Stone: Hendry hurting Ricketts

Steve Stone was candid as usual, in his Q and A session with Ed Sherman. Stone is critical of the Tribune’s ownership and GM Jim Hendry, and has been highly critical of Hendry ever since the long time Cubs anaylst left (after a public rift with then Manager Dusty Baker).

At the time Hendry had no choice but to back his manager, and one has to wonder how objective Stone is when it comes to analyzing the Cubs GM?

Here are some of Stone’s comments.

“From 2003, Jim Hendry has the Cubs paying close to a billion dollars in salary or deferred salary. There are some big backloaded contracts. Alfonso Soriano is owed $106 million in the next six years. I thought the Milton Bradley contract (three years, $30 million) was excessive. That will make it tough on the new ownership.”

“These long-term obligations are coming at a time when we know sponsors are cutting back. Who then is going to pay the freight? We know it’s going to be the fans. What I fear for the Cubs fan is that there will be a tipping point where a mother and father will no longer be able to afford to take their family to Wrigley Field. When that day comes — and it will come — it’s going to be a difficult thing to deal with.”

“I had a caller on WSCR berate me for talking about the backloaded contracts. He said, “The only thing we care about is winning the World Series.” I said, “That’s great and you should care about that.” But I said to him, “Give me a call in 10 years. If you have children or grandchildren, and you have to tell them how beautiful the ivy was, and what it was like to watch a Cubs game at Wrigley Field on a summer day. And you have to tell them about it because you can’t afford to go there anymore. When that day comes, call me back and tell me those backloaded contracts didn’t mean anything.”

Popularity: 1% [?]