Yet another indictment of both Hendry and Piniella (Hendry mostly). Piniella was allowed to bring in Perry, and supposedly was good with hitters to begin with himself...then, Hendry fires the very guy who got credit for more patience at the plate, etc. (basically the Billy Beane, "Moneyball" approach...ironically, Perry was a hitting coach for the A's), then he brings in a guy mid-season to try to turn around a bunch of underperforming veterans when his success was mainly from younger players (which he wasn't really given...because Piniella wouldn't play the young guys consistently).

So, again...it's merely deflecting the blame from himself, which is something I can never get over with Hendry. He's MLB's worst GM...next to maybe Wade and the now fired Towers. All I have to say is this....entering a season, if your main offseason moves consisted of:

signing Aaron Miles
signing Joey Gathright
signing Milton Bradley
signing Paul Bako

...and only Miles was on the active roster on the last day...and hitting under .190, then you have problems. But the main thing I can never get over is the fact that Hendry even signed these guys, thinking they'd improve the roster. At the very least, Bradley and Miles were supposed to be everyday players for us this year, and you could argue that Gathright was supposed to be the starter in CF (benching Fukudome) due to both Hendry and Piniella's declaration that they, "needed more speed". But who in their right, coherent mind would've ever relied on those clowns?!? Fact is, not a single one of you would've probably been in favor of those moves if you knew that was it, and we'd also lose Edmonds and DeRosa in the offseason.

How Hendry is still employed by this franchise is beyond me. It's not even a close call. If your entire offseason was a failure, AND your past free agent moves have come back to haunt the franchise and handcuff you for the future (ie.-contracts to Soriano, Fukudome, Lee, Dempster, the one to Marquis, which led to Vizcaino, and us eating about $6 million, etc.)

Then, when you factor in the horrible trades not maximizing value (ie.-Pie, Patterson, Hill, Cedeno, etc.), then whole Stone and Caray saga, and the woeful draft results that continue to haunt this organization dating all the way to the draft's inception, then you start to realize what an epic failure Hendry truly is, especially considering his $140 million payroll. Fact is, if you have a payroll like that, there's absolutely NO way you shouldn't make the playoffs...which, in fact, is where teams that spend close to that do. Teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, Phillies, and Dodgers have entered the playoff realms nearly every year after they reached the $100 million payroll plateau. In fact, the only teams that made the playoffs (provided the Tigers win the one game playoff) that don't have a top 10 payroll, is the Cardinals (ranked 13) and Rockies (18).

Here's the list:
1.New York Yankees $201,449,289
2.New York Mets $135,773,988
3.Chicago Cubs $135,050,000
4.Boston Red Sox $122,696,000
5.Detroit Tigers $115,085,145
6.Los Angeles Angels $113,709,000
7.Philadelphia Phillies $113,004,048
8.Houston Astros $102,996,415
9.Los Angeles Dodgers $100,458,101
10.Seattle Mariners $98,904,167
11.Atlanta Braves $96,726,167
12.Chicago White Sox $96,068,500
13.St. Louis Cardinals $88,528,411
14.San Francisco Giants $82,161,450
15.Cleveland Indians $81,625,567
16.Toronto Blue Jays $80,993,657
17.Milwaukee Brewers $79,857,502
18.Colorado Rockies $75,201,000
19.Arizona Diamondbacks $73,571,667
20.Cincinnati Reds $70,968,500
21.Kansas City Royals $70,908,333
22.Texas Rangers $68,646,023
23.Baltimore Orioles $67,101,667
24.Minnesota Twins $65,299,267
25.Tampa Bay Rays $63,313,035
26.Oakland Athletics $62,310,000
27.Nationals $59,328,000
28.Pirates $48,743,000
29.San Diego Padres $42,796,700
30.Florida Marlins $36,814,000

*Mets basically lost their entire starting lineup to injury for a majority of the season, AND 4/5 of their rotation, so they have a legitimate excuse.
**Astros have an excuse...their GM, Wade, with Hendry and Towers are the game's worst GM's

Could you imagine if the Cardinals had close to a $140 million payroll?!? If that happened, I bet they would've had Abreu and/or Dunn, Sabathia, and Burnett in addition to their acquisition of Holliday.

I mean, look at our roster. We have nearly $140 million worth of salary that almost no team would ever want. I would argue that ARAM's salary is about the only one any team would assume 100% of. Everyone else, Z included, the Cubs would have to eat salary. Doesn't that say something for how horrible your GM really is?!?

How many times have we heard from both Hendry and Pinella that they (the two of them) haven't had any discussions regarding 2010 while during the regular season? And now this decision on the final day.

You just can't believe these guys (like Pinella holding coaching meetings til the wee hours of the night...sure).

I agree with Derrick Lee....the importance of a batting coach is overrated.

Aaron, There still is no one to fire Hendry or Kenney yet until Ricketts officially takes over....and Hendry, on his own...is not about to dismiss Pinella.
I still believe Ricketts will want to install his own management team...if not right away...then within the year.

If the Cubs aren't world beaters early next season...Pinella will be the sacrifice to appease Cubs fans and Hendry will be reassigbed to some sort of
auxilary job to finish his contract. Hendry has absolutely no leeway for mistakes this offseason...and one way or another...will be under Ricketts watchful eye.

Thanks for everything Neil...and all those who contribute daily. It was not a fun season, but I find reading all of your comments and Neil's pieces daily to be very enjoyable. Let's hope for a productive and well calculated off season!

Folks...this is why I loathe Jim Hendry:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-05-cubs-d-backs-chicago-oct05,0,4663624.story
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"What's been a little bit different is a club of this magnitude being for sale for 2 1/2 years through a couple of different transitions," Hendry said. "The old Tribune selling out to Sam Zell and, obviously, the latest transaction taking a long, long time.

"We don't make excuses around here. We had a very high payroll for a couple of years, but the last eight, nine months has been a little different than the first couple of years. It was obviously in total transition, and then we went through the company having their bankruptcy issues that probably did affect the way the sale was done. We're just glad to have finally an end to it."
*****************************************

okayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy...so, first of all...."we don't make excuses around here". Really Jimbo?!? Sure you wanna make that statement?!? I'm not even going to regurgitate the B.S. we've heard out of Jimbo's mouth, as well as Piniella this season, and all we've heard is excuses.

Second of all, he follows up that very statement with "but", which is the very essence of an ensuing excuse. It's like when a friend or co-worker, or spouse apologizes to you, then follows up the statement with, "but"....everything that just preceded "but" was B.S., and you know it. Same holds true here with old Jimbo.

Lastly, he goes on to make himself look like even more of an idiot. Here's why:

1)Team was put up for sale in 2007 (well, technically late 2006 I believe). We actually won while the team was for sale in 2007 and 2008, so his excuse doesn't hold water

2)Prior to 2007, Hendry failed in 3 straight seasons (2004, 2005, and 2006), and failed to control his team in the collapse of 2004, which led to the departures of 2 very popular announcers.

3)If Hendry's excuse really is that the sale had an effect on decision-making, that's absolute garbage as well. Why? Nobody forced Hendry to dish out terrible contracts to Soriano, Marquis, Lee, Dempster, Bradley, Miles, and make ill-advised trades for Gregg, Heilman, and getting rid of DeRosa. So....I guess what Hendry is saying is that if real ownership was in charge, it would've prevented him from making such awful decisions, right? I mean, that's essentially what he's saying, is it not?!?

Folks....this is a guy practically begging to be fired. Everything that he's done, and said....as well as Piniella, just begs the question....What the hell are they still doing being employed by this great franchise?!?

It's just unbelievable to me that this jerkoff has lasted through 4 different managers now, and it looks like he'll never leave. Anyone with half a brain on this website could get a team to the playoffs with $140 million payroll. I'm serious....You have all the resources that the Cubs have----Wrigley, the marketing, revenue from media, constant sell-outs, and one of the most popular names in all of sports, and a long history, and you almost can't screw it up with that kind of payroll, and yet Hendry has.....BADLY!!!!!!!

See, once the Red Sox committed to spending, and revamping their scouting department and player evaluation, they've been a perennial playoff team. The Yankees, similarly committed to spending the most in the league and have also been a perennial playoff team, and have recently recognized player development as a key to future success, which is why they've refused to part with top prospects in recent years which is in stark contrast to about 5 to 10 years ago. The Cubs? Well....they have no direction.

Are we a young team? If so, why did we trade young, up-and-coming guys for loser veterans with crappy stats like Gregg, Grabow, Heilman, and Gorzelanny?!?

Are we a veteran team? If so, then why did we see young guys like Soto, Cedeno, Theriot, Fontenot, Fox, Hoffpauir, Wells, Marmol, Caridad, Guzman, etc. get a lot of playing time in recent years?!?

Are we committed to our own system, or other organization's? Again, like I questioned before...if we're committed to our own, then we best be getting full value for our own prospects in trades, and we better give them full opportunities at the MLB level to see what we have, right? Neither of which has happened.

So, as I've said, this team has no direction, with an idiot pulling the strings behind the scenes, and a crap payroll situation where we have nearly $120 million committed for next season (after arby raises). So, even if a new GM comes in, Hendry's created an almost impossible situation to clean up. How do you do it?!?

The following players are absolutely untradeable right now:
Soriano: 5 yrs, $90 million left (no-trade)
Bradley: 2 yrs, $22 million left
Miles: 1 yr, $2.5 million left
Dempster: 3 yrs, $39 million left (no-trade)
Fukudome: 2 yrs, $24 million left
Lee: 1 yr, $13 million (you might think he's tradeable because of his performance this year, but how he started the season, and how he finished September, combined with him turning 34 next season means you'd have to eat about half his contract to move him, PLUS he has a no-trade, which he already wouldn't waive last year)

*if you're counting, you're looking at close to $70 million in untradeable contracts for next season. Only $15 million of that comes off after next season, yet another reason why I said he's created an IMPOSSIBLE situation for the Cubs for future years, and ROYALLY screwed over this great organization with the best fans in the world.

Sound like I hate Hendry?!? Absolutely true...He's pretty much the worst GM in pro sports as far as I'm concerned right now, and it'll only get worse from here on out.

How are we going to improve?!? Do you really trust Hendry to make the right trades or signings this offseason? If you do...prove it...why do you trust him? In my mind, we need 2 huge bats that can hit 25+ hr, 100+ RBI, or at least consistently drives in 100 or more RBI. PLUS, we need some major speed on this team.

speed candidates include: Upton (42), Crawford (60), Abreu (30), Podsednik (30), Figgins (42)

power/RBI candidates include: Dunn (38 hr, 105 RBI), Bay (36 hr, 119 RBI), Holliday (24 hr, 107 RBI), Uggla (31 hr, 90 RBI), Abreu (15 hr, 102 RBI), DeRosa (23 hr, 78 RBI), Blalock (25 hr, 66 RBI), Hawpe (23 hr, 86 RBI), Michael Young (22 hr, 68 RBI), Chris Davis (21 hr, 59 RBI), Miguel Olivo (23 hr, 65 RBI)

But, as mentioned, who can we possibly trade with the untradeable contracts we're stuck with?!? About the only guys we could trade might be Theriot, Fontenot (because MacPhail might take him), Fox, Hoffpauir, Fuld, Marmol, Baker, Blanco, Guzman, Caridad, Marshall, Wells, ARAM, Lilly, and Z.

And the fact is, only ARAM, Lilly, Z, Marmol, and Wells would bring a decent return, and could you imagine how awful the team would look without them?!?

I know we could trade some minor league talent, but even there, the guys you'd have to trade, likely: Flaherty, Burke, Vitters, Jackson, Castro, Hak Ju Lee, among others, would be equally unattractive (though I'd trade Vitters in a heartbeat if we landed a young, big bat...such as a Prince Fielder, etc. As a matter of fact, I'd trade Vitters, Jay Jackson, and Cashner for Fielder in a friggin' heartbeat.

But Hendry, self-admittedly said he's not very creative in trades....so, the chances of us turning around the team and getting to the playoffs with him at the helm are about as remote as the top of Mount Everest.

Just saw that Kevin Gregg picked the
Tigers over the Cardinals in the WS.
...and started laughing...the guy can't get anything right.