Rob

Seriously though, I'll give Hendry plenty of credit for helping to put together the good farm system in the first place. I never said he wasn't a good (or even great) scout. I'm just claiming that he was a terrible GM. Perhaps the contract bit is a fair point. Most of Hendry's stupid contracts were shorter term or small money. He mostly hamstrung us with the state of the farm system on his way out, not the contracts.

I'd just say this last bit is unfair given that he played a large role in building said farm system, and that hamstringing the team for years with bad contracts is an oversell with only Soriano, Z, and Marmol as bad contracts, with only one Soriano being a long-term commitment. If you love Hendry so much why don't you just marry him?

I got 99 problems and 1 of them is with people who completely misunderstand or misrepresent what it was about Hendry's strategy that was a problem. Most of what Hendry did couldn't be called a strategy, since it had so little focus. "We need to [get more lefthanded / get guys who can catch the ball / get more OBP]" with the answer changing every week. What little Hendry did that could be referred to as strategy was so ass backwards that it's painful. He actively eschewed signing young players to cost controlled extensions, with his stated preference being to wait until they hit FA and then get them back when we had to pay open market prices. He focused way too heavily on pitching, but somehow never had enough depth at the major league level. He refused to recycle back end roster spots hoping for marginal upgrades and more upside, preferring to stick with "his guys" despite them being more expensive and no more effective (Neifi Perez, anybody?). He spent as little money as possible developing the farm system, or focusing on player development. He also liked to run his mouth to the media and trash his own players to make it more palatable to the fans when he ran the players out of town, despite what that would do to their market value. Jim Hendry was a terrible GM who only had some short term success due to inheriting a well-regarded farm system and trading most of the assets to win immediately. And when the window had come and gone, he hamstrung the team for years with bad contracts while he made one last ditch attempt to save his job. Did I misrepresent anything?

I didn't know that was the cause of it. I just assumed it was because I've got my monitor in portrait mode. Now I realize it's because you're a terrible human being.

Congratulations everybody, you didn't watch somebody die in last night's game. She's been released from the hospital. http://m.pirates.mlb.com/news/article/119584142/fan-struck-by-foul-tip-at-pirates-game-released-from-hospital

Coghlan needs a day off.

Mike Coolbaugh (had to google the name) was a Rockies minor league 1B coach. That's right. Thanks.

Didn't the Royals 1B coach die a few years back after getting nailed by a liner? Or was that a minor league coach?

Scary stuff

Kimbrel in to pitch. He's pretty good.

Is he warming up? Maddon can't possibly put that bum in again. I understand liking guys who get ground balls, but I feel like relievers need to be able to miss bats. And Schlitter hasn't shown the stuff to be able to do that (even with his stuff looking better this year).

http://www.reactiongifs.com/r/Scarlett-Johansson-hobo-yoga.gif

Yuuus

I hate hit and runs so much.

Yeah, Grimm was a guy I kept thinking was poised for a breakout. Rough break.

I was super pissed at Hendry for tanking Bradley's value with the suspension at the end of the year at making it so clear he wouldn't be coming back. I seem to recall getting into an argument with Fred about it. Had I known then about the domestic violence, I would have been on Fred's side. That article made my blood run cold.

How awful...

I was wondering when BP was going to try something different.

Let's see... he doesn't strike people out. He walks too many. He doesn't get ground balls. And he's not even particularly effective as a LOOGY (lefties hit even better off him than righties last year). All in all, a pretty useless pitcher. Yup, still James Russell. If they brought him back to be depth in AAA just in case a better pitcher breaks down, fine. If somebody is thinking he belongs in the big league pen, I may start bashing my head against a brick wall.

Giolito?

Chris I just hate how he spells his first name.

Get the HOF plaque ready.

Nice find.

Did the Cubs spend half a million purchasing a supercomputer? http://www.techgraphs.com/mystery-mlb-team-that-purchased-500000-supercomputer-remains-unknown/ We fit all the hint criteria: We won more games than the Astros, are a team that five years ago nobody would have guessed would want one, and of course we actually have a front office and budget that are conducive to spending that much on a supercomputer. Interesting to think about.

The Cubs get into May before they realize they don't have a left fielder. They continue to play without one until August. Carlos Zambrano is the new Manny Ramirez and signs a minor league deal with the intent being to focus on instructing the young guys. The media can't get enough circlejerking about how much the kids are learning from him, and how he's really matured. The only player Kaplan is a racist [expletive] towards is "that Latin hothead" Javy Baez.