Piniella: I'm retiring at the end of the season

[Rob]

Because he changes his mind? Because it was just lip service to begin with?

 

Firing Hendry after saying that would be a bad PR move, but a collapse in the second half would remedy that. If the Cubs are awful in the second half, Ricketts could easily say that recent occurences changed the situation and he is acting accordingly.

 

At that point, it's not reneging on his word (even if it was just lip service), it's being pro-active in a changing situation. Purely PR, but you'd like to avoid PR hits if you can.

 

Right. The statements in regards to Hendry in no way lock the Ricketts in to keeping him.

 

No, but they do seem to indicate he's leaning towards it, which is bad enough on it's own.

[Sammy Sofa]

Because he changes his mind? Because it was just lip service to begin with?

 

Firing Hendry after saying that would be a bad PR move, but a collapse in the second half would remedy that. If the Cubs are awful in the second half, Ricketts could easily say that recent occurences changed the situation and he is acting accordingly.

 

At that point, it's not reneging on his word (even if it was just lip service), it's being pro-active in a changing situation. Purely PR, but you'd like to avoid PR hits if you can.

 

Right. The statements in regards to Hendry in no way lock the Ricketts in to keeping him.

 

No, but they do seem to indicate he's leaning towards it, which is bad enough on it's own.

 

Obviously, but the point is that nobody is locked into any kind of course of action. I could easily see things changing if they keep plummeting towards the bottom. They made that statement when it looked like the Cubs were going to rebound (relatively) and have a decent shot at finishing at a level where it would be easier to sell the "things didn't go our way" shtick.

[davearm2]

Because he changes his mind? Because it was just lip service to begin with?

 

Firing Hendry after saying that would be a bad PR move, but a collapse in the second half would remedy that. If the Cubs are awful in the second half, Ricketts could easily say that recent occurences changed the situation and he is acting accordingly.

 

At that point, it's not reneging on his word (even if it was just lip service), it's being pro-active in a changing situation. Purely PR, but you'd like to avoid PR hits if you can.

JMHO, but you're overstating the "PR hit" angle. The reaction if/when Hendry is fired will not be impacted meaningfully one way or another by whatever Ricketts has said to date.

 

Let's not pretend there'd be some sort of huge "but you promised to keep him!!!" uproar to overcome.

[NCCubFan]

Let's not pretend there'd be some sort of huge "but you promised to keep him!!!" uproar to overcome.

There would be an uproar. It would come from the other GMs. :D

[Omar]

I don't see any reason why Piniella is still the manager of this team. Why not just fire him? It is pretty obvious Sandberg is next on death row, so why not call him up and let him get used to the team?

[Post Count Padder]

I don't see any reason why Piniella is still the manager of this team. Why not just fire him? It is pretty obvious Sandberg is next on death row, so why not call him up and let him get used to the team?

Agreed. After these recent blowouts, I can't even say we're playing for pride anymore. Let's just get ready for next year/the future. But they're gonna be nice and give Piniella what he asked for (to leave on his own terms). Hendry's just a stand-up guy. :roll:

[Sammy Sofa]

Why would they saddle their next long term managerial hire with a team this bad? That makes absolutely no sense.

[jersey cubs fan]

I don't see any reason why Piniella is still the manager of this team. Why not just fire him? It is pretty obvious Sandberg is next on death row, so why not call him up and let him get used to the team?

Agreed. After these recent blowouts, I can't even say we're playing for pride anymore. Let's just get ready for next year/the future. But they're gonna be nice and give Piniella what he asked for (to leave on his own terms). Hendry's just a stand-up guy. :roll:

 

These last few games just prove Alan Trammel cannot manage.

[dew1679666265]

JMHO, but you're overstating the "PR hit" angle. The reaction if/when Hendry is fired will not be impacted meaningfully one way or another by whatever Ricketts has said to date.

 

Let's not pretend there'd be some sort of huge "but you promised to keep him!!!" uproar to overcome.

 

I don't think pandemonium would ensue and there'd be rioting in the streets or anything because Ricketts went back on what he said. I do think he'd have to answer a decent amount of questions wondering why he said Hendry would be back and then went on to fire him.

 

A Cub collapse in the second half would give him a really easy answer to those questions.

[Backtobanks]

I don't see any reason why Piniella is still the manager of this team. Why not just fire him? It is pretty obvious Sandberg is next on death row, so why not call him up and let him get used to the team?

Agreed. After these recent blowouts, I can't even say we're playing for pride anymore. Let's just get ready for next year/the future. But they're gonna be nice and give Piniella what he asked for (to leave on his own terms). Hendry's just a stand-up guy. :roll:

 

These last few games just prove Alan Trammel cannot manage.

 

Yeah, Trammel sure can't get his starters to last more than a few innings. Plus he caused Silva's heart to race.

[jersey cubs fan]

JMHO, but you're overstating the "PR hit" angle. The reaction if/when Hendry is fired will not be impacted meaningfully one way or another by whatever Ricketts has said to date.

 

Let's not pretend there'd be some sort of huge "but you promised to keep him!!!" uproar to overcome.

 

I don't think pandemonium would ensue and there'd be rioting in the streets or anything because Ricketts went back on what he said. I do think he'd have to answer a decent amount of questions wondering why he said Hendry would be back and then went on to fire him.

 

A Cub collapse in the second half would give him a really easy answer to those questions.

 

I doubt he'd have to answer many questions about going back on his words.

[dew1679666265]

I doubt he'd have to answer many questions about going back on his words.

 

If he were an established owner, probably not. But with him being a brand new owner, I think questions would come just to find out if he's going to make a habit of it, etc. I don't know how many he'd get – probably not a bunch – but I think there'd be some.

[jersey cubs fan]

I doubt he'd have to answer many questions about going back on his words.

 

If he were an established owner, probably not. But with him being a brand new owner, I think questions would come just to find out if he's going to make a habit of it, etc. I don't know how many he'd get – probably not a bunch – but I think there'd be some.

 

I doubt it. If he fired him tomorrow, maybe. But sometime in October? I really doubt it.

[Guest]

Yeah, anyone who pays close enough attention to the Cubs to know that Ricketts even said that in the first place is not going to be upset that Hendry is fired. It's a victimless crime.

[dew1679666265]

Yeah, anyone who pays close enough attention to the Cubs to know that Ricketts even said that in the first place is not going to be upset that Hendry is fired. It's a victimless crime.

 

I'm thinking media members, not fans. And it's not so much being upset about firing Hendry, but more finding out why he gave the vote of confidence and then fired him.

[Guest]

Yeah, anyone who pays close enough attention to the Cubs to know that Ricketts even said that in the first place is not going to be upset that Hendry is fired. It's a victimless crime.

 

I'm thinking media members, not fans. And it's not so much being upset about firing Hendry, but more finding out why he gave the vote of confidence and then fired him.

 

The media won't care about details that no one else is interested in. And there's a reason the "vote of confidence" is such a cliche. It wouldn't be out of the ordinary enough for there to be any backlash. Especially considering that the move would be 110% justified.

[Tyrant]

I don't see any reason why Piniella is still the manager of this team. Why not just fire him? It is pretty obvious Sandberg is next on death row, so why not call him up and let him get used to the team?

Agreed. After these recent blowouts, I can't even say we're playing for pride anymore. Let's just get ready for next year/the future. But they're gonna be nice and give Piniella what he asked for (to leave on his own terms). Hendry's just a stand-up guy. :roll:

 

I think Hendry is a lousy GM, but I do think he's mostly a stand-up guy (which isn't a bad thing). And since it won't make any difference in the season, I think Lou does deserve to go out on his own terms. He's had a long, mostly successful career in baseball and it's a nice gesture to let him "retire" rather than end his career by getting fired. Lou's definitely not a perfect manager by any means, but he's pretty far down the list of why the Cubs have been so terrible this year.

 

I don't see what firing Lou in August is going to accomplish in preparing for the future, other than giving angry fans some feeling of vindication.

[SouthSideRyan]

Yeah, anyone who pays close enough attention to the Cubs to know that Ricketts even said that in the first place is not going to be upset that Hendry is fired. It's a victimless crime.

 

I'm thinking media members, not fans. And it's not so much being upset about firing Hendry, but more finding out why he gave the vote of confidence and then fired him.

 

This happens virtually every year across every sport, and you never hear a peep about it from the media. Nobody cares

[dew1679666265]

Yeah, anyone who pays close enough attention to the Cubs to know that Ricketts even said that in the first place is not going to be upset that Hendry is fired. It's a victimless crime.

 

I'm thinking media members, not fans. And it's not so much being upset about firing Hendry, but more finding out why he gave the vote of confidence and then fired him.

 

This happens virtually every year across every sport, and you never hear a peep about it from the media. Nobody cares

 

Maybe not.

[Sammy Sofa]

Yeah, anyone who pays close enough attention to the Cubs to know that Ricketts even said that in the first place is not going to be upset that Hendry is fired. It's a victimless crime.

 

I'm thinking media members, not fans. And it's not so much being upset about firing Hendry, but more finding out why he gave the vote of confidence and then fired him.

 

This happens virtually every year across every sport, and you never hear a peep about it from the media. Nobody cares

 

Maybe not.

 

Can you think of or find an example for local or national media has criticized a team for firing a manager or GM for putting together or running a bad team after giving them a vote of confidence earlier in the season?

[SouthSideRyan]

I've multiple times seen it referred to as "the dreaded vote of confidence" by media members. They understand it's a nothing term.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I've multiple times seen it referred to as "the dreaded vote of confidence" by media members. They understand it's a nothing term.

http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/204331-trouble-ahead-gm-gets-vote-of-confidence

[dew1679666265]

Can you think of or find an example for local or national media has criticized a team for firing a manager or GM for putting together or running a bad team after giving them a vote of confidence earlier in the season?

 

Like I said, I may be wrong here. I can't think of any off the top of my head, but I don't pay that much attention to other teams' media members either.

[Irrelevant Dude]

Yeah, anyone who pays close enough attention to the Cubs to know that Ricketts even said that in the first place is not going to be upset that Hendry is fired. It's a victimless crime.

 

I'm thinking media members, not fans. And it's not so much being upset about firing Hendry, but more finding out why he gave the vote of confidence and then fired him.

 

This happens virtually every year across every sport, and you never hear a peep about it from the media. Nobody cares

 

Maybe not.

 

Can you think of or find an example for local or national media has criticized a team for firing a manager or GM for putting together or running a bad team after giving them a vote of confidence earlier in the season?

But can you think of an example where the vote of confidence was a verbal commitment to the employee for the next season? What Ricketts said is completely different than saying "I have no intention of firing Jim Hendry" or "Jim Hendry's job is safe." Both of those are present tense and subject to change. He said that Hendry would be the GM going into next season.

[Sammy Sofa]

And? I still don't understand why you think that it is somehow binding in the sense that the Ricketts can't or won't decide to fire him instead.