Reading The Lines

First, some massive applause to "Pestilence" Byron for transcribing Andy MacPhail’s press conference. The full text can be found here.

Some comments on the press conference. First, what Andy MacPhail said:

"Obviously, I haven't been as effective as I wanted to be. I think it's pretty thin soup for a franchise that's had a payroll generally in the top four or five or six or seven over the course of that time. We should be doing better and we're not. I'm the CEO and I'm responsible."

Agreed. Nice to see the chief saying that it's his fault.

"I did meet with Dennis a couple of weeks later (some time between mid-July and mid-August). It's obvious to me that the losses were wearing on Dennis. He's a very competitive guy. He wants to win. It was at that point he said, 'Hey look Andy, we've just got to try something different. It's time.'"

So, this was decided at least two months ago. Hmmm..... What was going on at the Trib back in the July/August time frame?

"The last couple of years, three now, at least the last two. we've had our highest priced players on the disabled list for most of the season."

And your GM made delayed efforts to replace them. Injuries happen. Smart people make adjustments. Especially teams with "a payroll generally in the top four or five or six or seven" of teams in the league. And where's the mention of Mark Prior who was hurt when he was cheap? What about the key minor league pitchers who were hurt?

Spare the fans the injury excuse.

Oh wait, he brings it up again later.

Too much of the payroll has been sitting on the the sidelines. It's nobody's fault. It's just fact. Whether it was Nomar and Kerry last year, or D-Lee this year.

"over the last ten, twelve years, the Cubs have developed more pitching than any team in the big-leagues. So we've done great.

With position players we've done poor. We don't have the numbers that we have [with pitching], part of that is just, you know by the fact that we emphasize pitching.

More garbage. How about the objective measure of "good players"? The pitcher stats he's using include players who made the majors. This means he's including the David Aardsmas, Angel Guzmans and Jae-kuk Ryus. About the only real head he can hang his hat on is Carlos Zambrano. Kerry Wood and Mark Prior? Top 10 picks. They were no-brainers.

Andy MacPhail is gone exactly because he and his farm directors have produced low yield crops of major leaguers.

Let's move on to Denis FitzSimons who took a few minutes from spreading fertilizer on avocado groves to show up at Wrigley.

Q: In light of Pressures on Dennis and other companies in the Tribune. Was this just something else that was one more thing that you couldn't accept the failure of this franchise and what you have invested in these last few years?

DF: "You know, it's always good to see you guys. I could have done without this press conference.

"This is a baseball decision. It's an issue of making sure our fans know that we are committed to winning. Andy MacPhail has been committed to winning, For whatever reasons it didn't work out, and we're at this point getting ready to work on 2007 and those baseball decisions will continually be made out here at Wrigley Field."

Q: On the Tribune selling the team?

DF: "We retained financial advisors last week to look at strategic alternatives. We will not be discussing the sale of any individual assets."

Q: "So you are going to keep the team for the time being?"

DF: "Yes, yes, yes."

"Nice to see you guys"? My, my. Pretty testy for a newspaper man.

Looks like a big non-denial denial. The Cubs are certainly an asset that the Trib is willing to part with. It may not be number one on Fitz's list, but he makes it very clear that he is no longer in control of what will and will not be sold. The Trib Board of Directors is in charge, now. "For the time being" would seem to end in December.

On to John McDonough, the man who is so brilliant in his marketing that he could have Don Zimmer endorse Popeye's Chicken in the first half of 1989 and Nutrisystem after the All-Star Break that same year:

The purpose of why I have been asked to do this job is for the Cubs to win the World Series. Not win the wild card or win the division or win the pennant, but it's time to win. It's time to win the World Series. And I think we need to reward these tens of millions of fans who have waited for a long time.

If he'd said anything else, he should have been lynched (not Ed).

The greatest fan experience is winning. It's not about marketing. It's not about being creative it's not about bringing people into the ball park or the seventh inning stretch or any of these other things. It's all about winning. Winning is the greatest marketing idea of all time.

Well, at least he says that. Too bad more fans don't agree.

Q: Have you thought about structual changes in the front office?

JM: "I don't have that answer just yet. That's something that will develop over the next few weeks."

Read: Jim Hendry's job is not guaranteed.

There are a lot more questions as to why now? Where do the go from here? How long does McDonough have? More on that later.