Chicago Cubs owner hands out dreaded vote of confidence

As Jim Rome likes to say, “UH OH”.

Things in the windy city have not gone as planned for either of its baseball teams, but the seats under Cubs General Manger Jim Hendry and Manager Mike Quade are certainly starting to warm up. Today Tom Rickets, club owner, came out and said he has 100% confidence in his GM, and I got to say again, “UH OH”. We all know what this usually means, and that is someone is about to be fired.

The Cubs sit in fifth place in the National League Central, 10 games out of first. Their record is 28-40 and of course, that is not very good. The main complaint about this team is how the roster was built, and as I have family in the Chicago area, I have heard that complaint quite frequently. If that is the team’s problem then Hendry deserves a lion’s share of the blame.

As a team they are hitting just .264, not terrible but not exactly great either. However, it is the second highest among the 16 NL clubs. The rest of their stats read much the same, ok but not great. However, in most of the key offensive categories they rank in the bottom third. That would support the argument that the team is flawed and that is the responsibility of the GM. In my eyes it looks like Quade is getting the most out of what he was given, but I don’t know if that will save his job.

Complicating the matter is the fact that this is a contract year for Hendry, so we await the x to fall on the management of the Chicago Cubs.