Last Place
I'm kind of in a tough position here. I took yesterday off from writing about why Dusty Baker should lose his job because I was still reeling from this weekend. And since I hadn't watched baseball since Wednesday, I really had absolutely no idea what the Cubs had done. I didn't even care enough to look. I was prepared to write something about how the Cubs were even closer to last place. But I would have jumped the gun. You see, yesterday the Cubs lost, again, to the Pittsburgh Pirates. I believe that is 5 consecutive losses to the team that is no longer worst in the NL. Actually, it's really only fitting that the Cubs lose to the second worse team in the NL because if you need to prove you're the worst team in baseball, you lose to the team right above you. Obviously, an optimistic person would think that this would open everyone's eyes in the organization up to how terrible these coaches and this GM are. But I'm not optimistic. I'm a Cubs fan. And they're now in last place.
So obviously I hate Dusty Baker. I hate his managerial 'skills' or 'ability', both of which are non-existent. I hate his batting order, which is entirely incompetent. Now he's the reason Carlos Zambrano is hurt. Well, part of the reason, the other part is that Larry Rothschild doesn't know how to tell people that strikes are important when pitching. He is the same pitching coach who was in Florida when A.J. Burnett threw a no-hitter while walking 9.
But I think I need to make my scope bigger and more complicated. The reason the Cubs blow more than a bubble factory (does that make any sense?) is Jim Hendry. It's simple. Now, I doubt I can come up with reasons why Jim Hendry should not have a job on a daily basis, because really you can only say the reasons once. So I'll just sort of make a list.
Dusty Baker still has a job. He's obviously incompetent. I think he's losing on purpose. Even he knows he can't manage, I don't think he wants to be around this team at all, yet Hendry keeps him around.
Larry Rothschild just got an extension this past offseason. The pitching, while having high strike outs (most years, the rookies weren't too great at those this year), has been absolutely incapable of not walking people.
Neifi Perez's two-year deal. Ok, maybe you're saying that Neifi is gone now and Hendry traded him for something we could use. Well, I'm not entirely sure Neifi didn't help Hendry in negotiations with other teams, which brings me to my next point.
HE DOESN"T MAKE TRADES. There were numerous reports about teams wanting Phil Nevin, John Mabry, and Greg Maddux at the trade deadline. Maddux was the only one who was traded, even though obviously none of them will be around for next year. Then the news comes out that Nevin was the one who orchestrated his trade, and Maddux and his agent were the ones who basically orchestrated his trade. Hmm, I thought GM's were supposed to make trades. Not just sit around.
His inability to put together a solid team. The team this year has just plain sucked. Sure, a lot of it has to do with this coaching staff's inability to coach a player to anything other than sucking more. But you trade 3 promising young pitchers for Juan Pierre, who sucks until June, and while racking up a lot of steals, his style of play doesn't fit this team if he doesn't score runs. I wonder if we could have used 3 promising young pitchers this year. Nah, probably not. Good trade Hendry. But I have no reason to believe the team won't look almost exactly the same next year. But hopefully we can bring in a couple more people who are on their decline and expect them to perform.
I may be wrong in suggesting this, but why not bring in someone like Steve Stone for GM? Ok, that I wasn't wrong in suggesting, that would be amazing. But what about former Royals GM Allan Baird? For years he was working with a payroll about a third of that of the Cubs, he built their system up pretty well. They were able to develop players (Johnny Damon, Mike Sweeney, Carlos Beltran). I think he could do well working with a bigger payroll, mainly because the sheer fact that he was able to convince anyone to play in KC is a miracle. And if not, I don't even care, as long as Jim Hendry can't drag this team down any farther.
So obviously I hate Dusty Baker. I hate his managerial 'skills' or 'ability', both of which are non-existent. I hate his batting order, which is entirely incompetent. Now he's the reason Carlos Zambrano is hurt. Well, part of the reason, the other part is that Larry Rothschild doesn't know how to tell people that strikes are important when pitching. He is the same pitching coach who was in Florida when A.J. Burnett threw a no-hitter while walking 9.
But I think I need to make my scope bigger and more complicated. The reason the Cubs blow more than a bubble factory (does that make any sense?) is Jim Hendry. It's simple. Now, I doubt I can come up with reasons why Jim Hendry should not have a job on a daily basis, because really you can only say the reasons once. So I'll just sort of make a list.
Dusty Baker still has a job. He's obviously incompetent. I think he's losing on purpose. Even he knows he can't manage, I don't think he wants to be around this team at all, yet Hendry keeps him around.
Larry Rothschild just got an extension this past offseason. The pitching, while having high strike outs (most years, the rookies weren't too great at those this year), has been absolutely incapable of not walking people.
Neifi Perez's two-year deal. Ok, maybe you're saying that Neifi is gone now and Hendry traded him for something we could use. Well, I'm not entirely sure Neifi didn't help Hendry in negotiations with other teams, which brings me to my next point.
HE DOESN"T MAKE TRADES. There were numerous reports about teams wanting Phil Nevin, John Mabry, and Greg Maddux at the trade deadline. Maddux was the only one who was traded, even though obviously none of them will be around for next year. Then the news comes out that Nevin was the one who orchestrated his trade, and Maddux and his agent were the ones who basically orchestrated his trade. Hmm, I thought GM's were supposed to make trades. Not just sit around.
His inability to put together a solid team. The team this year has just plain sucked. Sure, a lot of it has to do with this coaching staff's inability to coach a player to anything other than sucking more. But you trade 3 promising young pitchers for Juan Pierre, who sucks until June, and while racking up a lot of steals, his style of play doesn't fit this team if he doesn't score runs. I wonder if we could have used 3 promising young pitchers this year. Nah, probably not. Good trade Hendry. But I have no reason to believe the team won't look almost exactly the same next year. But hopefully we can bring in a couple more people who are on their decline and expect them to perform.
I may be wrong in suggesting this, but why not bring in someone like Steve Stone for GM? Ok, that I wasn't wrong in suggesting, that would be amazing. But what about former Royals GM Allan Baird? For years he was working with a payroll about a third of that of the Cubs, he built their system up pretty well. They were able to develop players (Johnny Damon, Mike Sweeney, Carlos Beltran). I think he could do well working with a bigger payroll, mainly because the sheer fact that he was able to convince anyone to play in KC is a miracle. And if not, I don't even care, as long as Jim Hendry can't drag this team down any farther.
posted by Jtrouble at 8:18 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home