Illini Iceman

He is? He's probably basing that on this.. http://heraldnews.suntimes.com/sports/7945032-419/cubs-will-make-run-at-bostons-epstein-for-gm-job.html Granted, the quote being referenced doesn't sound nearly as solid as he makes it out to be. I don't necessarily believe that Beane or Epstein are taking the Cubs job but anyone that thinks that either one of them is going to say anything other than that they are planning to stay with their current teams until the moment a deal with Cubs is announced is fooling themselves.

This is a really bold prediction.

No surprises. Didn't Schlitter retire earlier in the season? Berg was brutal, glad to see him gone. Z is as good as gone. Hopefully this clears room for Fielder and Wilson. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-zambrano-returns-to-cubs-40man-roster-20110929,0,6376178.story I was not aware Berg had surgery. (btw nice editing by the Trib - "contruction"?)

I was going to say I hope the new manager is smart enough not to make him the closer again next year and then realized I don't want him as a set up man either.

If he didn't rest tonight he certainly would have tomorrow, being a day game after a night game. So play Clevenger. Oh I forgot, veteran Koyie Hill with the .188 BA and .539 OPS has earned this playing time by kissing Quade's ass at the end of last season to help him get the job.

Soto needs a rest sometime, and it's not like we have a younger guy with some potential who deserves a look. You would rather see Hill than Clevenger? And Soto really needs a rest with 6 games left in the season when they had an off day yesterday?

Dagger for the game and the Cardinals season.

Ha ha Theriot - couldn't happen to a nicer guy. By the way, it is great that Quade is getting Hill a start today behind the plate. I hope Quade gets fired on the same day they DFA Hill so the two of them can hit the road together.

Quade has declared he will play the veterans the rest of the year (which apparently now includes Barney and his amazing shrinking batting average) so we won't get the chance to see LeMahieu play for an extended period at this level to determine if he might be able to help the team next season.

Maybe he would more aggressively promote if he wasn't under such payroll restrictions. It has been obvious since spring training that Jennings was the guy that should have been playing LF. I can't see any other logical reason for keeping him in AAA as long as they did other than that they wanted to push back his arbitration by another season. Wouldn't be surprised at all for them to do the same thing with Moore next year.

Right, and so Oneri like Hendry is probably under contract for another year. So you give Oneri a year to see if you can work together and if you don't, you let his contract run out and bring in someone else. Now, you don't. Now you have a guy with (at best) a debatable track record, the #2 person in the former regime's organization locked in for 4 years before you even got your job. It doesn't matter if you want to hire a farm director or not....Ricketts has already done it. Oneri's natural next step is a GM job. VP of Player Personnel with the Cubs is just a code word for "Big #2, glorified farm director." So again, if Ricketts is so enamored with the job that Oneri has done, why doesn't he just make him the new GM? Indications are that the Tigers were about to sign him away from the Cubs (and if that is possible his contract must have been expiring, not sure where this could be confirmed) and if so it seems that if Ricketts didn't want to take the chance of losing him the 1 year option wasn't going to be acceptable to Fleita. Personally I think Fleita's knowledge of the system and personnel will be an asset to the new GM. If he proves to not be willing or able to adjust to the new organizational philosophy I am pretty sure the GM will have the authority to go another direction and demote him to another role or just work out a settlement agreement. And just because Ricketts seems to like the job he has done in the current postion doesn't logically mean he should want him as the GM.

Don't worry, I have it on good authority that the Cubs are awesome at developing pitchers under Fleita. So now that Hendry is gone I guess Fleita is the new scapegoat. DAMN YOU FLEITA FOR RUINING MCNUTT! THANK GOD ARCHER GOT OUT BEFORE YOU COULD DESTROY HIS CAREER AS WELL!

Clearly among the other problems to address with this team the new GM is going to have to think long and hard about whether he can realistically go into next season with Marmol in place as the undisputed closer.

Is it normal for a new GM to also bring in a new VP of Player Personnel? Personally I would think it would be pretty hard to take over a team in October and November and have to immediately make decisions regarding the 40 man roster, etc with a completely new front office that doesn't have a lot knowledge about the players in the system. If I were starting as the GM I would want to be able to have some key people still in place from the previous regime at least for the first year and then start making decisions about who is worth keeping and who needs to go after I have had time to evaluate how everyone does their jobs. He is already going to have to probably find a new manager and possibly scouting director if Wilkens leaves so I would think he would appreciate at least some continuity while he gets his feet wet.

The 4 years is kind of odd. Maybe it is what the Tigers were offering and Ricketts felt he needed to match it. The thought process may have been that to start over with a new GM and new VP of player personnel the organization would be at a disadvantage because both would be learning all the players from scratch. What does someone like Fleita make per year? With the amount teams spend to waive players (like potentially Zambrano) with huge contracts still outstanding it doesn't seem like in the big picture it would be such a huge financial risk to potentially let him go with 3 years left on his contract if the new GM decides after the first year that Fleita is not up to his standards.

Not sure I understand the hate for Fleita. IMO the GM would be most responsible for the organizational philosophy and those underneath him would just implement that philosophy. If Fleita is given new marching orders about how to develop the players it would be his job to advise the minor league personnel accordingly so I think he would take the direction of whoever is the new GM. It is kind of annoying about how he talks up every prospect, but I would expect him to promote the minor league system so I am not sure it is realistic to expect him to give the media honest evaluations of the players.

If they call up Flaherty they will have to add them to the 40 man either now or in December. Jackson would cost them a 40 mam spot though, since he doesn't have to be protected this offseason. Yeah - it really doesn't make sense to bring up Jackson for a month and then lose the flexibility on the 40 man roster.

Harry would be so proud right now I am sure.

Really? You regret a sign that brings in additional revene for the team? Based on the poster my guess is that he more regrets the make of car on the sign than the sign itself.

And now his 4th. Must have been two inside the parkers. Both were hit to LF. Dude's got some pull power. Nah, he just flicks the bat at the ball and meets it out front.

Ricketts is definitely thinking big. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0821-next-gm-cubs-future-chica20110821,0,7572084.story

That wasn't an ideal finish.

He had pitched in 5 of 6 days prior to yesterday, so it's possible they're just giving him a bit of a rest. Marmol is in and has been pitching the whole 9th inning.

So the Houston announcer barely finishes saying that Colvin can't be bringing much confidence with him to the plate when he proceeds to hit a laser beam into the right field stands.

True, but this year's draft/signings is a helluva lot more fun than the on-the-field product of the big club 11 out of 14 baby!!