Jim Hendry's Biggest off-season mistake?

[BigbadB]

I'd much rather be discussing how awesome a job the Cubs brass did to make the team better each and every year under their guidance, but unfortunately for all of us, we have to sit here and analyze all the things that are wrong. They really couldn't get it much more wrong, IMO.

 

I'm not one of those "I told you so" kind of guys. I don't get any satisfaction being right about something. In the case of the 2005 offseason, I could only hope that my theories on what is wrong with the organizational philosophy would be proven wrong. I definitely had my doubts, and it appears I was right on the money.

 

I labeled the 2005 offseason as the worst offseason that I could ever recall. I ranted and raved about the direction this team was going. The emphasis was on guys who could catch the ball and had speed.

 

Well, guys are catching the ball and many of those same guys are stealing bases at a pretty nice clip, but catching the ball and stealing bases don't do you a whole lot of good when you can't hit.

 

Every aspect of this offseason (outside of beefing up the bullpen) was totally the wrong direction. If Hendry were to be publicly courting a ballplayer this past offseason with his undying affection, it should have been for Brian Giles and not Rafael Furcal. If Hendry's stalking of Giles proved unfruitful, then move on to someone else who fit the huge, gaping hole in RF. As nice as it might have been to stick Furcal at SS, we had a SS already in Cedeno. As nice as it might have been to have a bat like Furcal's at the top of the order, we already had a lead off guy in Todd Walker. As nice as it might have been to have Furcal on this team, his price tag didn't really fit when you take into consideration the Cubs should have been spending the amount of money that it would have taken to sign Furcal on a RFer instead.

 

No back up plan. None. Nomar made for an excellent back up plan. He didn't cost any prospects in the next draft. He was fairly inexpensive. His production (when healthy) can't be mirrored by any player on the team outside of Lee or Ramirez.

 

They just gave Patterson away. Who did we get for him? I don't even remember. The problems with Patterson are starting to look more and more as though it's the fault of the coaching staff that he struggled. Conveniently, every player on this team is struggling with this coaching staff. Coincidence? I think not.

 

This tree needs to be uprooted and fresh seeds planted.

[10man]

what makes these mistakes more horrible is that most of us said they were mistakes long before the season began.

[soccer10k]

 

This would only have been made worse if we would have actually landed Furcal.

 

A little soon to make that judgment, don't you think? Furcal had offseason knee surgery and started off terribly, but his OBP is already about 30 points higher than Ronny's and 60 points higher than Pierre's.

Granted, Furcal hasn't been playing to his potential but when you compare him to Pierre...NO CONTEST.

 

Furcal

36R 45H 2HR 16RBI 25BB 29K 10SB .245AVG .333OBP

 

Pierre

 

24R 44H 0HR 2RBI 8BB 18K 14SB .235AVG .270OBP

 

Look at the contracts though. If Pierre continues to have a bad year, he's a FA at the end of the year so we can get rid of him. If Furcal had signed with us and was having a bad year, we would still be stuck with him for 4 more years. I agree that I would much rather have Furcal this year than Pierre, but nobody knows how Furcal would hold up through 2010.

[Backtobanks]

Pursuing Furcal with complete blindness.

 

Resulted ---> In losing Nomar and overpaying for Pierre.

 

Both Nomar's and Corey's numbers would look great on this team.

 

This would only have been made worse if we would have actually landed Furcal.

 

I started a thread awhile ago about hindsight being 20/20. I loved Nomar, but he had no position to play on the Cubs and an injury history that matches Wood's. There was no reason to think that DLee would break his wrist and miss 2 months. I rooted for Corey while almost everyone in Chicago ripped him and said he needed to go. Look at the posts from last year and tell me that the Cubs should have kept Corey in Chicago. Everything about the Cubs stinks right now including Hendry, Baker, the coaches, the position players, the pitching staff, and the bench. Congratulations to Nomar and Corey, but if I were a betting man, I would bet on Nomar being on the DL at least one more time and Corey regressing to his career averages before the year is over.

[YearofDaCubs]

 

This would only have been made worse if we would have actually landed Furcal.

 

A little soon to make that judgment, don't you think? Furcal had offseason knee surgery and started off terribly, but his OBP is already about 30 points higher than Ronny's and 60 points higher than Pierre's.

Granted, Furcal hasn't been playing to his potential but when you compare him to Pierre...NO CONTEST.

 

Furcal

36R 45H 2HR 16RBI 25BB 29K 10SB .245AVG .333OBP

 

Pierre

 

24R 44H 0HR 2RBI 8BB 18K 14SB .235AVG .270OBP

 

Look at the contracts though. If Pierre continues to have a bad year, he's a FA at the end of the year so we can get rid of him. If Furcal had signed with us and was having a bad year, we would still be stuck with him for 4 more years. I agree that I would much rather have Furcal this year than Pierre, but nobody knows how Furcal would hold up through 2010.

I truly believe that if Pierre's agent wouldn't be asking for that much he would be signed to a multi-year deal already.

[bleedcubbieblue]

 

This would only have been made worse if we would have actually landed Furcal.

 

A little soon to make that judgment, don't you think? Furcal had offseason knee surgery and started off terribly, but his OBP is already about 30 points higher than Ronny's and 60 points higher than Pierre's.

Granted, Furcal hasn't been playing to his potential but when you compare him to Pierre...NO CONTEST.

 

Furcal

36R 45H 2HR 16RBI 25BB 29K 10SB .245AVG .333OBP

 

Pierre

 

24R 44H 0HR 2RBI 8BB 18K 14SB .235AVG .270OBP

 

Look at the contracts though. If Pierre continues to have a bad year, he's a FA at the end of the year so we can get rid of him. If Furcal had signed with us and was having a bad year, we would still be stuck with him for 4 more years. I agree that I would much rather have Furcal this year than Pierre, but nobody knows how Furcal would hold up through 2010.

I truly believe that if Pierre's agent wouldn't be asking for that much he would be signed to a multi-year deal already.

 

Sometimes the best deals are the one you never make!

[sunnydoo]

Hendry made 2 big blunders in the offseason.

 

#1- He made Rothschild comeback. Dusty never wanted him. Jim made him take him. Then when Larry was ready to head off to Detroit, Jim greatly increased his salary to comeback. Rothschild has been horrible and has helped to hurt half of our pitching staff. Just listening to comments that Cooper has made in the past about him makes me cringe. If you see something wrong with someone's delivery, you should always fix it and never put the health of the pitcher up against the effectiveness at which they are throwing. Everyone blames Dusty for the poor coaching, but Hendry is the one who picked most of the coaches on the staff- Pole, Clines, and Rothschild.

 

#2- No corner OF power and a lack of OBP in the OF. Cant go into a season with 2 guys that are only going to hit you 20-25 HRs in the power spots in LF. Murton is a ? as to whether he can hit that many. One of those guys has to be able to ding 30-35, and Hendry didnt provide that.

 

I dont blame Hendry for the Pierre thing. That was just bad damn luck, and there is still a chance Juan will pull out of it. That is hindsight talking for most of you guys.

 

I also dont blame him for not signing Nomar. Look at this board last year or when we signed Miller. Everyone was freaking out because we were signing injured players. Hendry probably didnt feel that Nomar would ever get back to the level at which a large contract could be repaid. Again bad damn luck.

 

I do blame Hendry for not going out and getting help for Lee. Sure we would have overpaid and Hendry clearly didnt want to do that. But because of it, this whole season is now a waste. He should be fired just for that reason if not any other.

[Fro]

A first base bat wouldn't keep us from playing terrible ball during this stretch but we'd at least have a pulse and perhaps be 7-8 games out instead of 12.

[goonys evil twin]

Everyone blames Dusty for the poor coaching, but Hendry is the one who picked most of the coaches on the staff- Pole, Clines, and Rothschild.

 

Pole is a Dusty man from the start, and I'm pretty sure Gene Clines was a Dusty guy as well.

 

I dont blame Hendry for the Pierre thing. That was just bad damn luck, and there is still a chance Juan will pull out of it. That is hindsight talking for most of you guys.

 

I also dont blame him for not signing Nomar. Look at this board last year or when we signed Miller. Everyone was freaking out because we were signing injured players. Hendry probably didnt feel that Nomar would ever get back to the level at which a large contract could be repaid. Again bad damn luck.

 

It's not bad luck that the Pierre trade was terrible. Hendry made everybody know he was desperate for a stereotypical leadoff man. Even if Pierre matched his 2005 numbers he'd have been a horrible acquisition. It's not blind luck when a one dimensional offensive player and defensive liability starts to really suck. One dimensional players tend to suck from time to time.

 

It's one thing to sign injured guys, it's another to rely on them as the main men. Hendry was relying on Wood and Prior to be healthy to start the season, and for Miller to fill in later. I liked the Miller signing as insurance, not as the 6th man that was needed to start the season. Nomar could have been signed to a very reasonable contract. Start him out in LF, and have Murton and Jones platoon in RF. You knew Ramirez would have to sit some games. And Nomar would also be helpful if Cedeno had to take a breather. You wouldn't want to rely on him for 162 games at SS, but at a $5-6m base, he would have been a fantastic third bat in the lineup, and you could have found room for him.

[BigbadB]

I dont blame Hendry for the Pierre thing. That was just bad damn luck, and there is still a chance Juan will pull out of it. That is hindsight talking for most of you guys.

 

Is it really hindsight? One can't speculate that a guy coming off a .326 OBP season might put another one just like it? I did. Couple that horrible .326 OBP for a lead off guy with getting picked off 17 times attempting to steal, and what does the OBP look like now? Even worse.

 

The only positive I potentially saw in the Pierre deal is that he's in his contract year, and that he might put up respectable numbers with that added inspiration. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear as though that's going to happen.

 

I've never been a fan of trading several prospects for a guy in his walk year. I suppose it might be alright if that player is the difference maker between being a winner and a loser, and Pierre is not that guy.

 

All the Cubs can hope for at this point is that he'll bring his production level up prior to the trade deadline where they might net an equal return like the one they gave up to get him.

 

I was perfectly fine going into the season with Walker hitting 1st and Murton or someone of equal OBP capability hitting 2nd. Maybe add Kenny Lofton as a 5th outfielder and part time CF, which not only gives the team even more respectable OBP from the top of the order, but gives you a solid veteran PHer off the bench. Lofton was certainly more fragile than Pierre, but he was 1/3 of the price, a free agent who wouldn't have costed any draft picks and likely just as effective or moreso than Pierre when he is in there. The saved money on Pierre could have been used towards a pitcher and more depth.

 

I would have much rather seen the Cubs give those 3 prospects to the Dodgers for Milton Bradley. Once again, cheaper and better. The Cubs could have added Bradley AND Lofton for less than it costs for Pierre. The Cubs could have had Bradley and Lofton for less than it costed for Jones.

 

Hindsight is signing on the dotted line that you were for a trade when it took place, and then claimed later when that player was lousy that they never should have picked him up. I was never in favor of it, therefore it's not hindsight. It's being right all along.

[BigbadB]

And Nomar would also be helpful if Cedeno had to take a breather. You wouldn't want to rely on him for 162 games at SS, but at a $5-6m base, he would have been a fantastic third bat in the lineup, and you could have found room for him.

 

And by some weird chance that all the pieces fell into place (stud RFer, Cedeno kicking butt, Lee and Aramis never hurt) and you had Nomar and no place to play him, do you think he would reject a trade to a team that had a place to play him? I surely doubt it. Do you think some team would pass on Nomar for a measily 5m contract?

 

Nomar healthy for only half a season (or healthy for most of the season)for 5m on a 1 year deal>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Neifi and Rusch and their 2 year/5.5m per year deal.

 

I might have missed a few >>>>>, but it's really a no brainer.

 

And that wasn't hindsight, either.

[cheapseats]

 

Look at the contracts though. If Pierre continues to have a bad year, he's a FA at the end of the year so we can get rid of him. If Furcal had signed with us and was having a bad year, we would still be stuck with him for 4 more years. I agree that I would much rather have Furcal this year than Pierre, but nobody knows how Furcal would hold up through 2010.

 

Well, I've never argued that we should have signed Furcal. I've just argued that it's too early to call him a bust.

 

If I were running the Cubs, I would have worried about RF and CF (in that order) before worrying about SS.

 

But had we signed Furcal, and had we been in a position to contend, I wouldn't have been upset had we given him a contract similar to the one that LA gave him. He's locked up for what should be his prime years, and if he's a bust, LA won't be stuck with him for two more years like the Cubs would be with their 5 year offer.

 

That said, overpaying for talent IS a good idea if that talent could push a contender over the top. In 2003 and 2004 (and maybe 2005) the Cubs were in a position to win and overpaying for top-level talent would have been justified. I don't think the 2006 team was in such a position in the offseason, so it didn't bother me much when LA upped the ante and he went elsewhere.

[TB_11]

His biggest mistake was sticking around.

 

The truth is spoken.

 

The biggest mistake was the general mindset that having players who are fast are more important than players who get on base, and a quality bullpen is more important than a durable starting pitching.

 

Also Neifi. There is absolutely no reason why Neifi gets 5M for 2 years.

[Mizzou]

I think his biggest mistake was not firing Baker. Sure, the roster sucks regardless of who is managing it, but if we had a manager with one shred of competence, we wouldn't be this bad.

[Master Shake]

Taking the red pill.

[minnesotacubsfan]

The irony is that he lost Nomar by pursuing Furcal, but LA ended up with both.

 

thats not irony, thats a shrewd LA GM...and a doopy Chicago GM

[Mark Priors Calves]

I hate the "hindsight" talk. Many people saw this abomination coming and discussed this at length. The Pierre trade was criticized by many, many posters at the time and nobody thought he would be this bad. Some people were upset at the trade even if Pierre played to his career averages.

[CubfaninCA]

Well, i have to go by impact so...

 

1. Not trading Prior for Tejada.

 

2. Not making the Soriano for Murton trade rumor happen. Those 16 homers would REALLY help.

 

3. Counting on Rusch/Williams/Hill/Guzman. Should have signed or traded for a solid starter.

[oldstyle81]

not even attempting to get leo mazzone as the pitching coach

[CubsBullsBears]

Giving Dusty so many toys (unproductive veterens) to play with: Niefi, Fat Glendon, Jones, Mabry, Grissom. And relying on them. You can't fault him on the Lee situtation. He has played approx 155 games/season, so there really was no need. Plus we had Sing and Dopriach. I think Sing broke his foot and Dopriach is sucking, so we shouldn't have called them up.

[Andy]

not even attempting to get leo mazzone as the manager

Improved

[neely crenshaw]

a majority of our problems stem from the simple fact that he would not budge 1.5 mil a year on furcal. because of that we had to:

make a move for another lead off man, at that point it was pierre or loftin.

when we signed a centerfielder corey became expendable.needing more pop we signed and overpaid jacque jones. to have insurance because we now had a rookie ss, we overpaid to keep neifi. we also had to keep walker and hairston...because cedeno would not be playing second. so to save 1.5 mil we spent about 15 mil or a couple more than the whole furcal deal.

perhaps if we didn't overspend on all that we would have signed another solid starter.

[CubfaninCA]

4. trading for pierre instead of castillo..

not even attempting to get leo mazzone as the pitching coach

He wasn't on the market. He left Atlanta specifically to rejoin Sam Perlozzo in Baltimore.

[CubsBullsBears]

not even attempting to get leo mazzone as the pitching coach

He wasn't on the market. He left Atlanta specifically to rejoin Sam Perlozzo in Baltimore.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^