Conky

Are we still expecting a meeting with Mackanin and the media today? Getting a bit late here.

Which will make playing a year at The Cell while Wrigley is gutted and rebuilt a bit more palatable.

I wouldn't say he got them there as much as they got there under his watch. And that reasoning doesn't mean anything to me. Lessers teams dumped Torre before he became a world series winner with the Yankees. Francona wasn't good enough for Philly before winning a world series in Boston. Agreed. My point is that at the time he was up for the Milwaukee job, there was a ton of sentimental and popular support for that hire. It still didn't happen. My guess is that he doesn't interview well, given the way he comes across in public. Would like to see how he performs under the interrogation atmosphere of a Theo interview. We'll get a peek when he talks to the media after Cherington puts him through the paces in Boston first. I just don't think Sveum is cut out for the kind of pressure situation in Chicago or Boston, personally.

As a Cubs fan living in Milwaukee currently, I have had the opportunity to observe Mike Maddux while he was with the Brewers. Also Sveum in his tenure. Maddux is the best at what he does in the major leagues in my opinion, outside of perhaps only Dave Duncan in St. Louis. He simply gets results, regardless of the talent he has to work with. To me, this speaks volumes as to his demeanor, work ethic, and his approach to the job of motivating personnel. Personally, I know nothing about his qualifications to run a game, however. Pitching coach and manager are two completely different animals. Knowing what I do about Maddux, however, I think he has the skill-set to do a great job as manager and I would be happy if he gets the Cubs job. Not my first choice, but I would be happy if this is the way the front office decides to go. Sveum, not so much. Sveum reminds me a lot of a Reed Johnson type. Both as a player and as a personality off the field. He was a friend and teammate of Robin Yount and Paul Molitor in the glory years of the 1980's Brewers. He is by all accounts a great guy with a good baseball mind. However, he does not come across as particularly cerebral in interviews or when speaking to the media. Hard to say what he is like in his own element, but outward appearances do not do him any favors. Add to this the fact that he took over as manager for the fired (and by that time hated in Milwaukee) Ned Yost at the end of the 2008 season. Sveum immediately turned the Brewers around down the stretch to the tune of a 12-7 record and a wild card berth in the playoffs. Granted, the Cubs practically handed the Brewers their ticket to the playoffs that year as they had already clinched the division and did not want to play the Mets in the playoffs. We were actually at the final game of the season that year, in Milwaukee, between the Cubs and Brewers when the Brewers made it in. You would have thought the Brewers had won the World Series with that win. As a Cubs fan living in Milwaukee, it even made me smile seeing it all unfold for the fans here. In a town starved for baseball success, the likes of which had not been seen since the days of Molitor, Yount, and Gantner, Sveum had pulled off what had looked impossible only weeks before. Robin Yount even made a brief return to the dugout to help his friend for the remainder of that 2008 season. The Brewers were to bow out in the NLDS that year, but the point is that Sveum was successful in the one opportunity he was given by his home town team. Why was he not given the reins the following year? I guess my question is, if he wasn't deemed good enough to run the Brewers in 2009, after getting them to the playoffs the year before, why does he merit a look for much more high profile jobs now?

Martinez to the Cubs. Sandberg to the Birds. Mackanin to the Sawx. Next! Really liking the idea of Sandberg and Martinez starting a whole new chapter in the Cubs/ Cards rivalry...

Unblocked ABP for NSBB as a result of Shakedown Street here. Err, I mean this thread. :wink: Oh, and nerds have always been cool.

Agreed. If this is turmoil, could we have more please? What is the next step up from turmoil? Revolt? Anarchy? What would those look like if this is turmoil now?

1.Boston 2.Chicago 3.St.Louis Not so sure about this, given the events of the last month. Boston still has a 160 Million dollar payroll, smart people in the front office and a crap ton of talent on the Roster. It's the second best job in baseball. Chicago has some work to do, but its a big market and a chance to get in on the ground floor and become a freaking hero. St. Louis just won a WS and can only go down from where they are at now. In addition they were a hot team that played above their talent level for a 3 weeks and won a championship. Couple that with the Shadow of a very popular LaRussa that you are replacing and the chance your best player is leaving makes that job less attractive IMO. I agree on St. Louis being behind the Cubs/ Sox by a fairly decent margin. My problem in ranking the top two is based more on perception moving forward. It's not only what the Cubs and Ricketts have put together in such a short time here that interests me, but what has happened to the once vaunted Red Sox front office and team in general. The Cubs are on the rise with an owner that has only very recently shown his mettle. The Sox on the other hand, could be perceived as being in a state of flux. The events that have transpired there have been the mirror opposite to what has gone on in Chicago. The Cubs front office has got to be viewed as having more star power/ a more solid brain trust moving forward at this point. Throw in the shenanigans pulled by Henry and Lucchino in Boston and it makes picking the most desirable place to play a bit more difficult. The Red Sox may have a larger payroll at this point, but also have shown a willingness to throw players/ management under the bus. This type of ownership behavior/ business culture resonates with prospective employees in my opinion. Tough call who has the top job.

1.Boston 2.Chicago 3.St.Louis Not so sure about this, given the events of the last month.

Not sure why people think Greg Maddux would want to travel with the team or be involved in the on field activities of running the club. Everything that has been written to this point, save for the Wittenmeyer article yesterday, says that this is not the case. Beyond that, does anyone want both Maddux brothers on the field running the Cubs? That's a lot of "Maddux" influence.

Someone missed the part about who runs the baseball side of the organization, looks like. Kenny will have nothing to do with bringing in free agents, nor should he.

Go for the quinella and grab Girardi. Would love to see the reaction of fans in New York to TR's "negotiating" tactics. :twisted:

No on Castro for Hernandez straight up. In fact, I'd have a hard time letting Castro go in a deal for any pitcher. Castro has the potential to be a perennial All-Star as a SS. I just think in the grande scheme of things, it is easier to acquire a pitcher of Hernandez's talents than it is a SS of Castro's. The other point to be made here is that it may be a year or two before the Cubs are ready to make a move in post-season play. Hopefully by then, they have a few more top prospects to acquire an Ace type when one is needed most. Gutting a mediocre system is not the right move. Plucking fruit from a top ranked system a year or two from now is.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=sportsxchange-000458917_labor-talks-could-impact-top-free-agents Do people not grasp how this works? Theo could scarcely tell Fielder "Happy Halloween" without it being seen as tampering. There can be contact, but no formal offer. "Hey Prince, how's it going? Just got off the phone with Albert"... http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111028&content_id=25828202&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb

Go to a concert. Pay through the knowz for beer or food. Stand in line for sub-par bathroom facilities. Sound familiar?

This. Screw you Sam Zell.

I agree. I read it like the deadline has passed, so Selig will now have to be involved. Process/ time frame TBD. Though I doubt this takes very long. Selig has had time and knows what he wants to do. Just my take. On one hand, kinda surprised that Theo/ Cherington couldn't come to a deal that saves face for both sides (Boston). On the other, not so much, as we know by now who runs the negotiations in Boston and how unreasonable their thought process is. Not at all hard to see why Theo butted heads with Lucchino and what ultimately drove him out. The interesting thing to see will be whether Cherington has any real power moving forward. From here, it looks like he is nothing but a fall guy for the next failed free agent fiasco or Boston black eye. Henry/ Lucchino will continue to dream up scenarios to try to compete with the Bronx, look for ways to blame employees for ownership failure. Could be wrong, of course. All speculation for outsiders.

Looks like any jumbotron to the side of the existing scoreboard might make a few rooftop partners "obstructed view". That said, Tom Ricketts is the guy for the job. http://www.bleachernation.com/wrigley-arial-pitch2.jpg

This is the only thing I disagree with. When the Cubs hired Andy MacPhail from the Twins, we gave an A-ball prospect. That would be the exact precedent for this situation. Agreed, Dew. I didn't mention that one transaction because it is an outlier in the history of the game. To my knowledge, this is the ONLY time compensation has ever been paid for an executive receiving a promotion and moving to another team. Not sure that is enough to set precedent, given the number of times no compensation was given for such moves. But in fairness to the people in Boston who think they are somehow being raided, it should be mentioned. Good call.

Hence W for Windetta project. Keep up with the tour group here. (jk) First thing that needs to go is the futility counter. :D

Ricketts is secretly buying up the properties he can surrounding Wrigley and is hard at work on a "W for Windetta" type scenario to blow up insurgent rooftop owners. There are also rumors of a few spare rockets warming up in the bullpen. Scoreboard be damned. We will have our day.

It was a promotion. SOSH and many in Red Sox Nation fail to grasp this concept. There has been no "raiding" of another team's front office here. There was a request and a situation where the BoSox granted permission for another organization to speak to one of their employees regarding a possible promotion. The Red Sox would have set new precedent by denying permission. Henry admitted as much. Which is funny, and a bit ironic, given the fact that they decided to instead attempt to set precedent for allowing an employee to accept a promotion with another club and yet reap compensation. Simply stated, you don't attempt to block or seek compensation for valued employees seeking to further their individual careers. If the situation dictates, the current employer does what they can to retain said employee if there is a threat of them leaving/ moving. That did not happen here. Where is the attempt by the Red Sox to retain Theo? There was none. Further, precedent in MLB says no compensation should be given when one team in the old boy network seeks to hire someone from another club, and is offering a promotion. Normal real world business practices concur. Those saying the Cubs did the deal backwards are equally wrong. Please explain the process where I ask permission to talk to your employee about possibly coming to work for me. That conversation apparently cannot gauge interest or willingness of said employee in my organization. I like your employee. I come back to you, seek a deal of compensation with you for letting your employee out of his contract. Then and only then do we see if the employee wants to change jobs/ move to a different city/ alter the course of their lives etc. Makes no sense. But this is the Red Sox and Henry/ Lucchino we're talking about after all. Hopefully if the Cubs win a couple World Series titles, we do not become that jaded as a fan base.

What, no fist bump? Lots of reports of Ryno flying these days. Moonlighting as an Air Marshall?

6 Years at 30-32M? Sure. You jump on that. 6 for 40M is across that arbitrary line that no one seems able to find, though. That would be more than 25% of a large market club's payroll. That is just too much if the leaked number is what they are pursuing. Good luck getting someone to pony up.

Sizemore looks very much like a Theo type target. However, as has been mentioned, others will be thinking the same thing. I think it ultimately depends on the mini bidding war that will ensue. At that point, Sizemore will have to decide among the best suitors on a one year showcase deal. The Cubs can easily find a way to have him in the lineup on a daily basis if he's healthy/ performing. Trading Byrd would not be a prerequisite to going after Grady Sizemore.