Brutal, brutal season - worst I can remember

[wvcbxl]

Keeping him now means he wants Jim in charge. That's an indictment.

 

Not necessarily. Keeping Hendry could mean Ricketts thinks the cost of firing him doesn't outweigh the benefits right now.

[jersey cubs fan]

Keeping him now means he wants Jim in charge. That's an indictment.

 

Not necessarily. Keeping Hendry could mean Ricketts thinks the cost of firing him doesn't outweigh the benefits right now.

 

Not really. He's only signed through 2012 and in sports people are regularly canned with time remaining in their contracts. Additionally, the decisions that Hendry makes now will affect the team further into the future. Any rational owner would fire a guy if he didn't want him to be the GM. Ricketts has not fired Jim Hendry and that means he wants him to be the GM.

[davell]

If canning Hendry meant that Wilken would immediately quit, I can see how that COULD give Ricketts pause.

[jersey cubs fan]

If canning Hendry meant that Wilken would immediately quit, I can see how that COULD give Ricketts pause.

 

I don't see how it would and I don't see why it would matter. It's not like this minor league system is rolling along like gangbusters.

[SpongeWorthy]

It's not about being duped. It's about walking into a situation where you know very little about the industry.

 

Ricketts is a Cub fan and had front row seats for several years. This does not give you automatic knowledge of the inner workings of a baseball team. It does not magically give you knowledge on who the best baseball minds in the industry are.

 

Worse yet, the president of operations is a PR guy and isn't really qualified to hire a great baseball mind. Quite possibly, the highest ranking and brightest baseball mind in the eyes of Ricketts is Jim Hendry, who is under contract and guaranteed his salary.

 

Ricketts probably knows he inherited a mess. If he's a true fan, he knows. However, it's not really his mess (he just inherited it) and it would probably be somewhat irresponsible to throw all caution to the wind and shake things up without at least learning a bit more about your new trade. There probably isn't a single person in the entire organization that has negative things to say about Hendry. There probably aren't any other owners who would portray Hendry as a bad GM. Therefore, the reality is that while Ricketts learns how to be the owner of a baseball franchise, he has respected baseball people who will probably do their best to try to put a successful team on the field. Unfortunately, Hendry is not very good at that, although that's amazingly somewhat of a secret still.

 

He's not being duped and he isn't walking on eggshells. He's just biding his time until contracts dissipate and he can mold the team the way he wants and find baseball minds that can help him accomplish that. At least that's all we can really hope.

 

ETA: And it is quite possible that a little birdie within the organization has informed Ricketts that if he cans Hendry that several other higher up personnel will be leaving as well, which is a tough pill to swallow as a brand new owner looking to fill lots of openings. He has a crapload of other things on his plate without adding more.

 

If he didn't know already, I don't think that an ostensibly smart person like Ricketts would need much time for boning up on the club to realize that Jim Hendry isn't the answer.

[davell]

If canning Hendry meant that Wilken would immediately quit, I can see how that COULD give Ricketts pause.

 

I don't see how it would and I don't see why it would matter. It's not like this minor league system is rolling along like gangbusters.

 

 

In my opinion, it'd be because Ricketts wouldn't want to come in and see an upheaval this early into his reign. He could think(wrongly, as far as I'm concerned) that the public perception would turn against him and hurt the bottom line profit in the end.

[Guest]

If Ricketts would only join NSBB and spend a year here, we could bone him up on everything he needs to know. :)

[biittner77]

If Ricketts would only join NSBB and spend a year here, we could bone him up on everything he needs to know. :)

 

Since he hasn't joined that pretty much disproves the "He's a real Cubs fan" theory.

[SouthSideRyan]

If Ricketts would only join NSBB and spend a year here, we could bone him up on everything he needs to know. :)

 

Since he hasn't joined that pretty much disproves the "He's a real Cubs fan" theory.

 

He's just there for the chicken wings in the owner's box.

[GlassCow]

It's not about being duped. It's about walking into a situation where you know very little about the industry.

 

Ricketts is a Cub fan and had front row seats for several years. This does not give you automatic knowledge of the inner workings of a baseball team. It does not magically give you knowledge on who the best baseball minds in the industry are.

 

Worse yet, the president of operations is a PR guy and isn't really qualified to hire a great baseball mind. Quite possibly, the highest ranking and brightest baseball mind in the eyes of Ricketts is Jim Hendry, who is under contract and guaranteed his salary.

 

Ricketts probably knows he inherited a mess. If he's a true fan, he knows. However, it's not really his mess (he just inherited it) and it would probably be somewhat irresponsible to throw all caution to the wind and shake things up without at least learning a bit more about your new trade. There probably isn't a single person in the entire organization that has negative things to say about Hendry. There probably aren't any other owners who would portray Hendry as a bad GM. Therefore, the reality is that while Ricketts learns how to be the owner of a baseball franchise, he has respected baseball people who will probably do their best to try to put a successful team on the field. Unfortunately, Hendry is not very good at that, although that's amazingly somewhat of a secret still.

 

He's not being duped and he isn't walking on eggshells. He's just biding his time until contracts dissipate and he can mold the team the way he wants and find baseball minds that can help him accomplish that. At least that's all we can really hope.

 

ETA: And it is quite possible that a little birdie within the organization has informed Ricketts that if he cans Hendry that several other higher up personnel will be leaving as well, which is a tough pill to swallow as a brand new owner looking to fill lots of openings. He has a crapload of other things on his plate without adding more.

 

BBB -

 

As usual, your posts are among the most insightful and entertaining here sir. Just as a follow up, if I were one of Ricketts' peers, I would tell everybody who would listen what a genius Jim Hendry is. After all, what better way to compete against the Cubs then to keep them worthless for as long as possible?

[Derwood]

If Ricketts would only join NSBB and spend a year here, we could bone him up on everything he needs to know. :)

 

he joined long ago. His screen name is hardcorecubfan

[Soul]

Keeping him now means he wants Jim in charge. That's an indictment.

 

Not necessarily. Keeping Hendry could mean Ricketts thinks the cost of firing him doesn't outweigh the benefits right now.

 

Not really. He's only signed through 2012 and in sports people are regularly canned with time remaining in their contracts. Additionally, the decisions that Hendry makes now will affect the team further into the future. Any rational owner would fire a guy if he didn't want him to be the GM. Ricketts has not fired Jim Hendry and that means he wants him to be the GM.

 

Yeah, I think Ricketts just likes Hendry. Certainly there's much that we don't see behind the scenes and I could be wrong, but that's my best read on the situation.

 

People's opinions are fickle though, especially in sports. The whole thing could flip on a dime.

[Guest]

Another [expletive] team who has never gotten WS victory* will get one before the Cubs.

 

What a laughing stock. A team actually has to work very hard to be as bad for as long as our beloved Cobs.

 

*Giants haven't won one since moving West.

[bhogg]

I fear that things won't get any better until the stands are virtually empty.

[Sammy Sofa]

Another [expletive] team who has never gotten WS victory* will get one before the Cubs.

 

What a laughing stock. A team actually has to work very hard to be as bad for as long as our beloved Cobs.

 

It's actually the complete opposite.

[Fred Hornkohl]

I fear that things won't get any better until the stands are virtually empty.

 

ya know..... back in the early 60's when the CUBS were losing 100+ games a year with revolving managers the stands were virtually empty. Annual attendance was in the 600,000 range, and the upper deck was closed most weekdays. That caused us to get so much better.... from '67-'72 we went 515-449 (0.534) with zero post season appearances. Then it was back in the toilet again. Just what is it about going backward that is going to get us where we want to go ??

[jersey cubs fan]

I fear that things won't get any better until the stands are virtually empty.

 

ya know..... back in the early 60's when the CUBS were losing 100+ games a year with revolving managers the stands were virtually empty. Annual attendance was in the 600,000 range, and the upper deck was closed most weekdays. That caused us to get so much better.... from '67-'72 we went 515-449 (0.534) with zero post season appearances. Then it was back in the toilet again. Just what is it about going backward that is going to get us where we want to go ??

 

I've never understood the stands need to be empty mentality.

[Sammy Sofa]

Yup. Makes absolutely no sense.

[SouthSideRyan]

Everyone needs to know what a good fan I am by saying I won't go to games anymore

[Banedon]

I at least understand the concept. As a fan, the only real "vote" we have is by either spending money on a ticket or not spending it. Like you guys have said though, that doesn't tend to have any kind of positive effect on the product on the field. At best, it might make you feel like you're "doing" something, and not just tolerating failure. But it's not much more than that.

[Sammy Sofa]

No, what makes no sense to me is the idea that year after year of poor ticket sales will suddenly at some point spur the owners to spend more money.

[jersey cubs fan]

These guys are well aware that poor performance is going to lead to lower revenues, it already does. I'm not sure what the point is of reinforcing that with a season where they have zero revenues. If they run the risk of an empty stadium they aren't going to be as willing to spend, because they are risking more money. We know they can't afford to compete like the Yankees, which is really the only way to guarantee success (spending much more than everybody), if spending the 3rd or 4th or 5th most doesn't guarantee you success, why the hell would you spend that much if you run the risk of losing a ton of cash thanks to fans staying away in droves.

 

You are better off rewarding good behavior, spend lots of money when they do well, than punishing them for doing pretty much the only think ownership can do, which is spend. Yes, they can also hire the right management team, but that is more longterm in nature.

[Sammy Sofa]

Right. Unless they're just complete morons I can't see why they wouldn't be looking to pre-emptively avoid a mostly empty Wrigley when possible.

[Soul]

Unless they don't believe the stadium will actually empty out.

[Sammy Sofa]

So we're going with the "complete morons" option.