When and if Cubs President/general manager Andy MacPhail dismisses manager Don Baylor, baseball hardly will be shocked.
Baylor would be the sixth manager fired since Opening Day, following Detroit’s Phil Garner, Colorado’s Buddy Bell, Kansas City’s Tony Muser, Milwaukee’s Davey Lopes and Toronto’s Buck Martinez.
None of those five teams entered the season with great expectations. Yet each manager was fired by June 5.
The Cubs, an 88-win team in 2001 that seemed to bolster its lineup with the signing of Moises Alou, were expected to be a playoff contender. That they haven’t been and appear far from becoming one would be enough reason for many GMs to make a change.
But MacPhail doesn’t view it that way. He sees a roster depleted by injuries in the first two months and players with histories of achievement who have flopped. And for that, he does not blame Baylor.
MacPhail has a track record of patience with managers. He stuck with Tom Kelly throughout his eight years as GM of the Twins, retaining him after Minnesota finished last in the American League West in 1990. The Twins won the World Series the next season.
As president of the Cubs in 1997, MacPhail stood by Jim Riggleman after the team started 0-14. Riggleman was fired in 1999 after the Cubs went 67-95 in his fifth season.
MacPhail does not believe in firing a manager to shake up an underachieving team. And the fact that he has been more cautious than impulsive since taking over the Cubs in September 1994 might explain his thinking on Baylor.
A look at some of his decisions:
Sosa’s contract extension
Less than two years after signing a four-year, $42.5 million extension, Sammy Sosa began pushing for a new deal.
By June 2000, Sosa’s agent, Adam Katz, had issued an ultimatum: Sign Sosa to an extension or trade him to a team that would.
MacPhail strongly considered trading Sosa to the Yankees. Rumors persisted that New York had offered an enticing package of second baseman Alfonso Soriano, outfielders Ricky Ledee and Jackson Melian and right-hander Jake Westbrook.
But the Yankees’ best offer wasn’t nearly that attractive. They wanted Sosa for three middle-level prospects: Westbrook, Randy Keisler and Zach Day.
MacPhail balked. The talks officially died when the Yankees acquired David Justice from Cleveland.
MacPhail then met with Sosa to mend fences. And he eventually got Sosa to drop his demand for a six-year, $110 million deal.
The sides finally agreed to a four-year, $72 million extension that includes two unusual elements: Sosa can opt for free agency after the 2003 season, and the Cubs have short, unspecified windows in which to trade him.
After the deal was completed, MacPhail was asked if it had been the toughest ordeal he had encountered with the Cubs. He all but threw up his hands.
“No, losing [is], but you guys never quite get that,” he replied.
Ed Lynch’s dismissal
GM Ed Lynch offered his resignation in May 2000 after watching the Cubs blow leads of 7-4, 11-9 and 15-13 in a game at Montreal. Lynch was left wondering how 5 1/2 years of sweat and toil could have produced such a miserable team.
“He said, `I feel responsible,'” MacPhail said at the time. “I said, `Let’s wait and see.'”
Less than two weeks after the All-Star break, it was time. MacPhail lauded Lynch for putting together a team that went to the playoffs in 1998, but he couldn’t overlook the big picture, not to mention Lynch’s signings of Jeff Blauser and Mel Rojas.
MacPhail opted to get his hands dirty, adding the GM title.
“Either I’m going to get it [right] or it’s going to kill me,” he said. “Hopefully we’re not presiding over a funeral in a few years.”
Riggleman out, Baylor in
Lynch deserves the praise or blame for these moves, which came after the 1999 season. He was the GM at the time, and MacPhail gave him latitude to hire the manager. But MacPhail was certainly free to offer input.
Some believe Riggleman was simply a victim of the ’99 collapse after making the playoffs in ’98. Lynch’s decision to rely on washed-up veterans such as Gary Gaetti and Lance Johnson was part of the reason the Cubs lost 95 games.
In his effort to find a no-nonsense manager, Lynch tabbed Baylor, who had guided the Rockies to their first and only trip to the playoffs during his six seasons in Colorado.
Lynch also interviewed Garner and Ron Gardenhire, who became manager of the Twins this season. He did not interview Jim Tracy, now the highly respected manager of the Dodgers, who played in the Cubs’ system from 1977-81 and managed in the minors in 1987-88.
Paying for homers
In his effort to revamp the roster, MacPhail has signed pitchers Tom Gordon, Jason Bere, Jeff Fassero and Julian Tavarez. He has traded for Matt Clement and Antonio Alfonseca and drafted Mark Prior.
But his biggest contracts have gone to 30-something free agents Todd Hundley and Alou. Hundley got a four-year deal worth $23.5 million. He has batted just .195 since 2001 and hasn’t made up for it on defense.
Alou, who was given a three-year, $27 million deal, has rebounded from a horrific start to hit .248. But he has missed nearly 20 games with injuries.
By signing Alou, the Cubs had little money left over for the bullpen. Injuries to Gordon and Kyle Farnsworth, coupled with Fassero’s ineffectiveness, have left the bullpen with a 5.34 ERA, the highest in the NL.
Wrigley Field renovations
MacPhail has mostly stayed in the background on this one, delegating authority to Mark McGuire, executive vice president for business operations. For all his diligence, McGuire has lost a public-relations war that focuses on green wind screens rather than how Cubs fans would benefit from the renovations. Here’s what MacPhail and McGuire could stress:
– The annual $12 million to $15 million increase in revenue would go toward improving the product on the field. (And perhaps would result in fewer ticket-price increases.)
– The 2,100-seat addition would benefit those who sit in the bleachers by improving the entrance at the corner of Waveland and Sheffield Avenues and by adding a balcony so fans could watch the game while standing.
– None of this would cost the taxpayers a dime.
MacPhail tried to get his message across late last season. In an unusual move, he assembled the team’s beat writers to plead his case.
He pointed out that the Cubs’ National League Central competitors–St. Louis, Cincinnati, Houston, Milwaukee and Pittsburgh–all had opened new ballparks or were about to do so. And he said the Cubs ranked 15th in revenue in 2000.
“Somewhere, someone’s going to have to make a decision on whether this place is going to be a museum or a viable ballpark,” he said at the time.
The story hit the newsstands Sept. 11. Since then, MacPhail has not addressed the issue with the same kind of vigor.
MacPhail track record
Five key decisions Andy MacPhail has faced in his roles as the Cubs’ president and general manager:
Sammy Sosa’s contract extension
MacPhail balks at trading the unhappy slugger in the summer of 2000 and patches up their relationship with a new deal.
Ed Lynch’s dismissal
MacPhail lets go of his handpicked general manager during the 2000 season and takes the job himself.
Jim Riggleman out, Don Baylor in
MacPhail presides over the switch from Riggleman after a 67-95 record in 1999. He goes with Baylor, a manager with a no-nonsense reputation.
Paying for homers
MacPhail’s expensive free-agent signings of Todd Hundley and Moises Alou come at a cost of helping the depleted bullpen.
Wrigley renovations
For now, MacPhail has tried to stay in the background on the issue of adding bleachers and night games and dealing with the Wrigleyville neighborhood.
