06-13-2010, 11:15 PM
I have no way of proving it, but I've often thought that Hendry hasn't really had a very fair shake as the GM here. In his first few years he was able to operate and did a decent job, but wasn't able to operate on his own long term. As soon as the Tribune decided to sell, I think Hendry was pressured into making whole sale changes while disregarding the long term future of this franchise. It worked beautifully and drove up the price tag on the Cubs in both the sale to Zell and to Ricketts. The Cubs were winning with high priced players, there were sellouts every game, and the value of the franchise was topped out. Ricketts saw the potential from a winning Cub franchise. We knew these days would come though.
Believing this, I think it is unfair to Hendry that he will be shown the door at the end of this season (I'm fairly sure he will be removed). That being said... life isn't fair. Unfortunately for him, he will probably be the fall guy for how the Cubs operated under the waning years of the Trib ownership and the short term Zell ownership. That's how politics work though and there is a degree of politics that comes with running a baseball team.
I think Ricketts has an intelligent approach on how he wants the team to be run and his plan will be executed with or without Hendry here. The team needs a new face to head their operations though.
Interestingly though, I think Hendry should be allowed to make deadline moves though. There's one thing that Hendry has always been credited for and that's his networking. He has a good relationship with most if not all of the other franchises and has shown the ability to get great return in his trades.
I'm hoping the plan will be to sell at the deadline and get a fresh start at the GM and manager positions after the season ends.
Believing this, I think it is unfair to Hendry that he will be shown the door at the end of this season (I'm fairly sure he will be removed). That being said... life isn't fair. Unfortunately for him, he will probably be the fall guy for how the Cubs operated under the waning years of the Trib ownership and the short term Zell ownership. That's how politics work though and there is a degree of politics that comes with running a baseball team.
I think Ricketts has an intelligent approach on how he wants the team to be run and his plan will be executed with or without Hendry here. The team needs a new face to head their operations though.
Interestingly though, I think Hendry should be allowed to make deadline moves though. There's one thing that Hendry has always been credited for and that's his networking. He has a good relationship with most if not all of the other franchises and has shown the ability to get great return in his trades.
I'm hoping the plan will be to sell at the deadline and get a fresh start at the GM and manager positions after the season ends.