Phil Rogers wonders why, if the Cubs were cleaning house in the front office this week, Crane Kenney still has a job. Here are some notable highlights from the article, and lame attempts to play devil's advocate for Kenney.
Extending Fleita's contract while the GM's job was open was a bad move. It was a Kenney move.
Fleita was being courted heavily by the Tigers at the time, apparently, and it cost the Cubs $1m to lock up Fleita for the next four years and let the GM decide. Given the stat and development oriented guys the Cubs were trying to hire (and the perception that they were getting Theo or bust) I don't think any GM on their list would have kept Fleita around. The Hendry era may be unfairly maligned in several areas, but player development is not one of them. It's a steep price to pay to keep him around to help with the transition, but it's not like Fleita was the only one in his office. So maybe this criticism is valid, but it's pennies to this team.
Crane Kenney plays penny ante poker with the ripe tourist business at Wrigley Field but in more than a decade hasn't figured out a way to make the improvements that will unleash Wrigley's potential.
The club's president for business operations just allowed the highly respected Janet Marie Smith to leave the Orioles for the Dodgers when no organization needed her ballpark brilliance more than the Cubs (and, no, that she still consults for the Cubs is not enough).
I guess we have the minitron now. And bison dogs! But I don't think there's much to be done without razing the building and rebuilding from scratch, and I'm sure Smith knows it.
Accounting by CSN Chicago finds that with Fleita the Cubs now will have paid about $49 million to players, managers, coaches and executives who no longer work for them. That sounds to me like a crazy way to run the business.
See also: the previous regime. This is all fallout from TribCo's plan to inflate the value of the team in order to sell it.
As MB put it in the last thread, Crane Kenney’s impact on the Cubs baseball team isn’t too much greater than the impact any of us have had. Unless the Cubs open their books, we have no real idea of how to judge his performance (and even then I'd have no idea of how to judge it). This is just some petty shit from Rogers. Maybe Fleita was his source in the organization (laughing).
I don’t think it’s a valid complaint. The front office made few moves as far as firing people went when they took over. They basically fired MIke Quade and hired a manager and had to build a team. I doubt they had any interest in getting involved that deeply at that time. They almost certainly would have kept Fleita around for the short-term. He was marginalized, but his familiarity with the system was probably important to Thoyer becoming more familiar as well.
crane kenney kind of looks like a dick
the cubs fucking suck
kenney is like the only guy who’s been there longer than 2 weeks
therefore:
100% of the fault—–>crane kenney
Maybe Crane needs to send his priest to see Phil Rogers.
$49 Million is just sunk cost for a regime change. How can you use terms like “run a business” at this juncture? That $49 million is just part of the price they paid to get Theo. It’s like when you buy a new computer and realize your old video card won’t fit in it or something, so you upgrade that. Technically, you paid $200 for that original card, but you eat it because what you get is better in the end.
You can bet your butt if Kenney was negatively impacting the baseball side of things he’d be collecting unemployment.
It’s obvious Ricketts has granted Epstein with enough power to launch Kenney if needed.
I’m no Kenney apologist, and he definitely rubs me the wrong way, but he just doesn’t impact the baseball team enough for me to really care.
Well looks like I’m never going to read a Tribune sports articles as today’s Rogers/Rosey columns are “+” and require you to register.
@ Mish:
It’s a free registration. Just make up an email address like I did.
@ mikeakaleroy:
I think it’s better if I don’t give them any more traffic. (dying laughing)
@ Mish:
Good point. Now I feel awful.
@ Mish:
If you have ad-block installed just block this entry
“http://www.chicagotribune.com/hive/javascripts/registration_signin/registration-global.js?v=8.7.5″
Off days are the worst.
I forgot to point out that Rogers mentioned that Ari Kaplan was rehired as a consultant…to Tom Ricketts. Now he can know how many Bison dogs are being sold when the temperature is between 73 and 79 degrees.
Berselius wrote:
Now we need Al to do another interview so we can know who truly owns the Cubs.
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
Berselius wrote:
Fixed.
@ Berselius:
So Ricketts had to have his stats guy anyway?
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/08/16/great-moments-in-bad-ideas-for-ped-punishments/
http://crime.blogs.tuscaloosanews.com/12950/walter-white-wanted-for-making-methamphetamine/
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I just set up this aside: http://www.obstructedview.net/aside/cubs-sign-horacio-ramirez.html
For you BBQ lovers.
@Josh,
Actually, I made that video for you with SK’s help after OV CON. Since it was going on YouTube, I had to disguise it though, so I replaced Josh with Emily. I knew you’d find it though, and you didn’t let me down there. Unfortunately, I rule unrequited love, it appears.
This is crazy, I’m talking to a blog.
@ Mish:
That article was worth it for this quote alone:
@ mb21:
Probably nothing to it, but he had a decent year or two with Atlanta before he got injured. Maybe he’s the next Jerome Williams. With the money the save from Fleita’s travel expenses, he’s covered.
I thought Kenney was in charge of things like this:
Keeping mayors, aldermen, and neighborhood folks happy.
Not alienating too many fans with weird pricing/scalping policies.
Not succumbing to stupid ideas related to goats and priests.
Seems to me like he’s failed on each one of those.
I agree with Rogers; it is mystifying that Kenney still has a job.
Bleacher Nation, among others, saying that the Cubs are working on a deal to extend Castro.
new shit: http://www.obstructedview.net/news-and-rumors/cubs-working-on-extension-with-starlin-castro.html
Went to the beer store. Found Hennepin in a 4 pack.
SUPERWIN!