If Ricketts Makes A Change, Cashman May Be His Man

Unlike today, there are expected to be major changes to the Cubs after the season. Chairman Tom Ricketts will be the man in charge of making those changes, and depending on what you read, Ricketts may have already decided that general manager Jim Hendry will not be brought back after the season. Ricketts has allowed Hendry to direct the sinking ship this far into the season, and may let Hendry drown himself in the mess that is the Cubs. If the expected changes do happen after the season, then the Cubs could possibly be taken over by an empire state of mind.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today joined Barry Rozner and Matt Spiegel on 670 The Score’s weekly baseball show, “Hit and Run.” In addition to talking about the Cubs inactivity at the deadline, Nightengale also expanded on the changes that could be made to the Cubs’ front office after the season. Nightengale is hearing the Yankees general manager Brian Cashman will be available this off-season, and there is a good chance that he lands with the Cubs. Nightengale told Rozner and Spiegel that the team that is drawing the most connections to Cashman is the Cubs, and the current Yankees’ general manager would be interested in coming to the Cubs. There also have been rumors that Pat Gillick would be interested in coming to the Cubs as a team president, but Nightengale reports that Gillick has no such interest and is not considering coming to the Cubs.

At this point, Cashman would be a breath of fresh air in comparison to Hendry. There have been reports that Hendry may remain with the team even if he is replaced as general manager, but, Cashman is not a guy to stand next to or above Hendry, he is the guy to replace Hendry. It may also be counterproductive to promote Hendry as team president, and then bring in Cashman as the next general manager. The only way where I see Hendry remaining with the Cubs organization is if Ricketts decides to hire the next general manager from within the organization. That does not appear to be a likely scenario.

Cashman has proven during his time with the Yankees that he is one of the, if not the best general manager in baseball. Some hold the fact that he has unlimited resources against him, but, Cashman has done well with the players that he has invested in. No one has complained about the Mark Teixeira, C.C. Sabathia, or Alex Rodriguez contracts. Reason being Cashman knows how to wisely invest his money into players that are able to add major contributions during the course of their respective contracts. In other words, Cashman has a good dollar to production ratio. Another thing about Cashman that should interest Cubs fans, he was the first general manager to realize the flaws of Alfonso Soriano.

Changes are coming, and hopefully, Ricketts makes it a priority that Cashman is indeed the man to replace Hendry as the Cubs’ general manager.