Well, I just can't sit here any longer without blowing my top about this lousy team and the lousy GM that put it together and has done ZERO to do anything about it. How can you get through the trade deadline with all the injuries around the league without doing ANYTHING to alleviate the payroll problem going into next year and beyond. The big move at the deadline was to dump arguably your best starting pitcher in Ted Lilly and starting 2B in Ryan Theriot along with $2.5 million of the $4.3 million owed to Lilly to the Dodgers for Blake DeWitt and a couple minor leaguers. Blake DeWitt does hit left-handed and is nearly 6 years younger than Theriot and the move probably did save the Cubs about $2 million, but the Cubs desperately needed something more than that.
Let's start with the fact that this team is AWFUL - NO OFFENSE, so-so starting pitching, shaky defense at best, and a similar shaky bullpen; the manager retired last August and is just adding to his retirement fund at this point yet no move there either from Jim Hendry. The O's are 6-1 since hiring Buck Showalter; had the Cubs made a move a month or so ago when Lou made it clear he wasn't coming back, maybe Ryne Sandberg could have lit a fire under this team that has not existed since early last year.
Yes, the team has tremendous payroll problems with $140 million in payroll and a 5th place club that is 18 games under .500 with ZERO injuries to blame but lets start with the manager situation. It would seem to me that if Ryne Sandberg were the lock to replace Lou for going into 2011, the Cubs would call him up now at a minimum to sit on the bench and see the team up close rather than starting blind come Spring Training. Alan Trammel is already on the bench; why not send Lou home and give him a shot at managing the team for the next month and a half to see what you may have there even though the way this team is playing may not really be indicative to how either will do in 2011? Since the Cubs haven't done either, it might be because they're doing their typical holding pat and never thinking outside the box or maybe they are holding out for Joe Girardi. Incidentally, I was begging them to pick up Girardi INSTEAD of Grandpa Lou 4 years ago who recently came out saying he really didn't know what he was getting himself into with this job. Joe Torre is in the same position Lou was before coming to Chicago...he's DONE so he's of no interest to me either. I REALLY think it is going to take an ex-Cub to turn this thing around as the rest of the world just doesn't get it. So to me, that leaves Girardi or Sandberg and I think that's the order. If the Yankees do resign Girardi, the Cubs should go with Sandberg in my opinion...they NEED some new, younger blood at the helm of this team...they've tried the experienced guy the last two times with Dusty Baker and Lou Piniella or three times if you throw in Don Baylor; it's time to go in a different direction.
Of course, most everything is going to come down to what the Cubs new ownership does with the GM...will they allow this knucklehead to continue to dump ridiculous amounts of money on middling teams or replace Hendry with some new blood and try to go in a different and fresher direction. Personally, I wouldn't let Jim Hendry manage my 8-year old's savings account let alone $140 million MLB payroll for my $850 million investment. Let's go back to the trade deadline from a couple weeks ago...what the heck happened there Jim? I know D-Lee said he wouldn't go to the Angels, but why not work some magic and do something with Fukudome, Zambrano, Ramirez, Dempster, Soriano, or Silva? There were so many moves to make and the one he did do made ZERO sense to help this team this year or in the future. I just don't get it Jim! Maybe he's on the same retirement plan as Lou started last summer. There's a good young group of players here now, but they can't keep hanging around with this bunch of losers for too long.
But everything you hear and read from Tom Ricketts indicates that Hendry will be back...my question remains WHY?!? What has he done to earn this respect and yet ANOTHER chance? He has been given TONS of money by the Trib and his team has NOTHING to show for it...just one playoff series win in his 9-year tenure and only 3 playoff appearances in a middle market division with a major market payroll. It's time for Jim to go! The sooner the better! Maybe that's why they haven't made a manager move...allowing the new GM to make that decision...hey, a guy can dream can't he???
By the way nothing to do with the Cubs, but I've got two names for Darrelle Revis - Al Harris and Todd Bell. Both of these guys were on the Chicago Bears and held out in 1985 following Pro Bowl seasons and BOTH missed the chance to play for one of the best teams in NFL history and went on to win Super Bowl XX that year. Harris and Bell both came back to the Bears in 1986 but lost their starting spots and the Bears didn't make it back to the Super Bowl for 21 years and obviously neither of those guys were on that team. Do the Jets have the talent without Revis to win the Super Bowl this year? I don't know, but I'd hate to be Revis and find out they are! Plus how do you skip a year in your short NFL career?
No comments:
Post a Comment