Baker and Hendry...back for more?

[VVMattVV]

Sorry i can't agree on your starting rotation. I would take Petit and possibly Oswalt over Prior Wood and Maddux. I like Z as much as any of them and i also like Prior but he needs to have a full season. Wood is a right off and i would take Sheets, Duke, Carpenter, Mulder over Maddux or Guzman. On an off note how much chance is thier on Hill or guzman making the majors this season?.

 

He was saying our 4th and 5th starters would be better than the 4th and 5th starters on other teams, not better than all of their rotations.

[WrigleyinEngland]

My bad i need to read more closely, apolagies to jack.

[goonys evil twin]

What holes are left to be filled? Jones may turn out to be the OF we all want him to be and the pitching should be improved from last year with Williams getting a full year plus the revamped pen.

 

What holes are left to be filled? The OBP is still lackluster. RF is still a joke, the middle infield is very questionable, and Hendry appears to want to make it even worse. ***And I forgot to mention that the bench really sucks*** Just because you have players who play those positions doesn't mean holes were filled. It means positions were filled, not holes. The Cubs spent so much time and effort, not to mention money and talent, trying to fill the leadoff roll with a stereotypical leadoff man, that they completely ignored the much bigger problem of RF/5th hitter. Jones is a pathetic option for both slots. He hits like a mediocre CF who should be in the 7 or 8 hole, but he plays a position where you need big offense and ideally a 3, 4 or 5 hitter. He's been mediocre his entire career, and, on the wrong side of 30, he's not going to change for the better.

 

A full year of Williams suddenly makes the pitching better? Right now Rusch is likely in the opening day rotation. That's bad. Jerome is a good 5th starter, and an acceptable 3 or 4 on a team with good offense. He's not spectacular, but he'll win games if you can score runs. Unfortunately this team has a run scoring problem, the same problem they've had for years (they don't take walks, so their OBP is low, so their runs scored is low), which will make it hard for Jerome, Maddux and Rusch to win more than they lose. Prior and Zambrano should be pretty good. But Wood is a huge question mark, thanks in no small part to the ignorance of management when they allowed him to keep pitching in meaningless games long after it was determined he needed surgery.

 

Hendry pretty much did everything I'd fear he'd do, and he likely set this very expensive team up to be very average, once again. If all goes right they'll be above average with a shot to contend. But you don't field a $100m payroll just hoping to contend. You have to build a sure fire contender that would be a surprise if it only won 85 games. And you especially don't settle on this mediocrity that Hendry has put together in his 4th offseason. He's not walking into a strange situation. He built the mess that was 2005, and he's done very little to correct it.

 

In my opinion, he did very little to correct it because he saw very little wrong with the flawed team he put together last year, and mistakenly believes that minor upgrades is all it will take. He made that mistake in 2004, 2005 and is in the process of making it in 2006.

 

There's no excuse for this team not to have already had a 95+ win season, and there should be no excuse for them to fail to reach that level this year. Unfortunately Jim's wheelings and dealings have all but guaranteed this won't be a great team.

[Northwoods Fan]

I think the GM job is so tough and subject to luck that Hendry will definitely be extended. But I think we got a hint that he is not happy with Baker because he doesn't find a year of 79 wins acceptable. Hendry "took responsibility," but I saw it as putting pressure on Baker whose job it is to win with the players he's given.

[RynoRules]

What holes are left to be filled? Jones may turn out to be the OF we all want him to be and the pitching should be improved from last year with Williams getting a full year plus the revamped pen.

 

What holes are left to be filled? The OBP is still lackluster. RF is still a joke, the middle infield is very questionable, and Hendry appears to want to make it even worse. ***And I forgot to mention that the bench really sucks*** Just because you have players who play those positions doesn't mean holes were filled. It means positions were filled, not holes. The Cubs spent so much time and effort, not to mention money and talent, trying to fill the leadoff roll with a stereotypical leadoff man, that they completely ignored the much bigger problem of RF/5th hitter. Jones is a pathetic option for both slots. He hits like a mediocre CF who should be in the 7 or 8 hole, but he plays a position where you need big offense and ideally a 3, 4 or 5 hitter. He's been mediocre his entire career, and, on the wrong side of 30, he's not going to change for the better.

 

A full year of Williams suddenly makes the pitching better? Right now Rusch is likely in the opening day rotation. That's bad. Jerome is a good 5th starter, and an acceptable 3 or 4 on a team with good offense. He's not spectacular, but he'll win games if you can score runs. Unfortunately this team has a run scoring problem, the same problem they've had for years (they don't take walks, so their OBP is low, so their runs scored is low), which will make it hard for Jerome, Maddux and Rusch to win more than they lose. Prior and Zambrano should be pretty good. But Wood is a huge question mark, thanks in no small part to the ignorance of management when they allowed him to keep pitching in meaningless games long after it was determined he needed surgery.

 

Hendry pretty much did everything I'd fear he'd do, and he likely set this very expensive team up to be very average, once again. If all goes right they'll be above average with a shot to contend. But you don't field a $100m payroll just hoping to contend. You have to build a sure fire contender that would be a surprise if it only won 85 games. And you especially don't settle on this mediocrity that Hendry has put together in his 4th offseason. He's not walking into a strange situation. He built the mess that was 2005, and he's done very little to correct it.

 

In my opinion, he did very little to correct it because he saw very little wrong with the flawed team he put together last year, and mistakenly believes that minor upgrades is all it will take. He made that mistake in 2004, 2005 and is in the process of making it in 2006.

 

There's no excuse for this team not to have already had a 95+ win season, and there should be no excuse for them to fail to reach that level this year. Unfortunately Jim's wheelings and dealings have all but guaranteed this won't be a great team.

 

I agree with much of what you said, sans the bolded portion. I think JH understands that the team needs/needed to be upgraded. I believe the lack of upgrade was caused by poor planning.

[Magnetic Curses]

What holes are left to be filled?

 

looking at positional holes is primitive and too conventional. you must look at what team holes he needed to fill, mostly OBP, which he did not come anywhere near upgrading enough. this is a team that will hit for a decent average, not get on base any other way besides hitting the ball, and finish in the bottom half of the league in runs scored.

 

did he upgrade the bullpen? maybe, but that wasn't the area we needed to upgrade.

 

a team that leads the NL in hitting should not finish 9th in runs scored, that's pitiful and hendry's a freaking blind man if he can't connect the dots.

 

I think he did improve this team in OBP as well.

 

Barrett, Lee, Walker, and ARam are pretty good in OBP. Murton is an improvement over anything we had in LF last year. Pierre is an improvement over CPatt and Hairston. Cedeno will at the very least meet Neifi's numbers. Jones has the potential to outdo Burnitz. Hendry did bring in players that could improve OBP( Pierre Jones) and name players starters who shoudl as well (Cedeno Murton).

 

judging from last year's numbers, pierre is a slight upgrade in OBP, but jones is not. their combined OBP from last year is .324, which is exactly what our team OBP was from last year.

 

the combined OBP from hairston/patterson (in CF) and burntiz was .300. so it looks like somewhat of an upgrade. however, when you take into account that this team didn't even look at giles, and passed on bradley in CF.

 

those two had a combined OBP of .396, a SIGNIFICANT upgrade.

[wilk]

however, when you take into account that this team didn't even look at giles, and passed on bradley in CF.

 

those two had a combined OBP of .396, a SIGNIFICANT upgrade.

 

Will there ever be a day when people stop pretending like Giles was available to us?

[ThePenguin11]

however, when you take into account that this team didn't even look at giles, and passed on bradley in CF.

 

those two had a combined OBP of .396, a SIGNIFICANT upgrade.

 

Will there ever be a day when people stop pretending like Giles was available to us?

 

You may be right, but doesn't everyone have a price? 3/$30 probably could have been beaten. Hindsight being 20/20 and all.

[Magnetic Curses]

however, when you take into account that this team didn't even look at giles, and passed on bradley in CF.

 

those two had a combined OBP of .396, a SIGNIFICANT upgrade.

 

Will there ever be a day when people stop pretending like Giles was available to us?

 

i'd settle for a day when people stop pretending like they know he wasn't.

[wilk]

however, when you take into account that this team didn't even look at giles, and passed on bradley in CF.

 

those two had a combined OBP of .396, a SIGNIFICANT upgrade.

 

Will there ever be a day when people stop pretending like Giles was available to us?

 

You may be right, but doesn't everyone have a price? 3/$30 probably could have been beaten. Hindsight being 20/20 and all.

 

No, not everyone has a price and 3/$30 was beaten by at least 3 teams and to no avail. Oddly enough, he ended up back with the team that he said he wanted to stay with. Imagine that. And for all this "probably, possibly, could have" - how are you so sure that Hendry did NOT look into the possibility? It's not as if every other team in baseball thinks Giles is junk and no one appreciates his OBP so there was hardly any involvement. It's as if Giles didn't want to leave the Pads, so he didn't.

[CubinNY]

however, when you take into account that this team didn't even look at giles, and passed on bradley in CF.

 

those two had a combined OBP of .396, a SIGNIFICANT upgrade.

 

Will there ever be a day when people stop pretending like Giles was available to us?

 

 

No. Giles was available to every team in baseball. Giles is a player a team with the holes the Cubs have should overpay for.

 

The point is moot, but if the Cubs offered 4/40 I think it might have piqued Giles interest.

 

Also thinking creatively, if the Cubs offered any combination of Cedeno, Pie, Nolasco, Pinto and Dope for Marcus as an opener to Atlanta that might have been more of an enticement for the Braves to make a deal. That way they could have lost the much overrated Furcal and kept Marte. Or they could have used some of Giles money to up the ante to Furcal.

 

I could live with Perez at SS if the Giles brothers were in the line up.

[TheDude]

however, when you take into account that this team didn't even look at giles, and passed on bradley in CF.

 

those two had a combined OBP of .396, a SIGNIFICANT upgrade.

 

Will there ever be a day when people stop pretending like Giles was available to us?

 

Or any of the top OBP guys fans covet? This offseason provided minimal opportunity to improve the team in FA or by trade without giving up Prior, Zambrano, or Pie. And somehow the Cubs brass were supposed to sign the players who weren't leaving their current teams, or trade for these studs without giving up equal value.

 

The Cubs were actually hurt by the fact that their only real trading chips were simply too good for the Cubs to trade. There wasn't a tier between exceptional talent and respectable talent to trade from.

 

The expectations were overblown from the start. Hendry could have done better than Jacque Jones, Glendon Rusch, and Neifi Perez. Otherwise, he did a solid job improving the team.

[Magnetic Curses]

how are you so sure that Hendry did NOT look into the possibility?

 

um, because bruce miles stated on this site that he didn't?

 

conversely, how are you so certain that giles had no desire to leave san diego? "first choice" and "no other possibilities" are two different things. giles may have wanted to stay in san diego, which does not prove he wouldn't be open to playing for 3/39 in chicago.

[Magnetic Curses]

however, when you take into account that this team didn't even look at giles, and passed on bradley in CF.

 

those two had a combined OBP of .396, a SIGNIFICANT upgrade.

 

Will there ever be a day when people stop pretending like Giles was available to us?

 

Or any of the top OBP guys fans covet? This offseason provided minimal opportunity to improve the team in FA or by trade without giving up Prior, Zambrano, or Pie. And somehow the Cubs brass were supposed to sign the players who weren't leaving their current teams, or trade for these studs without giving up equal value.

 

The Cubs were actually hurt by the fact that their only real trading chips were simply too good for the Cubs to trade. There wasn't a tier between exceptional talent and respectable talent to trade from.

 

The expectations were overblown from the start. Hendry could have done better than Jacque Jones, Glendon Rusch, and Neifi Perez. Otherwise, he did a solid job improving the team.

 

this team scored the ninth most runs in the NL last season and had the best AVG. why do you think that is? there were plenty of options fro him to upgrade this team's plate discipline and he DID NOT. slight upgrade in CF, status quo in RF, rookies in LF and SS, Neifi still hanging around. bullpen upgraded.

 

not a good team this year either.

[Dr. Cub]

What holes are left to be filled?

 

looking at positional holes is primitive and too conventional. you must look at what team holes he needed to fill, mostly OBP, which he did not come anywhere near upgrading enough. this is a team that will hit for a decent average, not get on base any other way besides hitting the ball, and finish in the bottom half of the league in runs scored.

 

did he upgrade the bullpen? maybe, but that wasn't the area we needed to upgrade.

 

a team that leads the NL in hitting should not finish 9th in runs scored, that's pitiful and hendry's a freaking blind man if he can't connect the dots.

 

I think he did improve this team in OBP as well.

 

Barrett, Lee, Walker, and ARam are pretty good in OBP. Murton is an improvement over anything we had in LF last year. Pierre is an improvement over CPatt and Hairston. Cedeno will at the very least meet Neifi's numbers. Jones has the potential to outdo Burnitz. Hendry did bring in players that could improve OBP( Pierre Jones) and name players starters who shoudl as well (Cedeno Murton).

 

judging from last year's numbers, pierre is a slight upgrade in OBP, but jones is not. their combined OBP from last year is .324, which is exactly what our team OBP was from last year.

 

the combined OBP from hairston/patterson (in CF) and burntiz was .300. so it looks like somewhat of an upgrade. however, when you take into account that this team didn't even look at giles, and passed on bradley in CF.

 

those two had a combined OBP of .396, a SIGNIFICANT upgrade.

 

I don't get this. Why is it okay to use one bad year as some sort of evidence against a player you dislike, but if it's a player you covet it can be written off, and three year trends are the most important and telling?

[wilk]

 

So Bruce Miles saying Hendry didn't look into Giles means Hendry didn't look into Giles. But Giles saying he never wanted to leave San Diego doesn't mean anything. Him saying he didn't want to leave the West Coast clearly didn't mean anything either. Giles turning down the more lucrative offers you guys toss around in favor of SD doesn't mean anything either because if the Cubs did it, everything would change. Did Bruce Miles also tell you that no other team in baseball tried for him and no other team in baseball topped 3/30? Because apparently that's what happened, right? Apparently it was a big free-for-all where every team had a good chance of landing Giles then, coincidentally, he ended up in San Diego afterall. So the contracts he turned down from elsewhere would have been accepted if the Cubs offered them, and you're positive they were not offered because Bruce Miles said so. So, Bruce Miles saying something is the be-all and end-all. Giles or his agent commenting on Giles means nothing. I see.

 

I really don't understand why some people behave as if Giles was this big secret that you're privy to but Hendry and every other GM not with the Padres was clueless to. Yeah, I get the context of "anything is possible and you can't say for sure it wasn't possible!" It's cute. I prefer reality where people make stubborn decisions. But I'm not going to have yet another "Brian Giles totally would have come to the Cubs if we just put our heads and hearts to it!" debate. He didn't. You say Bruce Miles said the Cubs never tried. Well, I have someone who told me that Giles had zero interest in playing for the Cubs and any involvement Hendry would have played to would have been moot because Giles wouldn't have come here. I'll go with that since it's backed with he and his agent's comments and what actually happened - Giles turning down bigger offers to stay in SD. But sorry to interrupt, continue pretending there was ever a chance of Giles coming here.

[TheDude]

this team scored the ninth most runs in the NL last season and had the best AVG. why do you think that is? there were plenty of options fro him to upgrade this team's plate discipline and he DID NOT. slight upgrade in CF, status quo in RF, rookies in LF and SS, Neifi still hanging around. bullpen upgraded.

 

not a good team this year either.

 

Lay out a list of these 'plenty of options' please. I'd bet the overwhelming majority of them come close to Fantasy baseball rather than actual availability.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

To my knowledge, Giles only had other offers to play CF in the Bronx, or to go to Canada. Chicago offers him both the position he wants at a locale that's not 3 timezones away from home. Maybe he wouldn't have come, I'm not going to pretend like there was a magic price that he could be bought for. But the fact that Hendry didn't pursue him at all given how well he fit their needs, and the dearth of other options that met those needs, is where he is in the wrong.

[TheDude]

To my knowledge, Giles only had other offers to play CF in the Bronx, or to go to Canada. Chicago offers him both the position he wants at a locale that's not 3 timezones away from home. Maybe he wouldn't have come, I'm not going to pretend like there was a magic price that he could be bought for. But the fact that Hendry didn't pursue him at all given how well he fit their needs, and the dearth of other options that met those needs, is where he is in the wrong.

 

If you know the door shut, then the door is shut and you move on. I don't see the problem. I guess fans would have been happier if he made a public display of 'Giles desire' just to please them, but Hendry is too much of a straight shooter for that kind of stuff.

[CubinNY]

To my knowledge, Giles only had other offers to play CF in the Bronx, or to go to Canada. Chicago offers him both the position he wants at a locale that's not 3 timezones away from home. Maybe he wouldn't have come, I'm not going to pretend like there was a magic price that he could be bought for. But the fact that Hendry didn't pursue him at all given how well he fit their needs, and the dearth of other options that met those needs, is where he is in the wrong.

 

If you know the door shut, then the door is shut and you move on. I don't see the problem. I guess fans would have been happier if he made a public display of 'Giles desire' just to please them, but Hendry is too much of a straight shooter for that kind of stuff.

 

Hendry was quote was, "I'm not getting into a bidding war with NY and St. Louis." If he is a straight shooter he would have said. I spoke to Brian and he not interested."

 

Giles never publically stated he wanted to stay in SD, to my knowledge. Perhaps BBB can enlighten us all.

[UK1679666180]

this team scored the ninth most runs in the NL last season and had the best AVG. why do you think that is? there were plenty of options fro him to upgrade this team's plate discipline and he DID NOT. slight upgrade in CF, status quo in RF, rookies in LF and SS, Neifi still hanging around. bullpen upgraded.

 

not a good team this year either.

 

Lay out a list of these 'plenty of options' please. I'd bet the overwhelming majority of them come close to Fantasy baseball rather than actual availability.

 

I consider Michaels to bea better option than Pierre, he's better defensively, has a higher OBP, cheaper, and is further away from FA.

 

There's one upgrade that has been mentioned as being avail. this off-season as far as trades.

 

If the Cubs were dead set on trading Walker, they should've inquired about Castillo. I don't mind them keeping Walker, I would've liked to have a seen a better defensive player there, but a Perez/Hairston platoon or either of them starting on their own, I doubt they'd match Walker.

 

RF-Sanders is a better option than Jones, he's older, but he's been more productive and during the next two year will likely cont. to be more productive than Jones.

 

I don't mind Perez on the roster, he's an ideal utility player/defensive replacement/pinch runner, but his role will be greater than his production merits.

[Magnetic Curses]

 

So Bruce Miles saying Hendry didn't look into Giles means Hendry didn't look into Giles. But Giles saying he never wanted to leave San Diego doesn't mean anything. Him saying he didn't want to leave the West Coast clearly didn't mean anything either. Giles turning down the more lucrative offers you guys toss around in favor of SD doesn't mean anything either because if the Cubs did it, everything would change. Did Bruce Miles also tell you that no other team in baseball tried for him and no other team in baseball topped 3/30? Because apparently that's what happened, right? Apparently it was a big free-for-all where every team had a good chance of landing Giles then, coincidentally, he ended up in San Diego afterall. So the contracts he turned down from elsewhere would have been accepted if the Cubs offered them, and you're positive they were not offered because Bruce Miles said so. So, Bruce Miles saying something is the be-all and end-all. Giles or his agent commenting on Giles means nothing. I see.

 

I really don't understand why some people behave as if Giles was this big secret that you're privy to but Hendry and every other GM not with the Padres was clueless to. Yeah, I get the context of "anything is possible and you can't say for sure it wasn't possible!" It's cute. I prefer reality where people make stubborn decisions. But I'm not going to have yet another "Brian Giles totally would have come to the Cubs if we just put our heads and hearts to it!" debate. He didn't. You say Bruce Miles said the Cubs never tried. Well, I have someone who told me that Giles had zero interest in playing for the Cubs and any involvement Hendry would have played to would have been moot because Giles wouldn't have come here. I'll go with that since it's backed with he and his agent's comments and what actually happened - Giles turning down bigger offers to stay in SD. But sorry to interrupt, continue pretending there was ever a chance of Giles coming here.

 

woah, settle down a bit. didn't mean to offend you.

 

1. Bruce Miles said hendry never so much as made a call to ask. I'll believe him.

 

2. Giles said that san diego was his first choice after signing a new deal. what should he say? "i wanted to leave, but nobody wanted me?" that's ridiculous.

 

3. find one pre-signing quote from giles or his agent indicating he wasn't listening to other offers, please.

 

4. again, there is a difference between san diego being his first choice with a willingness to give them a home town discount, and a steadfast refusal to entertain the idea of leaving for more money.

 

but please, continue your nonsensical ravings.

Edited January 12, 2006 by Stannis

[UK1679666180]

I also believe a Sweeney/Marrero platoon would outproduce Jones in RF next year.

[Cubzfan64]

this team scored the ninth most runs in the NL last season and had the best AVG. why do you think that is? there were plenty of options fro him to upgrade this team's plate discipline and he DID NOT. slight upgrade in CF, status quo in RF, rookies in LF and SS, Neifi still hanging around. bullpen upgraded.

 

not a good team this year either.

 

Lay out a list of these 'plenty of options' please. I'd bet the overwhelming majority of them come close to Fantasy baseball rather than actual availability.

 

I consider Michaels to bea better option than Pierre, he's better defensively, has a higher OBP, cheaper, and is further away from FA.

 

There's one upgrade that has been mentioned as being avail. this off-season as far as trades.

 

If the Cubs were dead set on trading Walker, they should've inquired about Castillo. I don't mind them keeping Walker, I would've liked to have a seen a better defensive player there, but a Perez/Hairston platoon or either of them starting on their own, I doubt they'd match Walker.

 

RF-Sanders is a better option than Jones, he's older, but he's been more productive and during the next two year will likely cont. to be more productive than Jones.

I don't mind Perez on the roster, he's an ideal utility player/defensive replacement/pinch runner, but his role will be greater than his production merits.

 

Given the options available to us when Jones was signed, I would have been all for trying to pick up Sanders for a shorter time than Jones was ultimately given too. I hope Jones proves many of us wrong, but I don't like adding yet another player to the team with "potential" behind his name.

[Magnetic Curses]

To my knowledge, Giles only had other offers to play CF in the Bronx, or to go to Canada. Chicago offers him both the position he wants at a locale that's not 3 timezones away from home. Maybe he wouldn't have come, I'm not going to pretend like there was a magic price that he could be bought for. But the fact that Hendry didn't pursue him at all given how well he fit their needs, and the dearth of other options that met those needs, is where he is in the wrong.

 

If you know the door shut, then the door is shut and you move on. I don't see the problem. I guess fans would have been happier if he made a public display of 'Giles desire' just to please them, but Hendry is too much of a straight shooter for that kind of stuff.

 

Hendry was quote was, "I'm not getting into a bidding war with NY and St. Louis." If he is a straight shooter he would have said. I spoke to Brian and he not interested."

 

Giles never publically stated he wanted to stay in SD, to my knowledge. Perhaps BBB can enlighten us all.

 

the NY/STL quote would lead one to believe that he believed Giles to be available, doesn't it?