Heat's On Lou, But What About Hendry?

Speculation that Lou Piniella's days are numbered as Cubs manager intensified during a recent slump that saw the North Siders drop nine of 11 and fall seven games under .500.

I have a few bones to pick with Piniella. To wit:

* With the Cubs leading 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh at Cincinnati on May 9, Uncle Lou allowed Ryan Dempster to pitch to left-handed hitting Joey Votto with two on and two out even though southpaw Sean Marshall was ready to go in the bullpen. Votto launched a three-run homer off Dempster in the Reds' 5-3 win.

* Piniella's instance on penciling in the slumping Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee in the middle of the lineup is a primary reason a team that entered Monday's action with six .300 hitters and a .271 team average (second best in the National League), was ranked eighth in the NL in runs.

* Uncle Lou's habit of using Carlos Zambrano as a pinch hitter in the first few weeks of the season, needlessly risking injury to Zambrano. Big Z's shift to the bullpen brought a halt to that silliness.

But for the most part, Piniella has simply done the best with the hand he's been dealt.

He's been criticized for his management of the bullpen, but outside of Carlos Marmol, Marshall, and to a lesser degree James Russell, who does he have to go to?

He's also taken heat for not giving Tyler Colvin more playing time, but all of the starting outfielders - Alfonso Soriano, Marlon Byrd, and Kosuke Fukudome - entered Monday's game hitting over .300. It's pretty tough to sit any of those guys.

He's caught flak for playing Ramirez and Lee, but who else is he going to play at the corner infield spots? Jeff Baker? Xavier Nady? Lou's best option is to allow Ramirez and Lee to work their ways out of the doldrums.

The argument could be made that the Cubs need a jump start that a managerial change would provide, but it's a roll of the dice. In recent years, the only such changes that have paid dividends were by the world champion Florida Marlins in 2003 (Jack McKeon replaced Jeff Torborg) and the wild-card champ Colorado Rockies last season (Jim Tracy replaced Clint Hurdle).

But I think I'll side with Jim Hendry and several of the players who supported Piniella in a Carrie Muskat story that was posted on Cubs.com on Monday night. Uncle Lou, with his proven track record as a winner, deserves some more time to turn things around. That's simply my gut feeling.

But I do wonder how Hendry has escaped scrutiny.

Hendry is responsible for the long-term contracts that were given to Soriano, Zambrano, Ramirez, and Fukudome. The contracts of Soriano, Zambrano, and Ramirez have made them untradable.

Hendry also did a poor job of constructing this season's Cubs bullpen. The season-ending injury to Angel Guzman during spring training made the right side of the 'pen so weak that the move of Zambrano to a relief role actually made sense.

Piniella so far this season has taken the heat for the mistakes made by the GM.