It's time for me to give credit to Hendry for the offseason.

[badger1679666666]

I've given him hell for alot of his moves and decisions lately and over the past couple years, but his acquisitions of DeRosa, Lilly, and even Marquis and Ward have been fantastic, not to mention I've been impressed overall with Lou (every manager is going to do things that irritate, but for the most part I've liked what I've seen and I really appreciate him not burning out our pitchers).

 

He deserves much criticism for trades/acquisitions like Izzy, Jones, and Eyre, and his unwillingness to fire Dusty, but he also deserves credit. I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't give it to him.

[Backtobanks]

He will get the praise he deserves from many posters when he makes a trade to bring in the one more bat they need and when he finally gets rid of Jones, Izzy, and Eyre. I've been saying all along that being a GM is a fickle business. Hendry was considered a real up and comer, but the last few years have hurt that reputation. If the Cubs do win the division, he will probably look good again. Look at Kenny Williams, who went from a joke to a genius and is back to being considered mediocre at best.

[Keener98]

So far the moves he made look pretty good, The contracts given however, are pretty ugly, and could be a bitch in a few years. However, this team still has big glaring weaknesses at SS, C, and CF, and if hes really wanting to make the most of this team, 2 of those really need to be addressed.

[Jazz]

I'm in a rough spot when it comes to making my judgement on Hendry. Because of how well ALL of his acquisitions this year have played, and the fact that he did sign Aram to a huge hometown discount, i'm leaning towards him being kept around for this next regime. If he can get Z locked up, get rid of one of the bums, and make a trade for a starting position player, then ill be completely sold.

[TruffleShuffle]

I think Lilly is overall a plus move. Durable, generally a solid, slightly above average pitcher. He's been better than expected.

 

DeRosa has been a big plus... 111 OPS+ from a guy who's mainly a middle infielder, but has the versatility to play almost any position. That was a very good signing, and they've gotten great value out of it.

 

Marquis, I'm not sure that Hendry (and Marquis for that matter) haven't just been lucky with this move.

 

Ward was a solid bench bat.

 

Floyd has been fine... nothing amazing, but not bad either.

 

The Blanco signing was completely awful; even if he'd stayed healthy, it still would've been inexcuseable.

 

I don't blame Hendry for the Wood signing... fairly low risk high reward move that didn't pan out.

 

Soriano has obviously been good, but I still worry about his production for the price down the road. Still, the Cubs absolutely had to make a move for an impact bat, so while the money might not be palatable, the player move was a good one.

 

All in all, it was a fairly solid offseason for Hendry. Certainly an improvement over the crapfest of last year (Eyre, Jones, Maddux trade, Pierre trade were all brutal; going into the year relying on Wood/Prior was also a really bad idea). I still want a good GM, but Hendry might be inching his way to a "not terrible" rating.

[TruffleShuffle]

I'm in a rough spot when it comes to making my judgement on Hendry. Because of how well ALL of his acquisitions this year have played, and the fact that he did sign Aram to a huge hometown discount, i'm leaning towards him being kept around for this next regime. If he can get Z locked up, get rid of one of the bums, and make a trade for a starting position player, then ill be completely sold.

 

I don't really believe this. Yeah, maybe he could've gotten slightly more elsewhere, but how is $15M per year a huge discount. That price would put him 10th this year in salary, and while he's certainly a very good player, he's not at the elite level of guys like A-Rod, Bonds, Miggy Cabrera or Pujols.

[Mephistopheles]

Marquis sucks. Get it through your heads, he sucks. No one, not even I, said the Cubs didn't improve themselves significantly this winter. It's just that it could have been done at a fraction of the cost and Hendry isn't smart enough to do it. Hendry deserves ZERO credit. NONE. It's that simple. Try and argue with me again. You won't win.

[TruffleShuffle]

Marquis sucks. Get it through your heads, he sucks. No one, not even I, said the Cubs didn't improve themselves significantly this winter. It's just that it could have been done at a fraction of the cost and Hendry isn't smart enough to do it. Hendry deserves ZERO credit. NONE. It's that simple. Try and argue with me again. You won't win.

 

Three out of the previous six years, Marquis had an above-average OPS+. If Rothschild really saw something in his delivery that was causing him to leave the ball up in 2006 - which may be true, given that his G/F ratio is back down this year - the Cubs were justified in signing him to be an effective, durable back-of-the-rotation starter, which he was in 2004 and 2005.

's advocate>

[Mephistopheles]

OPS+? Honestly I wouldn't expect anything better from you.

[CubColtPacer]

I'm in a rough spot when it comes to making my judgement on Hendry. Because of how well ALL of his acquisitions this year have played, and the fact that he did sign Aram to a huge hometown discount, i'm leaning towards him being kept around for this next regime. If he can get Z locked up, get rid of one of the bums, and make a trade for a starting position player, then ill be completely sold.

 

I don't really believe this. Yeah, maybe he could've gotten slightly more elsewhere, but how is $15M per year a huge discount. That price would put him 10th this year in salary, and while he's certainly a very good player, he's not at the elite level of guys like A-Rod, Bonds, Miggy Cabrera or Pujols.

 

There have been reports that Ramirez would get anywhere from 100 million to one report that said the Angels were ready to offer Ramirez 130 million dollars. He's a big discount on last year's market where players like Soriano and Carlos Lee (both probably worse players and both older) got bigger deals.

[TruffleShuffle]

OPS+? Honestly I wouldn't expect anything better from you.

 

ERA+, i made a typing mistake and you know it you condescending a-hole

[Jazz]

I'm in a rough spot when it comes to making my judgement on Hendry. Because of how well ALL of his acquisitions this year have played, and the fact that he did sign Aram to a huge hometown discount, i'm leaning towards him being kept around for this next regime. If he can get Z locked up, get rid of one of the bums, and make a trade for a starting position player, then ill be completely sold.

 

I don't really believe this. Yeah, maybe he could've gotten slightly more elsewhere, but how is $15M per year a huge discount. That price would put him 10th this year in salary, and while he's certainly a very good player, he's not at the elite level of guys like A-Rod, Bonds, Miggy Cabrera or Pujols.

 

There have been reports that Ramirez would get anywhere from 100 million to one report that said the Angels were ready to offer Ramirez 130 million dollars. He's a big discount on last year's market where players like Soriano and Carlos Lee (both probably worse players and both older) got bigger deals.

 

yup.

 

if aram was an FA this coming year, he would get at least the contract soriano got.

[Keener98]

Marquis sucks. Get it through your heads, he sucks. No one, not even I, said the Cubs didn't improve themselves significantly this winter. It's just that it could have been done at a fraction of the cost and Hendry isn't smart enough to do it. Hendry deserves ZERO credit. NONE. It's that simple. Try and argue with me again. You won't win.

 

Why argue with an egotistical [expletive]? Nothing we say will ever change the great mind that is Meph.

[USSoccer]

OK, I'll play the "let's ignore all of Hendry's horrible 2006 moves, his poor roster management and general incompetence when it comes to building a well balanced team" game. We'll just look at the offseason:

 

I'll give him credit for properly targeting DeRosa, who has been very good, but I will not excuse the fact that they probably overpaid him.

 

I'll give him credit for Ted Lilly, who has been pretty good, but they probably overpaid him, too.

 

Jason Marquis will not end up being a good sign. I'm happy he's exceeded my lowest expectations, but all that means is that at some point, he's going to regress back to the mean. And we definetly overpaid him.

 

Daryle Ward is fine for the bench, and Hendry managed not to overpay him. Good job.

 

Cliff Floyd needs to start hitting for power. I'm not going to kill him for it on it's own, but he probably should have moved Jones before signing him.

 

Henry Blanco shouldn't have been signed and was overpaid. Again.

 

Aramis bailed Hendry out. I'm not going to ever give him credit for nearly losing our best player by being nonchalant about his extension, and subsequently nearly killing me, Tree and IMB! before Aramis decided to show his class and not chase dollar signs all the way to Disneyland.

 

Which brings me to Soriano. His contract will play out like all of us groupthink skeptics think it will. He's producing this year. He'll probably continue his plateau for 2 years after this. And then, it's going to get ugly. Hendry overpaid him, but I sort of understand his motive there.

 

So yeah, in almost all those cases, he targeted the right guy. But in almost all the cases, he overpaid these guys. He didn't show me anything more than the ability to throw money around like a drunken sailor in a strip club. Yeah, he stumbled onto the hotter strippers. But they're all still strippers, and sooner or later he's going to wish he had that money back.

[Mephistopheles]

okay his GB rates still arent at their 04-05 rates. So you're either lying and/or are misinformed. Edited July 15, 2007 by Mephistopheles

[DiamondMind]

Marquis sucks. Get it through your heads, he sucks. No one, not even I, said the Cubs didn't improve themselves significantly this winter. It's just that it could have been done at a fraction of the cost and Hendry isn't smart enough to do it. Hendry deserves ZERO credit. NONE. It's that simple. Try and argue with me again. You won't win.

 

Asmodai is arrogant. Get it through your heads, he's arrogant.

[Mephistopheles]

I'll give him credit for Ted Lilly, who has been pretty good, but they probably overpaid him, too.

 

Actually the Ted Lilly signing was by far his best signing and was known to be the best at the time, IMO. Given the price of pitching he didn't overpay once you factor in he's a guy who has always had good K rates and always played in the offense happy AL East.

 

Soriano wasn't very good.

Marquis was terrible.

DeRosa was useless and overkill.

Floyd was overkill.

Ward was alright.

[Keener98]

I'll give him credit for Ted Lilly, who has been pretty good, but they probably overpaid him, too.

 

Actually the Ted Lilly signing was by far his best signing and was known to be the best at the time, IMO. Given the price of pitching he didn't overpay once you factor in he's a guy who has always had good K rates and always played in the offense happy AL East.

 

Soriano wasn't very good.

Marquis was terrible.

DeRosa was useless and overkill.

Floyd was overkill.

Ward was alright.

 

wrong

[USSoccer]

I'll give him credit for Ted Lilly, who has been pretty good, but they probably overpaid him, too.

 

Actually the Ted Lilly signing was by far his best signing and was known to be the best at the time, IMO. Given the price of pitching he didn't overpay once you factor in he's a guy who has always had good K rates and always played in the offense happy AL East.

 

Soriano wasn't very good.

Marquis was terrible.

DeRosa was useless and overkill.

Floyd was overkill.

Ward was alright.

 

Yeah, that's why I said probably. I suppose Hendry could have tried to get him a little cheaper, but his deal is probably pretty fair given the factors you list. Overall, other than Aramis, that's probably been the best pickup, as he's the most likely to live up to the value of his contract.

[TruffleShuffle]

I'll give him credit for Ted Lilly, who has been pretty good, but they probably overpaid him, too.

 

Actually the Ted Lilly signing was by far his best signing and was known to be the best at the time, IMO. Given the price of pitching he didn't overpay once you factor in he's a guy who has always had good K rates and always played in the offense happy AL East.

 

Soriano wasn't very good.

Marquis was terrible.

DeRosa was useless and overkill.

Floyd was overkill.

Ward was alright.

 

hence the reason that the all-knowing mephistophles spends his time on an internet message board rather than supplying major league ballclubs with his genius assessments.

[CubColtPacer]

OK, I'll play the "let's ignore all of Hendry's horrible 2006 moves, his poor roster management and general incompetence when it comes to building a well balanced team" game. We'll just look at the offseason:

 

I'll give him credit for properly targeting DeRosa, who has been very good, but I will not excuse the fact that they probably overpaid him.

 

I'll give him credit for Ted Lilly, who has been pretty good, but they probably overpaid him, too.

 

Jason Marquis will not end up being a good sign. I'm happy he's exceeded my lowest expectations, but all that means is that at some point, he's going to regress back to the mean. And we definetly overpaid him.

 

Daryle Ward is fine for the bench, and Hendry managed not to overpay him. Good job.

 

Cliff Floyd needs to start hitting for power. I'm not going to kill him for it on it's own, but he probably should have moved Jones before signing him.

 

Henry Blanco shouldn't have been signed and was overpaid. Again.

 

Aramis bailed Hendry out. I'm not going to ever give him credit for nearly losing our best player by being nonchalant about his extension, and subsequently nearly killing me, Tree and IMB! before Aramis decided to show his class and not chase dollar signs all the way to Disneyland.

 

Which brings me to Soriano. His contract will play out like all of us groupthink skeptics think it will. He's producing this year. He'll probably continue his plateau for 2 years after this. And then, it's going to get ugly. Hendry overpaid him, but I sort of understand his motive there.

 

So yeah, in almost all those cases, he targeted the right guy. But in almost all the cases, he overpaid these guys. He didn't show me anything more than the ability to throw money around like a drunken sailor in a strip club. Yeah, he stumbled onto the hotter strippers. But they're all still strippers, and sooner or later he's going to wish he had that money back.

 

The question is, how are you defining overpaid? Yes, most to all of those players were overpaid-to get a single free agent in last years market, you had to overpay. Lilly has a good shot to be the best value free agent pitcher of the offseason. DeRosa will certainly be the best value second baseman. Ward was easily the best bench player available.

 

The only alternative to not overpaying guys though was to simply not sign anybody in free agency. Considering the Cubs made the decision to enter free agency, Hendry signed most of the best contracts to come out of the 2006 offseason. At least for one offseason, he was better than pretty much all of his peers.

[USSoccer]

I'll give him credit for Ted Lilly, who has been pretty good, but they probably overpaid him, too.

 

Actually the Ted Lilly signing was by far his best signing and was known to be the best at the time, IMO. Given the price of pitching he didn't overpay once you factor in he's a guy who has always had good K rates and always played in the offense happy AL East.

 

Soriano wasn't very good.

Marquis was terrible.

DeRosa was useless and overkill.

Floyd was overkill.

Ward was alright.

 

wrong

 

At the time he was signed, it was a completely correct statement. We overpaid a career utility guy coming off a contract year. He's exceeded expectations, and I've been pleased with his plate discipline, but I can see where Meph is coming from.

 

He's a useful piece. I like that he's on the team, but I'll leave it at that.

[USSoccer]

OK, I'll play the "let's ignore all of Hendry's horrible 2006 moves, his poor roster management and general incompetence when it comes to building a well balanced team" game. We'll just look at the offseason:

 

I'll give him credit for properly targeting DeRosa, who has been very good, but I will not excuse the fact that they probably overpaid him.

 

I'll give him credit for Ted Lilly, who has been pretty good, but they probably overpaid him, too.

 

Jason Marquis will not end up being a good sign. I'm happy he's exceeded my lowest expectations, but all that means is that at some point, he's going to regress back to the mean. And we definetly overpaid him.

 

Daryle Ward is fine for the bench, and Hendry managed not to overpay him. Good job.

 

Cliff Floyd needs to start hitting for power. I'm not going to kill him for it on it's own, but he probably should have moved Jones before signing him.

 

Henry Blanco shouldn't have been signed and was overpaid. Again.

 

Aramis bailed Hendry out. I'm not going to ever give him credit for nearly losing our best player by being nonchalant about his extension, and subsequently nearly killing me, Tree and IMB! before Aramis decided to show his class and not chase dollar signs all the way to Disneyland.

 

Which brings me to Soriano. His contract will play out like all of us groupthink skeptics think it will. He's producing this year. He'll probably continue his plateau for 2 years after this. And then, it's going to get ugly. Hendry overpaid him, but I sort of understand his motive there.

 

So yeah, in almost all those cases, he targeted the right guy. But in almost all the cases, he overpaid these guys. He didn't show me anything more than the ability to throw money around like a drunken sailor in a strip club. Yeah, he stumbled onto the hotter strippers. But they're all still strippers, and sooner or later he's going to wish he had that money back.

 

The question is, how are you defining overpaid? Yes, most to all of those players were overpaid-to get a single free agent in last years market, you had to overpay. Lilly has a good shot to be the best value free agent pitcher of the offseason. DeRosa will certainly be the best value second baseman. Ward was easily the best bench player available.

 

The only alternative to not overpaying guys though was to simply not sign anybody in free agency. Considering the Cubs made the decision to enter free agency, Hendry signed most of the best contracts to come out of the 2006 offseason. At least for one offseason, he was better than pretty much all of his peers.

 

But again, it had nothing to do with Hendry being especially clever. It had everything to do with him offering above market value for everyone except Lilly, who was paid pretty fairly, and Aramis, whom he nearly, stupidly lost.

[Mephistopheles]

There wasn't much reason to expect DeRosa to significantly outperform Ryan Theriot or even Ronny Cedeno. Before last season he posted OBP consecutively of .316, .293, and .325. It was a buy high move. The smarter move would have been to look at Giles or Durham. Granted, DeRosa has outplayed both of them....but it doesn't mean it was the right move at the time. The money could have been spent better elsewhere. Just like Sorianos. All of the moves (with the exception of Marquis) helped the Cubs -- even DeRosa. It's just he didn't do it efficiently.

[Jazz]

okay his GB rates still arent at their 04-05 rates. So you're either lying and/or are misinformed.

 

jason marquis G/F

 

2003 - 1.61

2004 - 2.17

2005 - 1.59

2006 - 1.16

2007 - 1.57

 

obviously 2006 was a down year, and 2004 was a career year, so his GB rate this year is pretty much average for him.