Lou bows out (UPDATED)
By now you know Lou is done as Cubs manager after today’s game. He has been distracted lately, and he felt it was time to go home and be with his elderly mother. The news as far as the Cubs are concerned is that third-base coach Mike Quade will take over as manager for the rest of the season.
Quade, a local boy, also will be a candidate for the job after this year. Bench coach Alan Trammell was told he will not be a managerial candidate. He will remain as bench coach. Ivan DeJesus likely will take over as third-base coach, and the Cubs will bring up a minor-league roving instructor to fill the vacant coaching position. That means Iowa manager Ryne Sandberg will not be coming.
Got a lot to get to, and I’ll try to update as much as possible. Today’s lineup:
Barney, 2B
Castro, SS
Byrd, CF
Ramirez, 3B
Soriano, LF
Baker, RF
Nady, 1B
Hill, C
Wells, P
Here are a couple of comments from Lou:
"I talked about it with Jim a day ago, and Jim thought this was the right thing to do. I'm appreciative that I'm allowed to do this, and Ill go home and be where Im supposed to be. I'm going to miss it, there's no question about it. But at the same time, it was very difficult."
I asked Lou if he thought about going home when he announced his retirment a few weeks ago.
"No," he said. "I thought that I could finish out the season. I thought at that time that we could still win a division. It hasnt worked out that way. At the same, time my mother's health came into the equation and things have changed. But, no, I didnt think that going home in, when was it? July. Its only been a month. A month ago. A lot of things have changed in a month.
Carlos Silva threw a simulated game today. He threw 30 pitches, and pitching coach Larry Rothschild said he was happy. Silva will go out on a minor-league rehab assignment, perhaps later this week.
More to come.
Since we know blogger Goniou only has only a handful of things to say (though he writes 20 posts a day, each angrier than the next), I thought I would take the time to knockdown his arguments one by one:
Rant #1 - Tom Ricketts will personally hire Sandberg as manager in order to plase the masses and sell tickets in 2011.
My problem with this theory is that it's an approach that seems more appropriate for an ownership ready to sell a team (ala Tribsters in late 2006) than a new owner that has talked over and over about wanting to keep in the family for generations. What good does it do for Ricketts and his new team to hire a guy they don't believe is qualified? Sell more tickets - does anyone believe that they won't be at full capacity in 2011 with Fredi Gonzalez as manager, for example? They have a waiting list for season ticket holders a mile long. What good does it do for the Ricketts family to have Sandberg come in as manager and fail miserably? I think Cubs fans have shown pretty clearly they will turn on players, managers regardless of their popularity (see Sosa, Zambrano, Lou and Dusty for recent vintage). Ryno won't be popular with the masses for long if the team stinks up the joint as a manager.
So - end result, Ricketts will insist on Sandberg as manager, even though he believes he's not qualified, in order to sell more tickets for a team that will likely have no trouble selling tickets, only to have him flame out and leave the team searching for another manager in 2013 or 14, all the while destroying the legacy of one of the team's most revered hall of fame players.
So Goniou - I know it must have been fun for you to put this theory in writing (at least the first twenty times), but to steal a phrase from Da Coach and Talk Radio - Who you crappin?
your boy goniou does the same thing on the hockey blog. It's mind blowing how rediculous his posts are, he has zerp hockey knowledge and now I see baseball knowledge. He's a copy and paster that get his material form other sites.
.. I do not know who might be best but one of my biggest disappointments with Lou is tolerating poor fundamentals and players not hustling. I never saw him kick butt as I thought should have been and if it would be suggested he did so later, behind closed doors, it was ineffective. The first time I saw a player stand and admire a "homer that wasn't" then end up on second or even first, they would have guarded the sunflower seeds on the bench. Until then we have the pre-Robert Redford NY Knights.
I am starting to fear that The Ricketts family are more the type of Cub fan that loves the ivy, singing in the 7th, enjoying a picnic lunch and some cool drinks. They sing happily for a win but take a loss as: "oh well, our Cubbies tried" and "what a beautiful afternoon we had!".
Any real Cub fan, anyone who truly desires a winner and has waited beyond forever, would surley do better than what we have seen. I will give them the off season to see any cause for hope. If it continues to suck, then you know we got the yuppieville version of the gummed up PK Wrigley mess.
I agree with you. Lou had a great opportunity earlier in the season to bench Soriano and make an example of him and didn't do so, even though Soriano was mired in one of his patented extended slumps at the time and it couldn't have hurt the team in the least to bench him. I posted about that at the time. I feel that Brenley and Sandberg would be guys who would have the balls to bench a player, any player, for dogging it.
Yes, there are some recent indicators. A second full-time stats guy. Quade, formerly with A's org for a long time.
But here's Ricketts recently announcing he's staying with Hendry into next year.
Talk about incongruity!
The Cubs' Hendry regime is arguably the most old school and sabermetrically backward and resistant of all 30 franchises!
----
Related to this, I certainly understand all the focus on the field manager position on a day like this. But, sorry, fellow Cubs fans, this seriously-in-trouble baseball organization is going nowhere till Ricketts gets it through his head he's gotta change baseball management....at the very top.
I completely disagree about the assumption that it's a foregone conclusion that the job is Sandberg's....I personally believe that Ricketts wants to emulate the Boston Red Sox template and move towards statistics-geared analysis and wants a manager who is young and flexible enough to buy into this mindset....I question Sandberg's makeup in this regard....he's definitely more of an old-school type manager.
If I were Ricketts, I'd study/interview/replicate the Theo Epstein way (talk to Bill James a bunch of times) and take a reasoned approach to the overhaul of the Cub's organization....plenty of available personnel chomping at the bit to turn this thing around...and believe me, I'm not suggesting some miracle cure but also not a re-building situation either...the Cub's have too big of a market share and following to EVER say the R-word.
mean players like soriano? that comment is for followers.
My take is this: Sandberg is a done deal. Quade is being given a chance as a payback for his loyalty to the organization-and possibly give him a chance to market himself as a major league manager. The Trammell story is just a smokescreen-he was never a candidate to begin with-it's Sandberg's job.
Ricketts will tell Hendry in no uncertain terms that Sandberg is to be the next manager...and to put on a dog and pony show that "proves" the Cubs canvassed the baseball world for candidates before selecting Sandberg. No question this is how it will play out.
With all due respect to Piniella's family situation, fact is he had enough and quit on this team. When Lou doesn't have a good team his history is to sulk and disengage. It happened in 2002 in Seattle, and it happened in 2005 in Tampa Bay. I've always been a fan of Sweet Lou, dating back to his role on those great Yankee teams of the 70's. But his legacy in Chicago is not a good one. And yes, he quit on the Cubs.
We all know that it is foregone conclusion that Ryne Sandberg will be next manager. I don't want Sandberg as next manager. Though I like the guy and he was one of my favorite players, fact is he comes across dumber than a hockey puck and I very seriously question his ability to lead a major league ballclub. But alas, it doesn't matter what I think because this thing is going to become a dog an pony show where Ricketts, Kenney and Hendry "interview" an impressive short list of candidates knowing full well it's Sandberg's job. Hiring Sandberg will be popular among the drippy sentimentality types and deflect attention away from how this franchise is being run. At least for awhile.
Oh, and I'm going to beat the Christmas rush and state something that has been building inside....I have very little faith in the Ricketts family. I question leadership, strategic direction and financial commitment. That's bad to be questioning on all three of those levels so soon into their ownership reign. Real bad.
I'm on board with you on everything except having faith in the Ricketts. I feel we/you need to give them another season. Not having a baseball background has forced them to sit back and watch how things function. They did exactly that while making improvements to other things (namely Wrigley field). I'm going to save my judgment until this time next year.
I'm with you that Lou quit and Sandberg will be the manager. Is he ready? I don't know, but time will tell.
Most owners don't know too much about baseball.... and aren't expected to. Along with business acumen, their skill is in putting organizations together to position them to be successful.
I don't expect Ricketts to be a baseball guru or anything close. But what I do expect out of him is the ability to analyze the organizational structure of the Cubs, determine if the people in charge of key functions are capable of executing the plan to field a championship team and making the changes where necessary to make the organization more effective while hiring the people that are known for their baseball exxpertise and to be able to direct and hire others to get the job done as quickly and economically as possible.
Ricketts had his year. If he completely ignored what was happening on the field, solely concentrated on the organizational structure itself and has positioned himself to begin making those changes as soon as the season is over.... I would not be unhappy.
Fire Tribune Company holdover Crane Kenney and install a top flight baseball executive. Two "non-baseball" guys in Ricketts and Kenney being the combo is bad, bad, bad way to run things. Especially when the Ricketts family is new to baseball ownership.
Sorry, but Ricketts depresses me. I dont' see a vision and I don't see leadership. What I see is member of the Lucky Sperm Club muddling his way through. He has SCREAMING need for capable people around him. Hendry has the top baseball man in the organization is sobering on all levels.
Or someone with ice in his veins?
I agree 100% that the Cubs need a top flight BASEBALL executive. However, Kenney has demonstrated to be effective at the things he's qualified for.... finance, putting together business deals and identifying new revenue streams. ALL of these are essential for any franchise to be able to compete on an equal level with any other franchise and remain financially healthy.
Ricketts, being an organizational type of guy will hopefully recognize the difference between business operations and baseball operations and that the two are completely separate responsibilities. I think if he's as smart as I'd like to give him credit for, he'll restructure the Cub organization/hierarchy into those two components.
The Tribune is still a minority owner of the Cubs. We don't know what the fine print of their deal with Ricketts was and Kenney's role in regards to that. To be sure, The Tribune is strictly interested in the Cubs from a financial standpoint.... which may be why Kenney is where he is.
In my mind, Kenney should head up a newly formed business development function exclusively and all the people involved in that should report to him.
A true baseball guy should head up the baseball operations function and all the people (scouts, GM, etc) should report to this guy.
Let's see how this all plays out from an organizational standpoint.
I question your ability to view this franchise objectively.
"I have very little faith in the Ricketts family."
shocking!
Kool-aid drinkers unite and attack the objective. Always have, always will. I could give a rat's patoot.
Love Lou but he did make alot of tactical mistakes in 2009.
Mistake 1.
It's a biggie. He kept Soriano in the lead off spot for over half the season.
Mistake 2.
He kept bringing in Aaron Heilman in close games. Heilman had 72 IP, second highest among Cub relievers for the year.
Should not surprise anyone one bit if a year or two from now a team calls and Lou returns.
Piniella has always maintained strong connection to the Yankees and was a big favorite of the late George Steinbrenner. He is alleged to be close to Hal Steinbrenner, who along with his brother now runs the show. Plus Piniella lives in Tampa (suburb of Temple Terrace), which is home to the spring traning site of the Yankees and where the Steinbrenner family lives when not in New York or Cleveland.
A top notch manager.
Lou's biggest career disappointment was not his inability to take the Cubs to the WS.
But rather his not being able to go to the WS with that powerhouse 90's Mariner team.
The 1997 Mariners had 5 players who scored 100 runs, 6 with 20 HR's, and the record for most team HR's in a season 264. A non performance enhanced Griffery hit
something like 57 HR's.
The team had 3 lock future Hall of Famers in Ken Griffery Jr, Randy Johnson, and Alex Rodriguez. 3 of the greatest players ever in baseball history. Plus a way above average hitter in Edgar Martinez.
Mariner GM Woody Woodward could not put together an adequate bullpen for Lou.
Hey Bruce, do you have any sense of what the feeling in the Cubs organization is about Lance Berkman? Unless his drop off this year signifies that he's begun his decline (maybe the resident expert on that subject will chime in and let us know), he'd be a better option than the alternatives (Dunn, Hawpe, Huff...they aren't going to pay what Fielder wants) IMO. He's not only a .296 career hitter but his OBP is at least a hundred points higher than his BA year after year, so he'd be a good fit in the third slot....and he's a switch hitter. Sounds a bit like one Milton Bradley except for unlike Bradley, he's much, much better hitting from the left side, and without all of the attitude problems. He's certainly the best candidate defensively and they won't have to lock into a long-term deal.
While Berkman can provide some much needed lift for a team in the hunt, the Cubs need to rebuild and retool. We don't have a stable nucleus at this point and bringing Berkman won't get us wins. We need to get rid of the big insane contracts, not pick up new ones. Cubs need to latch onto a big time younger kid or two, then build around them. We might have those kids in Colvin and Castro, we might not.
Great! Maybe Jim will give Berkman and eight-year, $160 million, no-trade contract. Par for this course.
That's actually a good argument in favor of signing Berkman. He's not going to have any offers beyond two to three years at the very most. It would be a short term patch until the Cubs can produce a first baseman from their own system. The options out there such as Hawpe, Dunn, and Huff are all in their thirties and defensively limited. And Fielder would be way too expensive. Berkman may very well sign for two years in the $10-15M range.
Why waste the money? The Cubs won't by any stretch of the imagination be ready to compete at a championship level for AT LEAST 2-3 years, probably more like 4 to 5 years. I'm really tired of trotting out mediocre team after mediocre team. If this means we have to endure a few years of hard knock baseball to get some of our young talent some real meaningful experience, so be it. The Marlins manage to win a title every few years, dismantle, retool, and do it all over again....we can't do it in 103 years? Common, I am not a supersitious person, that said...the curse lives strong at Wrigley.
Is it your money they would be wasting? Do you think that if Ricketts were to decide to slash payroll by $30M, that this will have an effect on how competitive the Cubs are two to four years down the road? If the Cubs decided to make one move, signing Dunn for example, but failed to upgrade elsewhere, then I would agree with the "why bother" mindset because they still wouldn't have a shot and might as well play a prospect and hope that he develops. But if they make four or five moves or more, and those are wise moves, I feel they can field a legitimate contender. And I think that Berkman might just be the best of the 1B free agent options.
Why on earth would a Cub team in need of full-scale rebuilding want to add yet another tired washed up veteran to the mix. Lance Berkman is 35 years old and a shadow of his former self. Brad Hawpe is going to be 31 and outright sucks anymore.
And some Cub fans are bewildered why this franchise hasn't been to a World Series since 1945. I suppose the next thing we will read is pounding of drums for Dan Uggla.
I wasn't sure that Berkman was tired and washed up but I figured you would let us know. Hey, could you look in your crystal ball and tell us if some other guys are tired and washed up? Teixeira has recently hit the 30-mark and he's hitting 31 points below his career BA. Victorino turns 30 in November and he's 23 points off his career average. Jason Bay is 31 and is 19 points down from his career BA. And I'm really worried about Hanley Ramirez. He's 27 points below his career BA and he's only 26. He just seems so young to be on his decline. And Fielder, he's also 26 and is 13 points down from his career average. Maybe the Yankees and Marlins realize that Teixeira are toast and will trade them to the Cubs. They've won more than the Cubs so they must know what they are doing. How about Darwin Barney for Ramirez and Hoffpauir for Teixeira? And then we swap Soriano for Jason Bay and Fukudome for Victorino. What do you think?
Here's a thought....
Did it ever occur to any of you genius' that if Berkman wanted to be traded by the Astros to be able to play on a winner and have a chance at post-season play....
Why he would even CONSIDER signing with the Cubs???
I didn't think so.
....ever occur to you that the Cubs could be a legitimate contender next year if they make a few good moves, or that the lure of being on the Cub team that finally wins the WS after over a century of losing is a very strong drawing factor? Many players want that challenge and shot at immortality. When they have gone after FA's, they've quite frequently been successful in signing them. By your way of thinking, the Cubs wouldn't have been able to sign any free agents over the past several decades because who would want to play for the Cubs right?
>> By your way of thinking, the Cubs wouldn't have been able to sign any free agents over the past several decades <<
First of all, they always had a core of good players.... even when they didn't do well. Maybe a very few (only Dawson comes to mind and he did it because of the grass) felt that they could be part of something special..... but the vast majority signed with the Cubs because the Cubs offered MORE MONEY, LONGER TERM CONTRACTS, NO-TRADE CLAUSES, etc.
You really are trying to re-write history and aren't thinking things through clearly before you post.
Berkman?
Get real.
Aramis took a lot less to stay with the Cubs...correct?
And I believe Dawson agreed to play for whatever the Cubs decided to pay him. To ignore the drawing factor of the Cubs and Wrigley Field is simply disregarding reality.
The team may need to be in complete rebuild mode but that will be difficult. You have to many big contracts that they will not be able to move. I am not a huge fan of how the Ricketts have put this thing together(not a hendry fan and I think they need a baseball mind leading the team) but this is what we have for now. Why do you come out to this blog? You seem to hate the team.
as a baseball guy i wasn't a lou fan, nothing personal, wish him and his the best.
Mark Grace? no, he's better than Santo who is to my surprise 100 times better than that guy with Hawk last night, oh yeah Frank Thomas. he was brutal.
agree, one of the "get rid of guys" is leaving.
also agree Louie quit long ago. the Chicago Cubs turned into the Tampa Bay Cubs and Louie couldn't do that show again.
OF'er's should take charge of any pop ups over the infield. they call you off or back the infielder up in case it falls in. how many times have you seen Soriano come running in on a pop over SS, knowing the fear he has of running into Theriot/castro, suddenly pull up and never call for the ball. ball drops in, base hit. never had any intentions of taking charge and the way castro runs hard for those balls he'll crash into Soriano soon, than again Soriano is too scared to let that happen, he might get hurt.
now maybe the position rookies will play more which is what Hendry said 6 weeks ago. what did Castillo learn here under Louie? Barney may play more as Hendry promised, and Colvin may get a chance to hit curves and sliders while playing 1B. now is the best time to find some things out.
outside of that we have about 4-5 years before we start another rebuilding job. LOL, kidding, just kidding.
Bring Rino up now as an assistant coach on way to becoming manager in 2011. He far more than anyone else deserves a shot. More importantly replace nutjob Kenney as president and inept Hendry as GM with a proven baseball winner!
That Lou is cashing in his chips in August. Actually, I think they were cashed in about 2 months ago. I think Lou is just fed up with this team and decided that he wanted to get the heck out of Chicago as soon as possible. Somewhat of a cop out in my opinion. Though I'm not privy to all of the facts.
No doubt Lou is a solid baseball manager. He came to Chicago and started moving this franchise two steps forward. Unfortunatley with all the bad contracts and bad player acquisitions this franchise has taken three steps back this season. Zero playoff game wins in Lou's tenure!
Bruce,
Does Quade have a legit shot at being the manager next season? My feeling is that they made him the manager for the rest of the season because he won't be considered. I think it will come down to Girardi if he's available or Sandberg and they didn't want to comit to Sandberg if Girardi is available.
you hit the nail right on the head, i don't blame lou for doing what he is going to do....be with his mom for her ride home.the sad sacs should be ashamed of theirselves after todays game.ricketts looks like a balless pud who's afraid to take a stand so far.and who does jim hendry think he is bowcrapping? bottom line is if girardi was already committed to the yanks next year, sandberg would be in the dugout monday. no way is anybody but sandberg, girardi or maybe even bob brenly going to be the next cubs manager!! as far as 1st base goes all the wannabe gm's who post on this website ,half probably never played more than rubberball strikeout against a wall in the schoolyard but yet are experts on who should play 1st,who sucks and who doesn't! i am willing to bet it's gonna be a big thumper of vast majorleague experience with some years left! not some stiff that will hit about 250 with 10 homeruns and 40 rbi's. hats off to lou! and for those who critize him, stick to managing your littleleague teams and getting hammered with the other dads in the ginmills after games! this guy is a first ballot hall of famer with a great career , i can't critize anyone who has ever put on a pro uniform, nor questioned their judgement! thats why when i listen to sports talk radio , i only take into consideration the opinions of the host who actually played the game in the pro's and not a bunch of bigmouth handjobs ,some of them who work for wscr!
I think they wanted to be fair to Trammell and not give him false hope. We'll have to see what happens with Girardi in New York. Sandberg has a lot of political capital to spend and perhaps even the backing of ownership. Hendry says he has no front-runner. Sandberg has done all they've told him to do. It will be hard to deny him from that standpoint. They've gone with the big-name, experienced managers the last few hires.
Why is Trammell not going to be considered? I would have thought he would have been a serious candidate.
Jim didn't get into that. It would be hard to hold Tram's record against him in Detroit, given what he had. Maybe they want a "fresh" voice.
Bruce, are you saying that Tram isn't a fresh voice but Quade is? I'm curious about why Hendry feels Quade should be a candidate but the Tram shouldn't but we'll probably never know his reasoning. Maybe they want Tram to leave so Ryno can take over as bench coach.
I think Trammell was not installed as the interim manager for fear he might do well enough that it would be hard NOT to hire him next year. Even if the Cubs do well under Quade, they could insist they were looking for a more experienced hand.
I appreciate the work Lou did before this year, but I'm glad he's heading off into the sunset. If we could only convince Soriano, Zambrano and a couple other guys to retire early. . .
Letting Trammel run the show for the next 6 weeks might "backfire" in terms of the showing promise, etc. Ricketts wants NOTHING to get in the way of Sandberg being his next manager and drippy sentimentality leading to ticket sales. There are thousands upon thousands of Cub fans who will ignore the ugliness of this franchise right now in deference to seeing Ryne Sandberg being the manager. Ricketts is going to play this to the hilt because he desperately needs the ticket revenues.
You bother to continue posting while repeating the same lines over and over. We get it - Ricketts is McCaskey, the Cubs have no hope in 2011, and sandberg will be manager. Did you take a page from Sarah Baracuda and write those themes on your palm?
Bruce, I'm sure you'll do your best Woodward imitation and find out, yes? I'm really shocked by that, and by making it public.
I like his no-nonsense approach, and he's had a real good, closeup look at what the team has and what they need. Put him on the bench and bring back Steve Stone and put him in the booth with Len.
I don't see the Cubs bringing Stone back but Brenly figures to have a good shot and makes sense. I'm behind that move with Sandberg taking over as bench coach. He's already done what has been asked of him in the minors but is missing the coaching experience at the big league level. Both BB and Ryno are pro-fundamentals and big on hustle, and I have a feeling they would gel pretty well together.