Hendry's spending, but is it about selling?

[Soul]

1) Hendry grabs a big FA for the first time in his career, at top money......without even allowing a bidding war to start in order to see where the price would settle.

 

2) He's been the most active GM in baseball, not even waiting for the GM meetings to conclude to get started on his acquistions.

 

3) This is a big departure from his previous M.O. as a GM. Even in 2004 he wasn't rolling out the dough like this for flat-out cream-of-the-crop FAs for Yankee-type money.

 

 

So, is this being done to save Hendry's job? Unlikely. The Trib wouldn't suddenly loosen the purse strings for one man to save his employment.

 

However, they might do it as a precursor to selling the team. I'm just trying to get a line on why this is happening. It sort of makes sense if the Trib wants to sell for the highest price, and sell quickly, to make a quick splash in the offseason with major improvements to the team.

[goonys evil twin]

There's two ways to go about selling a company, cutting back heavily on costs, or increasing the value with a little short-term investment. It's like spicing up a house before putting it on the market. Spend $20,000 on a new bathroom hoping to benefit down the line in the total costs. Spend $50,000 to fix up your place and you might be able to sell it for $100,000 more than it was before.

 

In this case though, you saddling the future owner with some rather large liabilities.

 

Then again, if there have already been talks with a potential buyer, he might have indicated that he wants this team to look better now.

[Soul]

New liabilities have been introduced. But it sort of needed to happen because the team was so terrible. I wonder if the Trib discovered that all the suitors weren't as hot on the idea of a perennial loser as they have been for all these years.

 

Another thing: I found it quite interesting that Girardi wasn't even really given serious consideration for the manager's job. It was going to be Piniella from the start, and that's it.

 

Piniella has the name recognition, something potential buyers might be attracted to. Of course, that whole deal could really just be Hendry & Piniella are two old baseball guys, and Girardi's not.....

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I think the spending has more to do with MacPhail no longer being around.

[Soul]

I think the spending has more to do with MacPhail no longer being around.

 

 

Ahhh, but did he really step aside because he's a great guy who just suddenly realized after years & years he wasn't getting the job done (as he wanted us to believe)?

 

Or was it because the Trib needed to sell, and decided to start making some big acquisitions, and that's not in line with Mac's philosophy?

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I think the spending has more to do with MacPhail no longer being around.

 

 

Ahhh, but did he really step aside because he's a great guy who just suddenly realized after years & years he wasn't getting the job done (as he wanted us to believe)?

 

Or was it because the Trib needed to sell, and decided to start making some big acquisitions, and that's not in line with Mac's philosophy?

 

I said this elsewhere. I think MacPhail's loyalty with Selig and the owners group that wanted teams to take a fiscally responsible approach affected the way money was alotted. MacPhail didn't want to hand out landmark contracts. He didn't want to appear as if he had upset the salary scale. Now, that he's gone, the purse strings are loosened.

[Wheelimus]

I think you're right Vance. Something had to have happened. Hendry can't just go from slumping Neifi to Jordan in the 4th quarter overnight for no reason.

[Sarcastic]

I don't think that this is a preparation for selling the team. Unless the buyer is willing to maintain the payroll, adding these liabilities would hurt the team's value. Nothing kills fan interest more than a sudden slash of the payroll and a fire sale of all the well known players, which is what would have to happen if new buyers weren't interested in having such a large payroll from the start.

[Soul]

I don't think that this is a preparation for selling the team. Unless the buyer is willing to maintain the payroll, adding these liabilities would hurt the team's value. Nothing kills fan interest more than a sudden slash of the payroll and a fire sale of all the well known players, which is what would have to happen if new buyers weren't interested in having such a large payroll from the start.

 

Killing fan interest wouldn't be a real good plan to sell the team, true.

 

We don't know what the profit layouts are on this club, because the Cubs don't give us the complete picture. It could very well be that the profit margins are good enough to support such a jump in payroll, and if that were the case many potential suitors might be expressing more concern over the empty seats that started showing up in August and September of last year than the increased layouts of a larger salary structure.

 

That combined with the significantly increased popularity of the White Sox might make a big jump in payroll a necessary means towards an end.