Benchwarmer

Why would you only "research" the 2001 season? He managed them for four seasons through the 2004 season. As Jersey said, Brenly had the success he did largely based on having Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson leading his rotation. There's nothing from his tenure with them that indicates he was an exceptional or remarkable manager. I have no idea why you're placing a focus on bunting, though I have a pretty good idea how he'd be as a manager for the Cubs based on his relatively recent history from the Diamondbacks. I think it's very telling he hasn't managed since then despite obviously wanting to do so. And I place zero weight in the things he says in the booth. He says that because he's a color guy. He's not going to be benching and chewing out Soriano left and right if he's the manager, because that's stupid and will accomplish nothing with a player who would be 36 if Brenly took over next season. Brenly won a WS. He's not desperate for a managing job and won't take some job with a lousy team that can't compete. I prefer to wait to see who are new GM is and what his plans will be.

No..that is not the proposition. It is that Ricketts has not made a decision and launched Hendry after a record of clear failure. Unless the guy Ricketts wants is currently now an employed GM only and he wants to come to the Cubs with a plan after the season is over, then maybe I can cut him some slack. But if we have to wait until October, go thru the interviewing process, wait for a decision, possibly then wait for a managerial decision..while the FA period is going on, etc.. then that is not acceptable. I don't want an interim GM, I want the guy now who has a plan and is going to build the farm system and the team. To just have a seat warmer, a placeholder is wrong. But if Ricketts hasn't explored back channel talks about the top asst. GMs already, then he is not the forward thinking exec. everyone thought he was.

Here's a list of Hendry's transactions from July 1st-Oct. 1st since 2006. Nothing seems to be 'stellar' or 'outstanding' and certainly not the kind of results which gives even the slightest clue he knows what he's doing. 2006 • Traded Scott Williamson to the San Diego Padres. Received Fabian Jimenez Angulo (minors) and Joel Santo (minors). • Released Phil Norton. • Traded Todd Walker to the San Diego Padres. Received Jose Ceda. • Traded Greg Maddux to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Received Cesar Izturis. • Signed Mac Suzuki as a free agent. • Traded Neifi Perez to the Detroit Tigers. Received Chris Robinson (minors). • Signed Mike Garcia as a free agent. • Traded Phil Nevin and cash to the Minnesota Twins. Received a player to be named later-Adam Harben • Jerome Williams selected by the Oakland Athletics off waivers 2007 • Received John Nelson from the St. Louis Cardinals as part of a conditional deal. • Sent Bo Hart to the Baltimore Orioles as part of a conditional deal. • Traded Jerry Blevins and Rob Bowen to the Oakland Athletics. Received Jason Kendall and cash. • Released Mike Kinkade. • Sold Cesar Izturis to the Pittsburgh Pirates. • Released Bret Prinz. • Released Wade Miller. • Traded Clay Rapada to the Detroit Tigers for Craig Monroe and cash. • Traded Buck Coats to the Cincinnati Reds for Marcos Mateo. • Traded Rocky Cherry and Scott Moore to the Baltimore Orioles for Steve Trachsel. 2008 • Released Ben Broussard. • Traded Josh Donaldson, Sean Gallagher, Matt Murton and Eric Patterson to the Oakland Athletics. Received Chad Gaudin and Rich Harden. • Released Jim Brower. • Signed Jason Stanford as a free agent. • Traded Scott Eyre to the Philadelphia Phillies. Received Brian Schlitter. 2009 • Traded Al Alburquerque to the Colorado Rockies. Received Jeff Baker. • Signed Casey Fossum as a free agent. • Sold Ryan Freel to the Kansas City Royals. • Released Anderson Machado. • Signed B.J. Ryan as a free agent. • Traded Josh Harrison (minors), Jose Ascanio and Kevin Hart to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Received Tom Gorzelanny and John Grabow. • Released B.J. Ryan. • Released Jason Waddell. • Sold Jason Dubois to the New York Mets. • Signed Ezequiel Astacio as a free agent. • Selected Thomas Diamond off waivers from the Texas Rangers. • Released Ezequiel Astacio. 2010 • Chad Tracy granted Free Agency. • Released Bob Howry. • Traded Ted Lilly, Ryan Theriot and cash to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Received Brett Wallach (minors), Kyle Smit (minors) and Blake DeWitt. • Traded Mike Fontenot to the San Francisco Giants. Received Evan Crawford (minors). • Traded Derrek Lee to the Atlanta Braves. Received Jeffrey Lorick (minors), Robinson Lopez (minors) and Tyrelle Harris (minors).

How's that? I'd rather give the new guy a few months to evaluate the team and Quade before Oct. 1st.

The longer Tom Ricketts waits to pull the trigger on Hendry, the more it looks like 2012 won't be any better for us. What does he think will change in the next couple months that isn't apparent now? I thought the Ricketts family had done their homework PRIOR to buying the team and not have an almost 2 year learning curve. Unless he has a currently employed GM that he can hire on Day 1 of the off season, then he needs to stop fooling around, fire Hendry today and get this guy on board. If he waits, you're asking the new guy in October to assess the organization on talent, enter the free agent process and may even look for a new manager in a period of a couple weeks. Tough job to do. I would believe that a top level asst GM probably knows the talent pool better because that's his job to provide evaluations to the GM. And I would hope that Ricketts knows the list of those people right now.

I've seen alot of discussion about Castro ultimately headed to 3rd or 2nd, rather than always be a SS. There are questions about his footwork at short, that he hasn't figured it out yet. Others say he will grow more, put on some muscle and be a 3rd baseman with good power numbers. I think most of us were happy to see the kid get a chance last year, but where do you think he'll end up?

Franklin started the year as the Cardinals closer until he blew up. Miller is a situational LH who rarely pitches to more than 2 batters. 28G/12.1. Saito is a closer. The only one close to Wood may be Latroy Hawkins-16G/15.1. Both middle relievers, but Hawkins has never been asked to close out a game this year. Wood is 24G/24 and 3 blown saves. And so it goes.

$1.5M wasted is no bargain, boys. If you take the middle relievers in the Central Division, only Nick Masset of the Reds is paid more at $1.7M. Our competition pays their top middle guys this: Reds-N. Masset @ $1.7M Stros-Lopez @ $442K Brewers-Mitre @ $900K Cards-Batista and Tallet @ $740K Pirates-Meek @ $461.5K Any way you slice and dice it, Wood is overpaid and underperforming. But then who is really surprised.

Let's see..pretty easy...I expect a middle reliever to not put men on base and not give up runs. As of today, Wood 'the thrower': WHIP 1.38 192 for all relievers .336 OBA 195 for all relievers .419 SLG 244 for all relievers .250 WPCT 168 of 174 relievers with a record It's just the middle of June and time for him to go on the DL. What a warrior.

When you have a GM who just loves to re-sign non-productive former Cubs each year just to give them a paycheck, who could be surprised. Wood isn't productive? What are you babbling about? Reading is fundamental. 1-3 record for an overpaid non-productive thrower is what I'd expect. Try to keep up. Citing W/L (especially for a reliever) as the primary indicator of a pitcher's production and then admonishing others to "keep up" with you might just be one of the most (unintentionally) ironic statements I've ever read here. When you understand what the role of a middle reliever is..get back to me.

When you have a GM who just loves to re-sign non-productive former Cubs each year just to give them a paycheck, who could be surprised. Wood isn't productive? What are you babbling about? Reading is fundamental. 1-3 record for an overpaid non-productive thrower is what I'd expect. Try to keep up.

When you have a GM who just loves to re-sign non-productive former Cubs each year just to give them a paycheck, who could be surprised.

There's no question it's a dump. While it's quaint with the manual scoreboard, the ivy, the brick and all, at some point the Cubs will have to build a new stadium. You can only rehab Wrigley so much where it doesn't make sense. And I don't see the funds from the city or state to kick in any time soon. If you want to keep a Cubs park in Wrigleyville, what about the school land just north of Wrigley? One interesting proposal I remember reading about was when Chicago was organizing their Olympic bid. A new island would be built off of Montrose Harbor and a new stadium constructed, which would have a number of Olympic events. The stadium would then be partially retro fitted and the Cubs would take it over. I would imagine the cost was just so prohibitive to make it work.

Just want to correct the actual verbage. Big Z said: . Go back and listen to the interview, rather than read it. Adding the 's' on the end makes the quote even impactful.

If by "a great knowledge of baseball" you mean "the svengali-like ability to make pedestrian observations appear to be the revelations of an oracle", and by "an edge" you mean "haughty dickishness", then Stone is your guy. If, on the other hand, you prefer a baseball broadcast to be more enjoyably than jury duty, you probably want to look elsewhere. I prefer Steve to such indepth analysis like "How did Rameriz get to second, Patrick?" or "I didn't actually see the play live, but if I watch the replay a few times...".

I think Steve Stone is great. He brings a wealth of knowledge to the game and was more of an analyst than the cheerleader Santo was on the radio. Ronnie was pretty bad as a color man. Many broadcasts he missed an inning or so, forcing Pat to go solo. He seldom did his homework and Pat would have to tell him who was in rightfield or what happened in the inning. I'd like to see the Cubs put someone with Pat who has a great knowledge of baseball and brings a bit of an edge to the broadcast. But I'm afraid with the Ricketts it will be bland and vanilla.

I would think all those people who bought nameless no. 22 jerseys all those years ago - and have since seen their jerseys go from Prior to Hart to Gorzelanny to Nady - are okay with this. Assuming Pena gets the playing time appropriate for a team's presumed starter at first base, he'll be the first starting position player to wear no. 22 since Bill Buckner in 1938. Everyone else to wear it since has been either a pitcher or a reserve position player. Rondell White wore #22, as did part-timer Billy Hatcher. Something about broken down players with bad wheels in there somewhere.

You're on safe ground. They're all wiping the drool from their triple Hendry-esque chins with a Ryan Harvey t-shirt.

How bout on Mondays. .173.....9 out of 51. Pretty good numbers though for day games, played on turf and for a pitcher who doesn't throw with his hands.

Memo to Jersey: Pena batted .196 last year. Pena batted .179 against lefthanders. Pena batted .204 against righthanders. Pena batted .189 on grass. Pena batted .177 at night. :-"

Wait no longer. The Cubs Organizational Meeting Ricketts: “OK..let’s get started. Which one of you is the G.M.?” Hendry: “That would be me.” Ricketts: “I thought you were the guy who gives me a donut every day.” Hendry: “I’m that too..but I’m the guy who is responsible for the major and minor league teams.” Ricketts: “OK..what does 2011 look like for the big club?” Hendry: “Well..due to my astute talent evaluation and deal making, I think we can compete in 2011.” Ricketts: “Oh..so we acquired a quality 1-2 starter?” Hendry: “Well..no, but I'm dumpster diving right now and may get someone who hasn't picked up a baseball in 3 years.” Ricketts: “And what did we do to replace a .300 hitter like DLee at 1st base?” Hendry: “We got a .190 left handed hitter who struggles against all pitching.” Ricketts: “Did we trade Soriano, Fukudome or Zambrano yet?” Hendry: “No, I’m waiting until the trading deadline, so we only have to eat all their remaining contract and not a portion.” Ricketts: “And what about our minor leaguers, what about our hot shot 3rd baseman?” Hendry: “He’s playing right field and still can’t hit.” Ricketts: “Excellent..you’ve achieved a great deal of success, Jim, with the 4th highest payroll in the majors.” Hendry: “I stand by my record.” Ricketts: “And we can compete with this fine club you have assembled? Hendry: “Sure..we get some breaks and stay away from injuries..I think 3rd place in the division is very reachable.” Ricketts: “Now, how about some lunch. Could I have one of those sprinkled donuts?” Hendry: “Don’t press your luck. Take a donut hole and by the way, I’m bringing back Kerry Wood.” Ricketts: “Third place is a lock.”

14 stints on the DL. Yup..dat's a great deal.

The negotiations went like this: Wood: "Jim, you know alot of teams are interested in me." Hendry: "$10 million and that's my final offer." Wood: "Sarah's from Chicago and really wants to move back." Hendry: "OK..$15 million for two years." Wood: "I'm going to get an oil change later." Hendry: "Jeez Kerry, you are one tough negotiator..I'll put a no-trade clause in." Wood: "I may let my beard grow back." Hendry: "I'll let Mr. Ricketts know you want a piece of ownership." Wood: "I'm going to put weight on again." Hendry: "I'll make the announcement tomorrow."

OMG..Dexter must pay a visit to Hendry's office right now. Jeez..how can Ricketts be blind to what is going on? Oh that's right..installing new flush toilets in the right field bleachers is more important than the product on the field. When do we sign Chad Fox again? I see Kaplan has his pants down already. This is yet another reason we don't win anything. Hendry is clueless.

Or bullpen. The only big hole he would leave is on the payroll, which is what you want. When he was healthy the last 3 years he wasn't even the 1-2 starter. Overpaid..unreliable..I see no reason to keep him. I only want minor leaguers back, not other bad contracts.