ClockWise - Volume 1

In honor of Jim Hendry’s firing on Friday, in conjunction with attending my first and only Cub game of the season on Saturday, I feel like BLT needs an article. Maybe witnessing a Cubs shutout victory has me on a high. Maybe I’m just high.

The inspiration for this column’s name, StreetWise, is an awful weekly publication about Chicago that absolutely nobody reads. I intend to replicate all of that from a sports perspective, the only question being the weekly part. So yeah, if the homeless use this article to wipe their asses, I'll consider it a success. Say it with me: Hoo-Frickin’-Ray!

Cubs Minutes

• As mentioned above, and celebrated across the globe, Jim Hendry has finally been canned. It seems right to make this the first thing to comment on. What a glorious day it was, as good as Cutler Day, running around the office announcing the news to anyone in earshot. It’s so great that the other minor details, Crane Kenney and Mike Quade not going with him, aren’t even a blip on my radar. Not that it matters in Quade’s case anyway as there’s zero chance a new GM wouldn’t bring in their own guy. That’s what makes the news so refreshing. It’s finally okay to return to wholeheartedly rooting for Cubs, without secretly thinking in horror that another meaningless late season winning streak could again save Hendry and Quade. The timing was great with the Cardinals in town, I don’t want even minor conflicts holding me back from all out cheering for the Cubs over the Cards.
  
  The timing though is the one detail that still lingers with me. As the details came out I quickly brushed aside the issues related to the fact that Ricketts informed Hendry of his firing on July 22nd and still allowed him carry out the string on the Trade Deadline. This was a big draft for them negotiating with many talented tough-to-sign picks (SHAWON-O-METER-JR!). Ricketts says it made sense to keep Hendry around if he were committed and willing because of negotiating continuity...change late in the stream...blah, blah, blah...fine, I’ll move on.
  
  But it kept nagging at me. And the reason is, some of the trade deadline decisions were completely indefensible. You could argue that they should have kept Dempster, Marshall, Soto, Aramis, Byrd, and hell...I’ll even give you Pena. Out of joy the firing even happened at all, I’ll also drop my insistence that they should have traded Marmol based on closer’s general (and his own) volatility from year to year along with his relative value. What cannot be defended is that Ricketts allowed a GM he had already informed of his firing to claim that Jeff Baker, a 30 year old utility infielder with .300 OBP, is untouchable. It was bad enough that it happened, it looks even worse now knowing that the GM that made the decision knew he wasn’t going to be associated to the team next year.

• Shawon Dunston Jr. signed with the Cubs last week making me the happiest boy in the whole wide world! Wait, maybe Hendry wasn’t so bad after all...

Bears Minutes

• The Bears wide reciever conundrum isn’t that difficult is it? I thought this was the offseason we got past the insistence that Devin Hester is destined to be a great WR. Now the Bears are planning to start Hester opposite Roy Williams with Earl Bennett in the slot and Johnny Knox relegated to the WR4 role just ahead of a white undrafted rookie. I get that Knox and Williams both play split-end and they’ve decided they want Roy as their number 1, but there’s no way that Knox isn’t a better option at the other reciever spot than Hester. Knox should at least be starting opposite Williams with Bennett in the slot. Hester, despite not seeming to be the same game breaker as a reciever as he is a return man, should be the fourth guy that subs in to different spots to cause mismatches.

• The Ravens signed former All-Pro Vikings LT Bryant McKinnie yesterday. All the Bears reporters had been shooting down any interest from the team and going so far as to say they agreed with the move and didn’t think it would be smart to bring him in. I’d argue that after Webb’s poor performance against the Bills it would’ve been smart to bring in some insurance, but is McKinnie even if he’s out of shape and unmotivated, not an upgrade to Frank Omiyale?! I refuse to believe that Omiyale could outperform McKinnie today, much less at midseason when Tice has had time to work on McKinnie.

• This week Bill Belichick proposed getting rid of the extra point as it is a meaningless play due to the success of conversion. ProFootballTalk covered the different options for how this could be done including the option to take 7 points for a TD, or 6 with the option to go for 2. I like the idea, particularly with the proliferation of replay on scoring plays. The extra point pressures the replay booth to make the decision on whether to review the play much quicker than they would have to if they had time to see the replay multiple times while the kickoff teams got ready. I think this would allow the incorporation of the new replay system to be more seamless.

Bulls Minutes

• Last year I followed the Bulls closer than I ever had before and I should be looking forward to this upcoming season more than anything else. Lockouts suck...

Mini-FJM Time!
Let’s start this off with Grantland’s first attempt at discussing the Cubs from Jonah Keri:

It wasn't that bad.
That's the takeaway from Jim Hendry's nine-year tenure as Cubs general manager. Under Hendry the Cubs won three division titles and very nearly made it to the World Series in 2003. Yes, we're at 103 years and counting since the Cubs last won it all. But we have reams of evidence to suggest that anything can happen in a short playoff series, including a scapegoat for the ages.

It was that bad. They spent as much as anyone in the National League during this time, and in the years they weren’t winning those few division titles they were epically bad. If the down years of his tenure weren’t SO down, then maybe I’d agree that it wasn’t that bad. Most of all, everyone needs to stop comparing Hendry to the 100 years of futility before him. Anyone would look like an amazing GM with that comparison. Can we compare him to GM’s in similar situations to his instead?

If Kerry Wood and Mark Prior don't turn into pumpkins, who knows what might have happened?

Hendry is responsible for hiring Dusty Baker, who in turn, smashed those pumpkins like he does all young pitchers.

The most damning criticism leveled against Hendry is a relative lack of results given the staggering amounts of money he dished out. In his near decade at the helm, the Cubs spent just shy of a billion dollars on Opening Day salaries, the fourth-most dollars of any team in baseball, behind only the Yankees, Red Sox, and Mets. During that span, the Yankees made the playoffs every year but 2008, won a World Series, came close another time, and remain one of the best teams in baseball; the Red Sox won the World Series twice and remain a power in their own right; and as for the Mets … uhhh … does, "Hey, at least we're not the Mets!" count as a viable marketing campaign?

So are you now agreeing that it was that bad???

The Cubs could cast aside concerns about Pujols' aging curve if they were likely to contend sometime soon. They're not. Geovany Soto is 28, Matt Garza's 27, Darwin Barney's 25, and Starlin Castro is 21.

"It's more down than up," said Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus. "Brett Jackson is nearly big league ready, and they have a few other nonstarter types that might get there, too. From there it's a pretty big gap, as most of their other talent that is highly regarded [are] very young [short-season] guys."

Build the foundation for the next winning Cubs team, then hit the open market in 2013, 2014, or whenever the time's right to find the next Pujols. When that time comes the ivy will still be green, the bleachers will still be full, and the drought will still be there, waiting to finally be broken.

Again, you started this off by saying it wasn’t that bad. Then the rest of the article you made the point that Hendry has incompetently stripped this team of any and all talent for future seasons. Need I remind you that that talent wasn’t used to construct an older contending team...no, the current team is one of the worst in baseball. So we know they suck now and they have no hope to compete for YEARS! Not too shabby for a team with one one of the highest payrolls in baseball in addition to the most loyal fanbase. Speaking of...about those bleachers...Hendry was the guy that found a way to disgust fans so much that those legendary bleachers aren’t so full anymore. "It wasn’t that bad..."

Transaction Watch
8/23- Orioles designate Felix Pie designate for assignment - Wait, where to former Cubs go to die after the Orioles give up on them?

Horrible Hokey Homemade Headline of the Hour

Moth Gives Matt a Ch-earful Holliday