The time for Tom Ricketts to take action is now. Ricketts and his family purchased the Cubs in January 2009 for almost 1 billion dollars. Without a World Series title in over 100 years, Cubs fan are becoming extremely impatient. The organization and Tom Ricketts can simply look at the local Chicago Blackhawks for the blueprint of how to win.
In Oct.2007, Rocky Wirtz became the owner of the Chicago Blackhawks after his father (original owner) passed away. Wirtz took action immediately and made it his goal to bring a championship to Chicago as soon as he could. A month after taking over, Wirtz hired former Cubs president Jon McDonough to become the president of the Blackhawks. By making this move, Wirtz brought in an experienced guy who knows how to create a successful franchise.
A year later in October 2008, Wirtz made a tough decision to fire head coach and former Blackhawk, Dennis Savard. The Hawks brought in Joel Quenneville to take over the head coaching position. Quenneville had a lot of experience of coaching in the playoffs. This was a tough but, necessary decision for Rocky Wirtz. The Blackhawks were fastly improving and reached the Western Conference Finals in 2009 with a very young team.
Wirtz’s final move was the hire Stan Bowman as general manager. Bowman and his father have won mutiple Stanley Cup championships. Stan made an impact right away signing big name free agent, Marian Hossa. With a core of Kane, Toews and Keith already in place, the signing of Hossa added veteran leadership to the young team. Bowman then added more pieces to make the Hawks an elite contender for the title.
After 3 years of being owner, Wirtz accomplsihed his goal. The Blackhawks won in Stanley Cup in 2010.
This is what needs to be done in the Cubs organization. Tom Ricketts needs to make tough decisions and bring in experienced guys who know how to get the job done. With lots of young talent in the organization, such as Castro, Barney, and Jackson, the Cubs have a solid core in place. Ricketts will be faced with the oppurtunity this offeseason to sign big name free agents such as Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder.
Either of these players could quickly make the Cubs a playoff contender. In order to bring in one of these players, The Cubs will need a good manager, NOT Mike Quade.
If Ricketts can follow The Hawks blueprint, the wait for Cubs fan might not be to much longer
If Cubs fans are impatient, then the “Blackhawk blueprint” is not the way to go. That blueprint took years of tanking and misery.
When McDonough was hired, his success was in marketing a team, not success in championships. The Cubs have been that since McDonough was in the Cubs’s organization.
Tallon was officially the GM when Hoss was signed. Probably worthwhile to mention it instead of declaring Bowman’s first (impact) move as GM was signing Hossa. If you think Tallon was a lame duck at that point, mention it; the thought has merit. But publishing as is makes the author look irresponsible.
Is the author implying that Quade is similar to Savvy in terms of motivation…ea getting the kids to “commit?” Also, are the Cubs one coach and one free agent first baseman away from contending for a World Series?
I agree with the main point of your article Chris, keep up the good work. However former GM Dale Tallon is the man responsible for signing Marian Hossa, and it is also worth noting that Stan Bowman had never won a Stanley Cup prior to the win in 2010 and his becoming General Manager was more of a promotion rather than a hiring as he had been with the Hawks’ management team for several years prior to becoming GM.
Tallon was the GM when Hossa was signed. However, Bowman was the man who pushed tallon to sign Hossa.