08-24-2009, 11:42 AM
Well, I am repeating myself at this point, but to me, the problem is Hendry more than Lou, although I think Lou hasn't utilized his players that well either. I believe that Hendry is really good when it comes to building a pitching staff. He obviously has an eye for pitching talent, and his reclamation projects have generally worked well. Even this season or offseason, I can't fault any of the pitching moves he made, and the Pittsburgh guys were good pickups. The problem with him is that he just can't build an offense. It's easy to say that guys are under performing, and injured, and that's part of the issue, but at the same time, maybe his moves just haven't been that smart. I mean, are the offensive problems really so shocking?
If you look at the lineup, a case can be made that nothing that surprising is happening. Soriano is well below his career averages, but I'm not that surprised. The guy has never been a model of consistency, and has never been disciplined, and as he gets older and has injury problems, it doesn't surprise me that the hot streaks have gotten smaller and the cold streaks bigger. Bradley was never great as a LH batter anyway, and he is more of an OBP guy than a run producer, although it seems it took Lou like 2/3 of the season to realize that. Fontenot? Is anyone that surprised? Theriot is fine offensively, but he shouldn't be the SS. Soto, I think, we can expect to do better next year, but really, I don't equate any of the other problems to luck.
The point I am trying to make is that while you cant expect a GM to see into the future, it's also not unreasonable to expect them to see certain trends and make adaptations. Hendry has consistently made questionable choices when it has come to both signing FAs, as well as making decisions about which players to keep around. And it might be nice to have a manager that can make adjustments more quickly, and not fuck with things when they are working. And as an aside, I have to wonder....the Cubs have had no problem paying pitchers to play for someone else, why can't they do the same for offensive players. There is no reason that Aaron Miles should be getting playing time, much less pinch hitting in important spots. Why can't they just accept that he was and a mistake and move on? I just think that any one of the particular Lou/Hendry shortcomings or mistakes is perfectly forgivable and understandable. The problem is that when you add everything together, little problems become big ones.
If you look at the lineup, a case can be made that nothing that surprising is happening. Soriano is well below his career averages, but I'm not that surprised. The guy has never been a model of consistency, and has never been disciplined, and as he gets older and has injury problems, it doesn't surprise me that the hot streaks have gotten smaller and the cold streaks bigger. Bradley was never great as a LH batter anyway, and he is more of an OBP guy than a run producer, although it seems it took Lou like 2/3 of the season to realize that. Fontenot? Is anyone that surprised? Theriot is fine offensively, but he shouldn't be the SS. Soto, I think, we can expect to do better next year, but really, I don't equate any of the other problems to luck.
The point I am trying to make is that while you cant expect a GM to see into the future, it's also not unreasonable to expect them to see certain trends and make adaptations. Hendry has consistently made questionable choices when it has come to both signing FAs, as well as making decisions about which players to keep around. And it might be nice to have a manager that can make adjustments more quickly, and not fuck with things when they are working. And as an aside, I have to wonder....the Cubs have had no problem paying pitchers to play for someone else, why can't they do the same for offensive players. There is no reason that Aaron Miles should be getting playing time, much less pinch hitting in important spots. Why can't they just accept that he was and a mistake and move on? I just think that any one of the particular Lou/Hendry shortcomings or mistakes is perfectly forgivable and understandable. The problem is that when you add everything together, little problems become big ones.