Lou Piniella announced he would retire at the end of the season, wanting to end any speculation about his future with the team with his contract expiring.  He took everyone off the hook- except maybe his players.  Perhaps they will take a moment to realize they aren’t going to get another manager like Lou anytime soon, and so perhaps they should pay attention to him.

So now, Piniella doesn’t have to answer any more questions about next season for the rest of this one.

But the questions have really just begun.  When asked who would have a say in the next manager, Cubs owner Tom Ricketts said both team President Krane Kelley and General Manager Jim Hendry would have a say.  That has started the real controversy.  After all this team which sits 10 games out of first place was built by Jim Hendry.  And while Kelley has quite a strong business background, his baseball background has come third hand- not from being in on all those types of decisions.   This Rick Morrissey article gives you all the arguments against Kelley helping out.    Morrissey though misses one important point though.  As a relatively new owner, Tom Ricketts must support his staff in any kind of press conference.  He isn’t going to to tell Morrissey that his team President has no voice.  So Kenney may get to add his two cents somewhere along the way.

The concern everyone should have is whether the General Manager should have a say, or rather whether that General Manger- Jim Hendry should have a say.  And we all know that announcing that he won’t isn’t a good idea two weeks before the trading deadline.  The interesting thing is that there are arguments why Hendry should be left in charge.  This post from waxpaperbeercup.com lays out the arguments for and against Hendry pretty clearly.  But in the end, even with some talented young players and some quality veterans returning, it is probably time for some fresh decision making blood on the north side if Chicago.  Hendry will get another chance to put together a team somewhere else.  He would probably get a job with the Orioles the day after he was let go.

But, if he is to be let go, despite all the Ricketts’ words to the opposite, it needs to be after the season.  No good can come from firing him now.

So, though Lou announced his retirement to end the discussions of his future, the talk of the Cubs future is just getting started.