Hendry Fired (p. 2)

[OleMissCub]

 

love that group

[VVMattVV]

The amount of support that Rick Hahn is receiving from the Chicago media makes me very skeptical that he's the right person for the job.

 

Rick Hahn would be a great choice, but I'm not sure it would be a great PR move to take a guy from the White Sox to turn around the Cubs. I think Ricketts will have a long list of excellent choices, so a connection to the crosstown rivals might hurt Hahn's chances.

 

Ricketts would be a complete and total moron if he decided not to hire Hahn on the basis that Hahn works for the White Sox.

 

The media is already playing up the Cub fan background anyway.

[Backtobanks]

The amount of support that Rick Hahn is receiving from the Chicago media makes me very skeptical that he's the right person for the job.

 

Rick Hahn would be a great choice, but I'm not sure it would be a great PR move to take a guy from the White Sox to turn around the Cubs. I think Ricketts will have a long list of excellent choices, so a connection to the crosstown rivals might hurt Hahn's chances.

 

Ricketts would be a complete and total moron if he decided not to hire Hahn on the basis that Hahn works for the White Sox.

 

If he's got a list of 10-12 people who are better or equally qualifed as Hahn, then I could see passing over someone from your crosstown rivals. I would agree with you if there's no one on the list as qualified as Hahn. BTW, Ricketts wanted someone who comes from a winning tradition and has a proven record on player development. Compare the WS front office on those two points with the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, and Braves. Obviously nothing has been decided, but there seems to be a lot of admiration pointed at the Red Sox organization as the way to go.

[davell]

We do not know how long Theo's contract is with the Red Sox. I'd think that it'd be about the best thing a GM could possibly ever accomplish if he led both the Red Sox AND the Cubs to their first titles in forever. There' been some talk as to who all could possibly be interested in this gig, maybe even a few surprises. Let the Red Sox promote Cherington and give Theo enough cash to where the Red Sox are OK with him leaving. Yeah, dream scenario for sure, but it may not be THAT outlandish to at least bring it up as an outside possibility.

[Little Slide Rooter]

The amount of support that Rick Hahn is receiving from the Chicago media makes me very skeptical that he's the right person for the job.

 

Rick Hahn would be a great choice, but I'm not sure it would be a great PR move to take a guy from the White Sox to turn around the Cubs. I think Ricketts will have a long list of excellent choices, so a connection to the crosstown rivals might hurt Hahn's chances.

 

Ricketts would be a complete and total moron if he decided not to hire Hahn on the basis that Hahn works for the White Sox.

 

If he's got a list of 10-12 people who are better or equally qualifed as Hahn, then I could see passing over someone from your crosstown rivals. I would agree with you if there's no one on the list as qualified as Hahn. BTW, Ricketts wanted someone who comes from a winning tradition and has a proven record on player development. Compare the WS front office on those two points with the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, and Braves. Obviously nothing has been decided, but there seems to be a lot of admiration pointed at the Red Sox organization as the way to go.

 

That doesn't make any sense. I would agree with wanting a guy from a winning organization, but there's no way that the fact that he works for the White Sox would have any leverage in whether or not he's the guy.

[Bruno7481]

Here is a link to a podcast interview with Coppolella from the BP podcast. This is an old edition from January. I don't think you should have any worries about confusing him for Wasserstrom Tim.

 

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=12790

[Little Slide Rooter]

Here's a little Jim Hendry timeline put together by Carrie Muskat, in which she completely ignores some of the awful nickel and dime contracts like Grabow, Miles, Howry, and Neifi.

 

http://muskat.mlblogs.com/2011/08/20/820-hendry-timeline-with-cubs/

[KingKongvs.Godzilla]

If I was Ricketts I'd hold it against Hahn that he worked for the Sox. The Yankees certainly wouldn't be caught dead hiring Mets or Red Sox guy is how I see it. If he was here I'd be forced to try to like him but otherwise he can go screw a goat.

[Sammy Sofa]

Green font.

[Guest]

Well, I feel like I'm a month too late to this party, but I'm very happy to see Hendry gone. Maybe I can get excited about Cub baseball once again.

[mookie]

Maybe!? The excitement is here! Bask in it! Roll around in it! Take it out for dinner, and the chances are damn near 100% you are getting lucky.

 

God damn it feels good to be a Cubs fan right now.

[Have a seat, Neifi]

If I was Ricketts I'd hold it against Hahn that he worked for the Sox. The Yankees certainly wouldn't be caught dead hiring Mets or Red Sox guy is how I see it. If he was here I'd be forced to try to like him but otherwise he can go screw a goat.

Nice. That's just great. Who cares about what's best for the organization when you can let "inter-city rivalries" dictate actual baseball decisions. Same goes for first basemen who play for the Cardinals or Brewers; no way can we let that kind of riff raff 'round these parts.

[mhuber92211]

On the one hand: [expletive] YES!

 

On the other hand, Hendry presided over a number of the most successful Cubs teams in my life. He brought in Tim Wilken, revitalized the farm system, made some really good trades, took chances, and seemed like a good guy. 2003, 2004, and 2008 were fantastic seasons for a number of reasons, but Jim Hendry was responsible (at least in part) for building those teams. In that regard, I'm a bit sad to see him go.

 

He'll land on his feet. However, this team needed a change.

 

I tried to read all of the thread and jubilation but had to stop at this post. Well said and a much better summary than any other blog or writer so far.

 

In the 9 years Hendry was GM, the Cubs became more successful than any other time during my life. He had some colossal successes and some colossal blunders. However, many of those blunders are now seen with hindsight that I suspect even he would agree with.

 

Looking at a "top 5" list of failures on another site, Hendry's mistakes are poor now but put in perspective of the moves at the time, weren't as poor as they seemed. Zambrano's contract was actually a savings from what the market value that year was (although the no trade clauses he always gave were poor management). Soriano was market value as well and despite many prognosticators being right on the number of years becoming an albatross, that deal was not Hendry's fault. The Willis trade for Alfonseca is hardly a bad trade and was pretty even at the time given Clement's success.

 

I think that for all the jubilation about the dismissal (and justifiably so) we should be fair to the last 9 years and look back on the Jim Hendry era with fondness for all that went right as well as all that went wrong. The last 9 years have been some of the highest cubs fans have ever been and some of the lowest. At least it was always this low

[Guest]

Maybe!? The excitement is here! Bask in it! Roll around in it! Take it out for dinner, and the chances are damn near 100% you are getting lucky.

 

[expletive] it feels good to be a Cubs fan right now.

 

I'm still pretty frustrated by how long it took. I guess it's a little more difficult for me to simply excuse several years of frustration by watching them make the same mistake year after year by retaining and lengthening Hendry's contracts. I know Ricketts wasn't the one responsible for all of this suffering, so I am at least happy at the moment.

[Sammy Sofa]

On the one hand: [expletive] YES!

 

On the other hand, Hendry presided over a number of the most successful Cubs teams in my life. He brought in Tim Wilken, revitalized the farm system, made some really good trades, took chances, and seemed like a good guy. 2003, 2004, and 2008 were fantastic seasons for a number of reasons, but Jim Hendry was responsible (at least in part) for building those teams. In that regard, I'm a bit sad to see him go.

 

He'll land on his feet. However, this team needed a change.

 

I tried to read all of the thread and jubilation but had to stop at this post. Well said and a much better summary than any other blog or writer so far.

 

In the 9 years Hendry was GM, the Cubs became more successful than any other time during my life. He had some colossal successes and some colossal blunders. However, many of those blunders are now seen with hindsight that I suspect even he would agree with.

 

Looking at a "top 5" list of failures on another site, Hendry's mistakes are poor now but put in perspective of the moves at the time, weren't as poor as they seemed. Zambrano's contract was actually a savings from what the market value that year was (although the no trade clauses he always gave were poor management). Soriano was market value as well and despite many prognosticators being right on the number of years becoming an albatross, that deal was not Hendry's fault. The Willis trade for Alfonseca is hardly a bad trade and was pretty even at the time given Clement's success.

 

I think that for all the jubilation about the dismissal (and justifiably so) we should be fair to the last 9 years and look back on the Jim Hendry era with fondness for all that went right as well as all that went wrong. The last 9 years have been some of the highest cubs fans have ever been and some of the lowest. At least it was always this low

 

Soriano was not "market value." It's pretty well known at this point that Hendry blew away the closest offers at the behest of the owners. Yes, he was the biggest FA in that offseason and Hendry was told to spend, but let's not act like that contract was something he was going to get from another team.

[CubColtPacer]

On the one hand: [expletive] YES!

 

On the other hand, Hendry presided over a number of the most successful Cubs teams in my life. He brought in Tim Wilken, revitalized the farm system, made some really good trades, took chances, and seemed like a good guy. 2003, 2004, and 2008 were fantastic seasons for a number of reasons, but Jim Hendry was responsible (at least in part) for building those teams. In that regard, I'm a bit sad to see him go.

 

He'll land on his feet. However, this team needed a change.

 

I tried to read all of the thread and jubilation but had to stop at this post. Well said and a much better summary than any other blog or writer so far.

 

In the 9 years Hendry was GM, the Cubs became more successful than any other time during my life. He had some colossal successes and some colossal blunders. However, many of those blunders are now seen with hindsight that I suspect even he would agree with.

 

Looking at a "top 5" list of failures on another site, Hendry's mistakes are poor now but put in perspective of the moves at the time, weren't as poor as they seemed. Zambrano's contract was actually a savings from what the market value that year was (although the no trade clauses he always gave were poor management). Soriano was market value as well and despite many prognosticators being right on the number of years becoming an albatross, that deal was not Hendry's fault. The Willis trade for Alfonseca is hardly a bad trade and was pretty even at the time given Clement's success.

 

I think that for all the jubilation about the dismissal (and justifiably so) we should be fair to the last 9 years and look back on the Jim Hendry era with fondness for all that went right as well as all that went wrong. The last 9 years have been some of the highest cubs fans have ever been and some of the lowest. At least it was always this low

 

Soriano was not "market value." It's pretty well known at this point that Hendry blew away the closest offers at the behest of the owners. Yes, he was the biggest FA in that offseason and Hendry was told to spend, but let's not act like that contract was something he was going to get from another team.

 

Yeah. Soriano was looking at a 6/110 deal or 7/115 deal (just slightly over what Carlos Lee got that same offseason who was considered slightly inferior) that turned into an 8/136 deal. Definitely over market value.

[Little Slide Rooter]

On the one hand: [expletive] YES!

 

On the other hand, Hendry presided over a number of the most successful Cubs teams in my life. He brought in Tim Wilken, revitalized the farm system, made some really good trades, took chances, and seemed like a good guy. 2003, 2004, and 2008 were fantastic seasons for a number of reasons, but Jim Hendry was responsible (at least in part) for building those teams. In that regard, I'm a bit sad to see him go.

 

He'll land on his feet. However, this team needed a change.

 

I tried to read all of the thread and jubilation but had to stop at this post. Well said and a much better summary than any other blog or writer so far.

 

In the 9 years Hendry was GM, the Cubs became more successful than any other time during my life. He had some colossal successes and some colossal blunders. However, many of those blunders are now seen with hindsight that I suspect even he would agree with.

 

Looking at a "top 5" list of failures on another site, Hendry's mistakes are poor now but put in perspective of the moves at the time, weren't as poor as they seemed. Zambrano's contract was actually a savings from what the market value that year was (although the no trade clauses he always gave were poor management). Soriano was market value as well and despite many prognosticators being right on the number of years becoming an albatross, that deal was not Hendry's fault. The Willis trade for Alfonseca is hardly a bad trade and was pretty even at the time given Clement's success.

 

I think that for all the jubilation about the dismissal (and justifiably so) we should be fair to the last 9 years and look back on the Jim Hendry era with fondness for all that went right as well as all that went wrong. The last 9 years have been some of the highest cubs fans have ever been and some of the lowest. At least it was always this low

 

Soriano was not "market value." It's pretty well known at this point that Hendry blew away the closest offers at the behest of the owners. Yes, he was the biggest FA in that offseason and Hendry was told to spend, but let's not act like that contract was something he was going to get from another team.

 

Yeah. Soriano was looking at a 6/110 deal or 7/115 deal (just slightly over what Carlos Lee got that same offseason who was considered slightly inferior) that turned into an 8/136 deal. Definitely over market value.

 

I was listening to B&B yesterday, and they were saying that Hendrys offer was 40 mil above the next highest bidder.

 

.

[Sammy Sofa]

Yeah, I thought most of the offers were in the realm of 6 years and around $100 million.

[KingKongvs.Godzilla]

If I was Ricketts I'd hold it against Hahn that he worked for the Sox. The Yankees certainly wouldn't be caught dead hiring Mets or Red Sox guy is how I see it. If he was here I'd be forced to try to like him but otherwise he can go screw a goat.

Nice. That's just great. Who cares about what's best for the organization when you can let "inter-city rivalries" dictate actual baseball decisions. Same goes for first basemen who play for the Cardinals or Brewers; no way can we let that kind of riff raff 'round these parts.

 

Dude this job is going to attract some of baseballs best and brightest front office minds. Hahn is up there, but theres so much competition out there for him that he'll have to be exceptional IMO. If he is then awesome, hire him. Otherwise, I'm not so sure the White Sox are an organization to imitate anyway, sports grudge aside.

 

Personally I think Ricketts wants an experienced GM anyway, like A Cashman/Friedman, both of whom have contracts about to end.

 

The Brewers aren't big enough rivals where I'll care that we steal this 1B/best bat. Who woulnt want to steal the Cardinals best player since Musial?

[Vinestal]

I really wonder how long it will be before they they start talking about interviews (if not ownership then press via leaks). if Ricketts has known since July 22 that he's going to be hiring a new GM he's got to have a list of potential people already whittled down somewhat. When does the interview process begin? Gotta think he'd want someone in place and somewhat comfortable by the end of the season, or do you guys think this process will drag into the offseason a bit?

I realize they just announced the firing but I'm really beyond ready to start hearing some names thrown out as very realistic possibilities. I'm ready to get excited about the new guy. How secretive can they keep this process? I guess if they managed to keep the firing a secret for this long, for all we know they may have already interviewed some people.

[Outshined_One]

On the one hand: [expletive] YES!

 

On the other hand, Hendry presided over a number of the most successful Cubs teams in my life. He brought in Tim Wilken, revitalized the farm system, made some really good trades, took chances, and seemed like a good guy. 2003, 2004, and 2008 were fantastic seasons for a number of reasons, but Jim Hendry was responsible (at least in part) for building those teams. In that regard, I'm a bit sad to see him go.

 

He'll land on his feet. However, this team needed a change.

 

I tried to read all of the thread and jubilation but had to stop at this post. Well said and a much better summary than any other blog or writer so far.

 

Thanks.

 

In fairness to Hendry, I also forgot to list 2007. That was a fun year.

[Backtobanks]

The amount of support that Rick Hahn is receiving from the Chicago media makes me very skeptical that he's the right person for the job.

 

Rick Hahn would be a great choice, but I'm not sure it would be a great PR move to take a guy from the White Sox to turn around the Cubs. I think Ricketts will have a long list of excellent choices, so a connection to the crosstown rivals might hurt Hahn's chances.

 

Ricketts would be a complete and total moron if he decided not to hire Hahn on the basis that Hahn works for the White Sox.

 

If he's got a list of 10-12 people who are better or equally qualifed as Hahn, then I could see passing over someone from your crosstown rivals. I would agree with you if there's no one on the list as qualified as Hahn. BTW, Ricketts wanted someone who comes from a winning tradition and has a proven record on player development. Compare the WS front office on those two points with the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, and Braves. Obviously nothing has been decided, but there seems to be a lot of admiration pointed at the Red Sox organization as the way to go.

 

That doesn't make any sense. I would agree with wanting a guy from a winning organization, but there's no way that the fact that he works for the White Sox would have any leverage in whether or not he's the guy.

 

I expect some of the best and brightest GM candidates from teams that have a winning tradition to apply for the job. Using Ricketts' criteria, I would expect Hahn to be no better than the 5th or 6th best candidate. The WS don't have the winning tradition or the farm system that the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, or Braves have. Assuming a qualified candidate (or candidates) applies from one of those teams (very likely), he (they) would have to be considered over Hahn. In addition to fitting the criteria better than Hahn, it would avoid the potential of poor PR.

[dew1679666265]

I really wonder how long it will be before they they start talking about interviews (if not ownership then press via leaks). if Ricketts has known since July 22 that he's going to be hiring a new GM he's got to have a list of potential people already whittled down somewhat. When does the interview process begin? Gotta think he'd want someone in place and somewhat comfortable by the end of the season, or do you guys think this process will drag into the offseason a bit?

I realize they just announced the firing but I'm really beyond ready to start hearing some names thrown out as very realistic possibilities. I'm ready to get excited about the new guy. How secretive can they keep this process? I guess if they managed to keep the firing a secret for this long, for all we know they may have already interviewed some people.

 

I doubt we'll be able to fill the position before the end of the season simply because I tend to think we won't be able to interview any candidates during the season. In order to interview anybody, we'd have to get permission from the current team and most of the names we've heard bandied about are with organizations that will be in contention the rest of the year (Red Sox, Rays, Yankees, Braves - the White Sox being the only exception).

 

I asked the question a page ago whether we might be able to start some interviews in-season, but even if we can I doubt contending teams would grant permission until after the season. My guess is this drags on around a couple weeks after the World Series, Ricketts will knock out the remaining interviews then and we'll have somebody in place a little before free agency begins.

[Shilzzz]

did you guys know the cubs are 1-0 without an active general manager? i don't think they should hire one until they prove they need one.

[Outshined_One]

I expect some of the best and brightest GM candidates from teams that have a winning tradition to apply for the job. Using Ricketts' criteria, I would expect Hahn to be no better than the 5th or 6th best candidate. The WS don't have the winning tradition or the farm system that the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, or Braves have. Assuming a qualified candidate (or candidates) applies from one of those teams (very likely), he (they) would have to be considered over Hahn. In addition to fitting the criteria better than Hahn, it would avoid the potential of poor PR.

 

What exactly do you mean by "winning tradition"? The Rays have never won a WS and the Braves' last one was in 1995; at least the White Sox won back in 2005. Plus, the White Sox have only had two losing seasons since 2000. I'll grant you that they've only made three playoff appearances since 2000, but it seems kind of strange that you'd discount the White Sox like they haven't done anything of note recently.

 

Also, regarding the White Sox farm system, the White Sox do not spend a whole lot on the draft or international signings. That really puts a damper on a team's ability to build a farm system. Plus, let's not forget Kenny Williams' propensity to trade prospects rather than building his teams from within.