Ricketts interested in Yankees GM Brian Cashman
Dave Van Dyck has an interesting article up this morning. In fact, according to reliable sources, the Cubs‘ chairman privately was feeling out the postseason availability of Yankees general manager Brian Cashman sometime around the All-Star break, which is when Hendry originally was “fired.” As I mentioned the other day, any current GM is going to have interest in taking the Cubs job. …
Other Secrets the Cubs Beat Writers Are on the Verge of Uncovering
Today the Cubs announced the firing of Jim Hendry. Four weeks ago. Hendry himself called it one of the best-kept secrets in Cubs history (the others: the formula for a championship, why we keep watching, and how to remove the smell of urine from concrete). Shortly after learning that the biggest story of the season had eluded the beat writers’ …
GM Candidates
It would be easy, and even lazy to put together a post with names most of you have never heard about and talk about why they may be a candidate to replace Jim Hendry. I seem to remember MLBTR even having a list and Baseball America used to put together similar lists. I’m sure many others have. So there’d be …
Jim Hendry fired
Bruce Levine is reporting the Cubs have fired Jim Hendry. The Chicago Cubs relieved Jim Hendry of his duties as vice president and general manager on Friday, according to a source familiar with the situation. Another positive step in the right direction. Mike Quade just lost his job, too, but he hasn’t been informed yet. No way a new GM keeps …
Is Sean Marshall the best reliever on the Cubs?
I know I’m not the first person to ask this question and with Carlos Marmol‘s recent meltdown, probably not even the first to ask it in the last few days. We can ignore the recent meltdown altogether and focus on the last two years instead. I chose the last two years because it’s quite clear Sean Marshall became a different …
Cubs Asking For Public Funding to Fix Wrigley: Take Two
I think I’ve seen this episode before. It’s the one where Jack and Chrissy ask a bankrupt Mr. Roper if they can not pay their rent for a few years while they spend the money on renovating their bathroom. Then Janet and Mrs. Roper overhear part of the plot when Jack tells Larry about the scheme down at the Regal …
BABIP Regression
Prior to the Cubs signing Carlos Marmol to a 3-year extension this past offseason, there was a lot of talk about how Marmol was one of those guys who could have a very low BABIP. His BABIP as a reliever since 2007 had been .241, which is well below the average and even below the average for an extreme fly …
OV Pic of the Day: Whoever That Was Hit It Really Hard
This was the sort of game where, if you weren’t a Cubs fan, you would have a hard time believing a team could lose like that to a shitty AAA team like the Astros. But since we are Cubs fans, this barely even registered on our misery index. I don’t know who Bogusevic is (though by just hearing his name, …
Carlos Zambrano Kept On Truckin'
Sometimes the lights all shinin on me Carlos Zambrano earned a cup of coffee in 2001 and then earned his spot in the 2003 rotation with his half-season of MLB work in 2002. Mark Prior and Kerry Wood were all anyone could talk about and Carlos Zambrano was quietly, and impressively, going about his business and becoming one of the …