Hendry is under contract thru 2012. What would a new owner do, just fire him and pay the remaining? I don't know how that type of deal works. Yes, Lou has the option next year, which is certainly going to be determined by what happens with the rest of this year.

Why do I keep hearing IF it's the Ricketts in regards to new ownership? I thought it was as good as decided and they are just hammering out the details. But I admit that I don't know much about the sale and have avoided most of it, that stuff just makes me even grumpier.

Stoney in the front office, Ryno coaching/managing, Maddux pitching coach. They need to get some Cubs that where winners into the clubhouse again.

Re: Lou's contract...HE has the option to renew next year.

If I were him though, I'd opt for a florida fishing pole and Yankee consultancy.

Any new owner will want Hendry out after this year. His number of bone-head contracts and signings, combined with his lack of system/player development, has sealed his fate. And I sense he knows it.

That's assuming it's not the Ricketts who get control, because as big of Cubs fans as they seem to be, they also have prior connections to Hendry.

That's the Kaplan column I read and assume the one referred to.

It is well written, yes, but like you say, it also certainly is NOT rocket science. I would guess that the majority of seasoned Cub fans feel similarly re: Gregg, Bradley, Fox, Alfonso, etc. But management never does. Ah, yes, being a seasoned Cub fan.

So Lou's contract is up, but Hendry has till 012? Shit. Who did that, and what will it take for a new owner to clean house even with him under contract? I really don't think Lou is the main problem. But he is old, and this team needs desperately to get younger all the way around. Rothchild is awful and out of touch.

The manager job will be Ryno's one year, but I am really hung up on the idea of Brenly getting a shot to clean up the joint first. He has it in him, and he's seen first hand the "Cubiness" for a few years. Would Ryno be a bench coach on his way up the ladder?

Gooorzzelannny~!

well, Brenly would be an excellent choice short-term, to get us to the championship with veteran players, while Ryno would be great beyond. The ideal situation is Brenly becomes manager, Sandberg becomes bench coach, with Trammell either leaving, or handling the infielders, Joshua staying on as hitting coach (I love that guy), and try to get Kerrigan from Pittsburgh, or coax Mazzone or Maddux out of retirement. (though, not sure if Mazzone is officially retired or not).

I think once Brenly gets us to the championship (as I think he'd likely do), we could either approach him for an extension, or see if Sandberg is ready. If Brenly leaves the booth, then we get our wish, and have Stoney back.

RE: Lou's contract. I believe he has just this year and an option for next year.

Also, not sure many of you heard, but Starlin Castro has been promoted along with Robinson Chirinos to AA. Castro played in the Futures Game, and is only 20 years old. This is pretty impressive to be playing in AA as a 20 year old. As for Chirinos, he's a bit older, and recently switched from IF to catcher on Jody Davis' recommendation, and has done well, but is NOT considered a prospect because of his age.

Just thought I'd pass along..

Mazzone is not retired, and has expressed here in the Atlanta sports radio segment that he'd still like to coach again. He made a bad mistake leaving Bobby Cox as he had a sweat gig here, and was viewed as a local icon.

Certainly meant to write "sweet" gig above.

first of all, guys, you HAVE to post links to articles. I'm pretty computer savvy, but not THAT computer savvy. I can't ever find the right Kaplan articles ever. This time I did, and I think this is the right one:

http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/david-kaplan-chicago-sports/2009/08/its-time-to-make-some-changes.html

What an incredibly well-written article. Ever wonder if he looks at the CCO for his stuff like I think a few other Cubs beat reporters do? He harped on things I've been saying all damn year.

Gregg=bum

Heilman=bum

Lefty/Righty match-ups=stupid and out-dated

Salary=nothing late in the year. You play guys deserving of playing time

Fox=stud (same hr, more RBI in 44 LESS games than Bradley...only 8 less RBI than Fukudome in 51 LESS games)

Guzman=excellent closer choice

Like I said before, it's NOT rocket science. All you need is half a brain to figure out that Bradley has no business being anywhere near the field if a righty is throwing. Soriano has no business being in LF with the game on the line with his piss poor routes to balls, etc. Gregg has NO business being closer. Fontenot is NOT a starter, but an EXCELLENT bench player. Fukudome should NEVER hit with lefties throwing. What else? Heilman should NEVER be in the game in a close situation either, just like Gregg. Blanco, Hill, and Bradley should NEVER be in the same lineup together. Aaron Miles should not be allowed back with the team until rosters expand in September.

I could go on and on....It's just obvious observations that all of us have made throughout the year.

Lou Piniella should hang 'em up after the year. He's tired, old, and doesn't have any balls left to make the right decisions. Bob Brenly or Ryne Sandberg should be in there next year (Brenly would be the first choice, while Sandberg would be secondary, as we need to get younger, and Sandberg has coached a lot of these guys coming up now).

If I were Hendry, I'd make the following moves:

-send Samardzija down in favor of Gorzelanny

-DFA/send down Baker in favor of Soto

-DFA Miles entirely (a .250 avg at AAA for a supposed solid MLB player....LOL...is absolutely laughable and insulting if he is brought up at this point...dude couldn't even hit Extended Spring Training pitching either while Freel was down there with him)

-put Gregg on the DL with "tired arm" and bring up BJ Ryan, and send Guzman to closer's role

-bring Gregg back once September rosters expand, and you'll have a better idea who can handle the role. Either Guzman, Marmol, or Ryan will have staked claim to the job, thus relegating Gregg to mop-up duty where he and Heilman belong

-bench Bradley in favor of Hoffpauir, and ONLY allow Bradley to play when lefties are throwing. we now have played over 2/3 of the season, and Bradley still CANNOT hit righties....even with extra side work. At least give Hoffpauir an opportunity everyday to show he's worthy. If not, then option him down to work on his swing, and bring him back in September, but don't allow him to rot on the bench like he is right now. It's not fair to the player.

-finally....actually, this should be the first one....have Jake Fox in the starting lineup everyday, either spelling ARAM at 3B, Bradley/Hoffpauir in RF, Soriano in LF, or Lee at 1B. Why? Because down the stretch last year and in the playoffs, our veteran players clearly tanked, as they were old and tired. Why not inject more life into this team?

Just FYI for those interested...our 40-man stands at 38 spots. We have both Chad Fox and Neal Cotts that can be transferred to 60-day status. If we DFA Baker and/or Miles, we then have 34 spots. Right now, the only minor league position players we have on the roster are Bobby Scales (and technically Aaron Miles). David Patton is also a candidate for 60-day DL status.

Guys that might be added to the potential 6-7 vacant spots include:

Pitchers-Andrew Cashner (now has a 0.88 ERA at AA after a gem last night); John Gaub; Blake Parker; JR Mathes; Jeremy Papelbon; Maestri

Catcher-Chris Robinson or Welington Castillo (whose bat is finally coming on), Clevenger

IF/OF-Brad Snyder (rehabbing w/ AZL Cubs right now, but had 12 hr, 35 RBI in early May before going down), Matt Camp, James Adduci, Tony Thomas, Marquez Smith, Doug Deeds, Tyler Colvin, Blake Lalli

**look especially for Adduci, Colvin, Camp, Lalli, Deeds, W. Castillo, Clevenger, Gaub, Maestri, Mathes, Papelbon to get consideration in September. Why? Because if they're not on the 40-man come December, they're all subjected to the Rule 5. I doubt Colvin, Mathes, or Clevenger would be selected, but all the others are likely to be selected at this point. I think Adduci, Eeds, and Lalli are particularly intriguing to me. Adduci has good speed and a great average and OBP for AA, while Lalli can catch, play 1B, and the OF, and Deeds is older (28), but has shown power, and did well in Spring Training for us.

If it were me, I'd select those 3, along with W. Castillo, and one of Gaub/Maestri/Papelbon, and call it good for September call-ups. If Snyder is healthy, I'd bring him instead of Deeds.

After Ronny gave the "player of game" award to Wells last night Pat said, I'd hate to think where we be without him. Ronny just moaned the way he does.

Can you say enough about the poise and confidence this kid has shown? Consider his first two starts, he went 5 and 6 innings respectively and didn't give up an run, yet ended up with to NDs. His next two starts he goes 7 innings with 1 walk and 7 Ks in each, gives up 3 and 2 ERs respectively and is saddled with 2 Ls. Then he tossed a two more "quality" starts of 6+ and 7 innings giving up 1 and 2 ER's only to "earn" two more ND's. In his first 6 major league starts he threw 38 innings and had a 1.86 ERA and was 0-2. If that doesn't ruin a rookie's psyche and will to live, I don't know what would. He could/should easily be 12-4 right now and in the ROY discussion.

And Boseph, I agree with your assessment of Lou and his rostering. I have been saying the same thing for a while; I think he is trying to force Hendry's hand with annoying little jabs. Fox is not a suitable starting C, period. Gregg is a bum, but what is the option? I did not get to see the game last night, but have read here and other places that Lou was quite "animated" as you put it. Good. It's about time he gets a little crazy. I just hope to hell that he starts making roster moves based on his emotions. That is usually counter productive, but I think would go along way with teaching some of these guys that no one is safe. He's done it often enough, I just can't figure out why he won't do it this year. All those motivational books he read last winter?

Where is Lou in his current contract? Like a typical Cub fan, I can't wait to see what next year brings. I want to see Brenly manage this team.

Till then, GOOooooo GOOOoooorrzelllany!

Hey, everyone, be sure to read Dave Kaplan's column today (or yesterday) when he categorically says what so many of us have been saying for weeks about a need for well thought out change. Aaron, you should definitely enjoy the specific part as I do about Gregg's failure in his closer role. Now will these more public comments (rather than our more private blog posts) spawn any changes by Piniella (and Hendry)? My best judgment says no but hope springs eternal!

Charles...check out Chris Deluca's column today at the Chicago Sun-Times...

re the same thing...it's an excellent read.

The real shame is that our starters have been so great and the bullpen horrible

and the offense so/so.

For rswartz...Baker is hitting a whopping

.182 with the Cubs...The splits don't matter with a number that woeful.

What is Jeff Baker's avg. since joining the cubs?

Is his average against lefties any better than Blanco's? Fontenot?

I understand the need for a right hand bat againts lefties, but not if the bat is statistically worse.

Can any inform me of the requirements to make a deal after the deadline? Is there any possibility to improve here.

rswartz..waiver procedures were covered

in yesterday's recap of Sunday's game.

And yes, trades are doable if a player clears waivers...or the Cubs claim and either the team that put them on waivers...just let's them go...(usually

as a salary dump) or we work out a trade.

Seeing Pinella so animated last night

evoked strong memories of Al McQuire

(Marquette U.) directing his players

against the vaunted North Carolina

4 corners offense in the 1977 NCAA

Championship.

Highly dramatic and entertaining.

How does this relate to the Cubs?

In my tenure at Marquette, the '77

Championship team had more losses and flaws going into the tournament...then any other team.

And yet, in McQuire's swan song they won it all.

I'm not drinking kool-aid here...times are tough...we are extremely flswed...

but we can still do it.

GO CUBS !!!

So Gregg has a "tired arm" but failed to inform the coaching staff. How convenient after his miserable recent outings. And also nice to see that coaches and players on this team are communicating so well. Just typical Cubs drama.

Neil:

Great Headline. You s/b a ghostwriter for the NY Post.

"There is no such thing as a bad loss, but Monday was sure an ugly one ... after Randy Wells left the mound."

Might need an edit there

Thanks for catching ... corrected.

Let's just call it what it was...a Fast and Furious Win where winning is winning. Teams need to win games like this when their swagger is on the verge of falling off. Crazy part is that I think the Cubs actually played very, very good against the Marlins...other than our closers cannot close we did well. Now today,ofensively, we played very very poorly after th 2nd inning and yet we got lucky. It also helped that Wells[man crush alert Aaron]kicked some serious arse in the mound. I liked what I saw from Lou tonight as he took control of the situation and this win might actualy get him rolin' with his players. Only thing holding this team from Bonding is MB, who could blend and feel welcome if he were doing his job on the field but he prefers to be a victim of society. Listen Lou, keep it up...show your leadership and determination towin to your players by example. Insert Fox there in Right against the righties at the very least and be a fair skipper. Why are you so afraid of platooning Milton? You did the same with Fukudome who is more expensive... Oh well nice recap Neil let's put another W there tommorrow!

Cause if Fukudome gets platooned, he's not going to blame the media, the fans, and his teammates for his performance that lead to him getting platooned in the first place?

Lou's doing as good of damage control as he can (or cares to do) on this disaster of a signing. He obviously trotted Marmol out as his closer tonight, knowing he was struggling, to prove a point that Gregg is their only reasonable option at closer. He's put Koyie Hill behind the plate instead of Jake Fox to say "He's the only real catcher we have because SOMEONE didn't get me a secondary backup".

Lou's playing his own game right now, however subtle it may be: make it clear that the bonehead moves made this offseason were not adequate. Whether he should be trying harder to win or not remains to be seen...that'll come down to September and how far back or ahead we may be.