in total transition, and then obviously we went through the company having their bankruptcy issues that probably did affect the way the sale was done. We're just glad to have finally an end to it."

 

In other words, I don't want to make an excuse, but here's an excuse for you, and it's not even valid since the payroll went up during the sale process. The only thing the sale did was slow the rate at which Hendry could increase his throwing of good money after bad. He's the one who tied up all that cash longterm. Don't go whining about the sale and things being more difficult this year. You had a crap ton of financial resources and you blew it.

 

Coletti, Bavasi, and Minaya. No one could possibly want any of those clowns running the team, yet some defend Hendry, who doles out bad contracts just as freely.

[17 Seconds]

Wow, this is nonsensical/irrational/dumb, even grading on the Cub curve.

 

It's also just not that big of a deal.

 

Losing 2 very good hitting coaches in one year for no reason is a pretty big deal.

[illiniguy]

Anyone still think the next GM could be worse?

[Backtobanks]

Anyone still think the next GM could be worse?

 

It doesn't matter whether he's worse or not, if he doesn't win the WS posters will rip him to shreds and complain that he's the worst ever. Everybody's jumping all over Sandberg already and he's not even close to being the manager of the Cubs.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I'd be ok firing Joshua if the end result is getting Jaramillo from Texas.

[Sammy Sofa]

Anyone still think the next GM could be worse?

 

Easily.

[Rob]

 

"I'm not worried about that; it's not tricky," Hendry said. "What's been a little bit different is a club of this magnitude being for sale for 21/2 years through a couple of different transitions. The old Tribune selling out to Sam Zell and obviously the latest transaction taking a long, long time.

 

"We don't make excuses around here. We had a very high payroll around here for a couple of years but obviously the last eight, nine months has been a little different than the first couple of years.

 

"It was obviously in total transition, and then obviously we went through the company having their bankruptcy issues that probably did affect the way the sale was done. We're just glad to have finally an end to it."

 

In other words, I don't want to make an excuse, but here's an excuse for you, and it's not even valid since the payroll went up during the sale process. The only thing the sale did was slow the rate at which Hendry could increase his throwing of good money after bad. He's the one who tied up all that cash longterm. Don't go whining about the sale and things being more difficult this year. You had a crap ton of financial resources and you blew it.

 

Coletti, Bavasi, and Minaya. No one could possibly want any of those clowns running the team, yet some defend Hendry, who doles out bad contracts just as freely.

 

I haven't seen a single person here defend Hendry in months. On occasion myself or others may point out that firing him may actually make the situation worse if we don't followup correctly, but that's hardly a defense of him.

[Hawk4Hall]

Hendry is in over his head.

[Tyrant]

Anyone still think the next GM could be worse?

 

Yes. Absolutely.

[CyHawk_Cub]

Jim Hendry: the gift that keeps on giving....because he's allowed to.

[Tracer Bullet]

Anyone still think the next GM could be worse?

 

It doesn't matter whether he's worse or not, if he doesn't win the WS posters will rip him to shreds and complain that he's the worst ever. Everybody's jumping all over Sandberg already and he's not even close to being the manager of the Cubs.

 

you're right. none of us has any idea what Sandberg would do as a manager. It's not like we have numerous articles about his philosophy nor a couple seasons worth of managing in the minors to draw from.

[Tarver]

 

"I'm not worried about that; it's not tricky," Hendry said. "What's been a little bit different is a club of this magnitude being for sale for 21/2 years through a couple of different transitions. The old Tribune selling out to Sam Zell and obviously the latest transaction taking a long, long time.

 

"We don't make excuses around here. We had a very high payroll around here for a couple of years but obviously the last eight, nine months has been a little different than the first couple of years.

 

"It was obviously in total transition, and then obviously we went through the company having their bankruptcy issues that probably did affect the way the sale was done. We're just glad to have finally an end to it."

 

In other words, I don't want to make an excuse, but here's an excuse for you, and it's not even valid since the payroll went up during the sale process. The only thing the sale did was slow the rate at which Hendry could increase his throwing of good money after bad. He's the one who tied up all that cash longterm. Don't go whining about the sale and things being more difficult this year. You had a crap ton of financial resources and you blew it.

 

Coletti, Bavasi, and Minaya. No one could possibly want any of those clowns running the team, yet some defend Hendry, who doles out bad contracts just as freely.

 

I haven't seen a single person here defend Hendry in months. On occasion myself or others may point out that firing him may actually make the situation worse if we don't followup correctly, but that's hardly a defense of him.

 

No one has directly, but all this "we could do worse" business certainly implies it.

 

A team with this many resources shouldn't have to settle for worse.

[jersey cubs fan]

 

"I'm not worried about that; it's not tricky," Hendry said. "What's been a little bit different is a club of this magnitude being for sale for 21/2 years through a couple of different transitions. The old Tribune selling out to Sam Zell and obviously the latest transaction taking a long, long time.

 

"We don't make excuses around here. We had a very high payroll around here for a couple of years but obviously the last eight, nine months has been a little different than the first couple of years.

 

"It was obviously in total transition, and then obviously we went through the company having their bankruptcy issues that probably did affect the way the sale was done. We're just glad to have finally an end to it."

 

In other words, I don't want to make an excuse, but here's an excuse for you, and it's not even valid since the payroll went up during the sale process. The only thing the sale did was slow the rate at which Hendry could increase his throwing of good money after bad. He's the one who tied up all that cash longterm. Don't go whining about the sale and things being more difficult this year. You had a crap ton of financial resources and you blew it.

 

Coletti, Bavasi, and Minaya. No one could possibly want any of those clowns running the team, yet some defend Hendry, who doles out bad contracts just as freely.

 

I haven't seen a single person here defend Hendry in months. On occasion myself or others may point out that firing him may actually make the situation worse if we don't followup correctly, but that's hardly a defense of him.

 

No one has directly, but all this "we could do worse" business certainly implies it.

 

A team with this many resources shouldn't have to settle for worse.

 

The we could be worse nonsense and the "everybody will rip the next GM if he doesn't win a WS" as if Hendry has had the Cubs on the cusp of a title every year and came up just short.

 

Seriously, this is almost as bad as the, "don't fire Dusty we had back to back .500 seasons for the first time in 30 years" BS.