idakepps

Well, hopefully nobody and he'll be fired within 10 days. But I have a feeling the owner of the team could find someone if he really wanted.

It would be like if Ryno had stayed on and become bench coach. I think everyone is staying. I think we're going to hear some awful stuff about the team having come together and starting to play up to its capability now that people are back from injuries, we're going to hear about how great the draft was (and it was), and that it's going to be Hendry/Quade for 2012. Actually, Ryno as bench coach made sense, and so does Hendry as scout. Olders GMs move into scouting all the time. He's not an up and comer who has been earning promotions. He's been in his position for a decade, he's older, has had health problems and is under contract. If he wants the money he is owed, he will stay on in whatever capacity they want him. Nobody is going to be banging down his down to lead their team. It might make sense to you or us, but it sure as heck didn't make sense for Ryno who wanted no part of it. And I don't think Hendry would want any part of a Cubs scouting staff that he's not in charge of. Maybe in another organization. The really telling part for me is that Ricketts is being shown around with Hendry's right hand man Flieta. He's not going to shake his hand at the end of the tour and say "hey, thanks and nice job but we're going in another direction." If Flieta stays, and I think he's one of the ones that's clearly shown he should be rooted out, then Hendry isn't going anywhere. I may be reading into things here, but that's what I'm seeing.

It would be like if Ryno had stayed on and become bench coach. I think everyone is staying. I think we're going to hear some awful stuff about the team having come together and starting to play up to its capability now that people are back from injuries, we're going to hear about how great the draft was (and it was), and that it's going to be Hendry/Quade for 2012.

Big announcement coming? Judging by the timing I'm going to take a wild guess and say he's not about to fire Hendry. The team has won 12 of 15 and playing it's best ball of the season. Ricketts has been touring the team's minor league franchises with Hendry right-hand-man Oneri Fleita. Doubt he's going to conclude the trip by dumping him. I'm excited about the draft signs today. But the 2012 Cubs organization is going to look much like this year's version. With the possible exception of a new team president.

Chop to it, ESPN Insiders. Yes, Keith Law writing something positive about the Cubs is something that needs to be highlighted. And possibly stickied.

If Hendry is retained, I guess this is the best possible alternative. However, if Hendry stays, I'm not so sure that Quade will be dismissed. No way Quade will be dismissed if Hendry is back. They'll let it ride one more year with both.

Hate to say it...not sure Hendry and Co. are gone after this season. Anyone else getting that feeling?

Strong outing for JY Kim: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K. He's now thrown 8.1 scoreless innings at Mesa. It looks like Kim, just like Kyung-Min Na, is taking to Mesa after struggling at higher levels (KM Na is posting a 1.000 OPS at Mesa). Both are still 19 so not a big concern for them being down at Mesa. I was thinking that too. Must be a tough adjustment for Asian players. Or maybe they just don't like Boise.

At least we know he's feeling the pain of all this. Firin' time can't be far behind can it?

I'm right with you...this is looking like a real possibility, and if it happens, I think Hendry stays, along with the rest of his crew. Gillick is old school.....don't think he'd bring in someone like Rick Hahn, as one article has suggested. In fact, after the Phillies won the series with Gillick at the helm, they practically bragged at their non-use of statistical analysis.

I'm glad you pointed that out. Sorry about that. I wouldn't want my site confused with the other either. Thought the format looked different.

He's starting to hit too. Good numbers over the last 10 days or so.

He's starting to hit pretty well. Also nice to see the walk.

People see this post on Fangraphs? I don't think it's anything all that different to what some people say on here, but there were a few bits that really caught my interest. It links to a couple of blog posts, one of which is from Bleacher Report, which I'm always a little skeptical on...the title is The Future of the Chicago Cubs’ Front Office – Pat Gillick, Rick Hahn, Ari Kaplan But that post itself links to a Will Carroll piece for SI (getting more reputable now) that puts Kaplan at #10 of GM candidates. Any thoughts on this? I don't know anything about Kaplan other than he was hired last year.

Totally agree on this.

Rhoderick and Believau look to be ok. I could see them both being in the ML bullpen eventually. Hatley too. Not much on the starter front though. Peralta got ripped tonight.

I don't think what he said is that out of line. They're young players and learning. Certainly nobody here thinks Castro should just be left alone do they? I'm also not of the mind that Quade has cost the team many games. There are far bigger problems with this team than Quade. They need to blow it up and start fresh.

I think Wilken would stay in the Gillick scenario. If Rickets likes what he sees out of Wilken and wants to get rid of Hendry I could see this happening. It could even be set up so that Gillick sets it up so Wilken becomes the GM later. That's not to say that's the case, but....

It's an interesting point and part of a larger picture I believe. Writers need stuff to write about. So in absence of much to write about, they need to take information and then fill in the blanks with their knowledge. In the case of prospect writers writing about the Cubs, they're going to focus on the lack of plate discipline/on base skills. Well, and the idea that the Cubs don't know what they're doing in general. Did anyone notice how quickly Hak-ju Lee shot up the prospect charts once he was dealt to the Rays? I think BA had him in the 90s going into this season?? Not sure what Keith Law had him at, but now he's #7. What has he done? Granted, he's shown he can take his skills to another level of A ball for an entire year, but would he be Keith Law's #7 prospect if he'd had the same year in Daytona? I don't think so.

How about DeVoss in Boise? 3 for 4 the day after stealing 5 bases. And starting at 2B. Very solid start by Wang as well before giving way to Rosario, who imploded. Seems like Wang deserves a trip to Peoria. Really like his K/BB and hit rate...and all seem to be improving.

if this is the case then he should have gotten rid of Hendry last year. that would really make no sense to let him be the gm this year and then tie his hands when effectively screwing yourself for next year. While I'm not a big fan of Ricketts and I dont think he is a very savy team owner, I doubt that he would be so short sighted. I really think that it comes down to the fact that the guys we want to trade no one really wants because they havent been playing well, carry enormous contracts, and perceived baggage. Well, unless Rickets thought he was going to go with Hendry next year as well. I think the idea was to compete for a playoff spot in 2011, hence the prospects for Garza deal. But with a 100 loss season on the horizon, Rickets might have changed his mind. I'm just looking for indicators into what Rickets is thinking. I don't think any of these guys expected this year's team to be as bad as it is. Rickets is new to the business, so you have to assume he's learning a lot of this from Hendry, Bush, Flieta etc. They're probably telling him how great they're doing -- how the team is just an ace starting pitcher away from contending in 2011, how the farm system is packed with prospects...but when you lose 100 games and have a system by most estimations is middle of the road, you have to start considering changes. Rickets may have decided that sometime in June, or is even realizing it now. So he may be in damage control now.

At some point I'd have to wonder if the lack of activity is due to Rickets restricting Hendry because he's not going to be the one at the helm next season.

Article from a Astros beat writer saying he thinks Andrew Friedman will be the next GM of that team.

Thank you! Proves my point. These hitting coaches show more of a tendency, in either the minors or majors, toward better plate discipline than Joshua, Duncan, and Barbaro did during their careers. Wait, what? Did you actually read what you replied to? Ok, let me be man enough to admit that the career OBP of hitting coaches does not necessarily predict whether an organization preaches plate discipline in it's minor leagues. Since some people clearly won't believe what I have to say, just go back to the Fuld comment. Is that good enough? The Cubs preach an aggressive hitting approach at the plate. Yes, this filters down into the minor league coaches. Don't really see what the argument here is.

Not quite sure what you're getting at here. A player's on field performance has little to do with what they evangelize as a coach. Take Joe Morgan for example. If there was ever a player who understood the value of a walk, Morgan and his career .121 IsoD should be that guy. But you listen to him stumble his way through broadcasts and it's clear he doesn't understand the concept at all. The opposite is true as well, people can understand the value of the walk but not be able to execute for a variety of reasons(lack of talent, pitch recognition, etc). Right, that seems like a really faulty way to point out the Cubs failings when it comes to developing players. Look around most of the minors and I'm very confident that most of the coaches who were former players had sub-.350 OBP's. You sure about that? Red Sox Pawtucket hitting coach Chili Davis, career OBP -- .360 Portland hitting coach Russ Mormon, career OBP -- .379 Salem hitting coach Alex Ochoa, career OBP -- .353 Top 3 OBP teams from the PCL: Reno .394 OBP Hitting Coach- Rick Burleson (Career Minors OBP .307, Career Majors OBP .328) Las Vegas .380 OBP Hitting Coach- Chad Mottola (Career Minors OBP .338, Career Majors OBP .263) Sacramento .371 OBP Hitting Coach- Todd Steverson (Career Minors OBP .340, Career Majors OBP .333) Top 3 OBP teams from the Southern League: Mobile .351 Hitting Coach- Alan Zinter (Career Minors OBP .355, Career Majors OBP .214) Chattanooga .341 Hitting Coach- Franklin Stubbs (Career Minors OBP .374, Career Majors OBP .303) Jacksonville .340 Hitting Coach- Corey Hart (Career Minors OBP .371, Never Played in the the Majors) Top 3 OBP teams from the FSL: Bradenton .353 OBP Hitting Coach- Ryan Long (Career Minors OBP .307, Career Majors OBP .300 in 6 games) Charlotte .339 OBP Hitting Coach- Joe Szekely (Career Minor OBP .331, Never played in the Majors) Fort Myers .338 OBP Hitting Coach- Jim Dwyer (Career Minors OBP .418, Career Majors OBP .353) Top 3 OBP teams from the Midwest League: Lansing .340 OBP Hitting Coach- John Tamargo (Career Minors OBP .325, Never played in the Majors) Beloit .338 OBP Hitting Coach- Tommy Watkins (Career Minors OBP .329, Career Majors OBP .438 in 9 games) Quad Cities .330 OBP Hitting Coach- Joe Kruzel (Never played professional baseball) Thank you! Proves my point. These hitting coaches show more of a tendency, in either the minors or majors, toward better plate discipline than Joshua, Duncan, and Barbaro did during their careers.