When The World Is Running Down...

Lou Piniella announced that he will retire at the end of the 2010 season. In a related note, he also announced that Candy will be given out to children on October 31, 2010. I'm kidding about the second part, but I write that to illustrate the point that this news is hardly surprising to anyone who has followed the Cubs this season. I once wrote that Lou Piniella is the most successful Cub manager they've had since their 1908 championship, but alas "most successful" is not synonymous with "good". Lou has done several things that are beyond goofy in terms of his management of the team, and it was clear that the game had passed him by. So his departure really isn't newsworthy, but the way it was announced sure is.

What makes this newsworthy for starters, is that it was announced barely a week after the All-Star Break. That's a little unusual. It also was done in a way that suggested Lou will be given some sort of send-off but yet in Lou's mind, the Cubs "aren't out of it yet"...whatever that's supposed to mean? What really struck me as strange though was the presence of Tom Ricketts and the things he said.

Ricketts said he's fully committed to Jim Hendry as Cubs GM, which if you're a Cub fan that should make you sick. It's been 7 years 2 - going on 3 managers, and whole lot of awful, bad long term contracts with enough no-trade clauses to choke a camel during Hendry's time as GM. For the owner to still back a man with that kind of track record who has pissed away all of that former Tribune and now Ricketts' money in a way that prohibits any kind of quick turnaround is mind blowing. That said, I'm still going to give Ricketts the benefit of the doubt because he was not in a position to announce that Hendry was on the hot seat....as he's sitting RIGHT NEXT TO HIM at the podium. Ricketts also might not have wanted to take the focus away from Lou's announcement considering Lou is revered in many baseball circles. I would hope (and I'm sure Cub fans would agree with me) that Rickett's knows that firing Jim Hendry is what he needs to do, and doesn't feel like tipping his hand just yet.

One of the first emails The Beard received when the news broke was if I thought there was any chance Joe Girardi would leave the Yankees to become the Cub manager. My response was that it's going to take a whole lot more than Joe Girardi, or Bob Brenly, or Ryne Sandberg to turn the Cubs around because it's going to require massive reconstructive surgery, rather than cosmetic. To paraphrase Jerry Krause, the Cubs situation isn't a team issue, but rather an organizational issue. The Rickett's Family needs to clean house at every level of the front office and start fresh with an innovative General Manager/President/Director of Baseball Operations. Rick Hahn, or Damon Oppenheimer, or Scott Proefrock are among the hottest untested names. That's a good place to start.

The Cubs need to start somewhere deep, bold, and innovative, because quite honestly there's nowhere to go but up. A new manager alone does not provide enough boost to launch the Cubs rocket...