Jim Hendry Appreciation thread.

[Exile on Waveland]

I hate that the 2009 budget has $90M tied up in 7 players. Unless the farm produces like never before we'll need the new owners to spend like crazy just to put a .500 team together.

 

Maybe not - depends on how well those 7 guys (I assume they are Soriano, Lee, ARam, Zambrano, Lily, Marquis, and DeRosa?) play and if our young pitching continues to produce. I also don't see any reason why this team's payroll can't be $150 million considering the amount of revenue the franchise will clear in yr where there are in the playoff race.

 

Pie (CF) and Theriot (SS) should be starters next season. Hill and Gallagher should still be in the rotation. Ward should be brought back.

 

If Pie is in CF and Soriano is in LF, you need to decide who will play RF (Jones? Murt?), or add someone via trade or FA. Plus the catching situation will need to be addressed. Kendall seems pretty good to me so far and I'd be willing to give him 2 yrs and 8-9 mill if he keeps up his current pace.

 

Kendall should NOT be given a two-year deal. That's begging for trouble. I've been one of his bigger supporters on here (mainly because I didn't think that trade warranted such vitriol), and I might support a one-year, small-money deal. Two years is a bad idea.

[RynoRules]

I hate that the 2009 budget has $90M tied up in 7 players. Unless the farm produces like never before we'll need the new owners to spend like crazy just to put a .500 team together.

 

Maybe not - depends on how well those 7 guys (I assume they are Soriano, Lee, ARam, Zambrano, Lily, Marquis, and DeRosa?) play and if our young pitching continues to produce. I also don't see any reason why this team's payroll can't be $150 million considering the amount of revenue the franchise will clear in yr where there are in the playoff race.

 

Pie (CF) and Theriot (SS) should be starters next season. Hill and Gallagher should still be in the rotation. Ward should be brought back.

 

If Pie is in CF and Soriano is in LF, you need to decide who will play RF (Jones? Murt?), or add someone via trade or FA. Plus the catching situation will need to be addressed. Kendall seems pretty good to me so far and I'd be willing to give him 2 yrs and 8-9 mill if he keeps up his current pace.

 

Kendall should NOT be given a two-year deal. That's begging for trouble. I've been one of his bigger supporters on here (mainly because I didn't think that trade warranted such vitriol), and I might support a one-year, small-money deal. Two years is a bad idea.

 

I'd rather he get a one yr deal, but I am not sure how realistic that is.

[frostwyrm]

Also, all of those types of players have now disappeared from the Cubs roster, which makes you wonder if Hendry has changed or not.

I'm not sure Hendry has changed. I think it may be more a case of Dusty likes that type of player but Piniella has this habit of liking players who can actually play.

 

So, basically Hendry is a G.M. who is a little too attuned into what his manager wants. Considering that Hendry is pretty good at contracts and trades for the most part, maybe we just need to hire somebody with only 1 job-to hire the manager :D.

 

I remember Dusty said he asked Hendry to bring back Eric Karros and Randall Simon to play 1B in 2004. I've always wondered if Hendry would have granted Dusty's wish if Derrek Lee hadn't been available. I think he probably would have, which would have been hilarious considering both those guys were so bad they were out of baseball midway through the 2004 season.

[Exile on Waveland]

I hate that the 2009 budget has $90M tied up in 7 players. Unless the farm produces like never before we'll need the new owners to spend like crazy just to put a .500 team together.

 

Maybe not - depends on how well those 7 guys (I assume they are Soriano, Lee, ARam, Zambrano, Lily, Marquis, and DeRosa?) play and if our young pitching continues to produce. I also don't see any reason why this team's payroll can't be $150 million considering the amount of revenue the franchise will clear in yr where there are in the playoff race.

 

Pie (CF) and Theriot (SS) should be starters next season. Hill and Gallagher should still be in the rotation. Ward should be brought back.

 

If Pie is in CF and Soriano is in LF, you need to decide who will play RF (Jones? Murt?), or add someone via trade or FA. Plus the catching situation will need to be addressed. Kendall seems pretty good to me so far and I'd be willing to give him 2 yrs and 8-9 mill if he keeps up his current pace.

 

Kendall should NOT be given a two-year deal. That's begging for trouble. I've been one of his bigger supporters on here (mainly because I didn't think that trade warranted such vitriol), and I might support a one-year, small-money deal. Two years is a bad idea.

 

I'd rather he get a one yr deal, but I am not sure how realistic that is.

 

Then, unless it's a two-year deal for like two million total, I'd thank him for this season and go with Soto/?.

[Exile on Waveland]

Also, all of those types of players have now disappeared from the Cubs roster, which makes you wonder if Hendry has changed or not.

I'm not sure Hendry has changed. I think it may be more a case of Dusty likes that type of player but Piniella has this habit of liking players who can actually play.

 

So, basically Hendry is a G.M. who is a little too attuned into what his manager wants. Considering that Hendry is pretty good at contracts and trades for the most part, maybe we just need to hire somebody with only 1 job-to hire the manager :D.

 

I remember Dusty said he asked Hendry to bring back Eric Karros and Randall Simon to play 1B in 2004. I've always wondered if Hendry would have granted Dusty's wish if Derrek Lee hadn't been available. I think he probably would have, which would have been hilarious considering both those guys were so bad they were out of baseball midway through the 2004 season.

 

I don't like Hendry, but his idiocy pales in comparison to Dusty's. It boggles the mind; I can't help but laugh thinking of him pushing for Karros/Simon in 2004.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

How does Hendry not get credit for Lee, Ramirez, or Nomar? That's exactly what he's supposed to do, find inefficiencies like that. The idea that he lucked into those is insane, especially when he was pretty much the orchestrator of the Nomar deal by all accounts.

[Soul]

How does Hendry not get credit for Lee, Ramirez, or Nomar? That's exactly what he's supposed to do, find inefficiencies like that. The idea that he lucked into those is insane, especially when he was pretty much the orchestrator of the Nomar deal by all accounts.

 

Nah, he didn't luck into those. He gets credit for them though, IMO. It just hasn't been enough. I think the real problem has been, and continues to be, lack of real good positional talent from the minors to fill the holes adequately. That and the BP moves haven't turned out real well for Jim in many cases.

 

Who knows, if Theriot continues to be good and Murton finally gets the chance to be a consistent producer, we could be looking at a couple halfway decent positional players from our system for the first time in forever. That might really allow us to turn a corner as an organization, because I just don't like playing F.A. games with the entire roster, regardless of how much we have to spend.

[moorecg]

How does Hendry not get credit for Lee, Ramirez, or Nomar? That's exactly what he's supposed to do, find inefficiencies like that. The idea that he lucked into those is insane, especially when he was pretty much the orchestrator of the Nomar deal by all accounts.

 

Nah, he didn't luck into those. He gets credit for them though, IMO. It just hasn't been enough. I think the real problem has been, and continues to be, lack of real good positional talent from the minors to fill the holes adequately. That and the BP moves haven't turned out real well for Jim in many cases.

 

Who knows, if Theriot continues to be good and Murton finally gets the chance to be a consistent producer, we could be looking at a couple halfway decent positional players from our system for the first time in forever. That might really allow us to turn a corner as an organization, because I just don't like playing F.A. games with the entire roster, regardless of how much we have to spend.

 

I'd also say that if our drafts improve with the hire of the new guy (wilkens right?) Hendry's got to be given some credit for bringing him in too...

[Sammy Sofa]

How does Hendry not get credit for Lee, Ramirez, or Nomar? That's exactly what he's supposed to do, find inefficiencies like that. The idea that he lucked into those is insane, especially when he was pretty much the orchestrator of the Nomar deal by all accounts.

 

Who knows, if Theriot continues to be good and Murton finally gets the chance to be a consistent producer, we could be looking at a couple halfway decent positional players from our system for the first time in forever.

 

Does Murton really count since he came from the Red Sox system in the Nomar deal?

[Soul]

How does Hendry not get credit for Lee, Ramirez, or Nomar? That's exactly what he's supposed to do, find inefficiencies like that. The idea that he lucked into those is insane, especially when he was pretty much the orchestrator of the Nomar deal by all accounts.

 

Who knows, if Theriot continues to be good and Murton finally gets the chance to be a consistent producer, we could be looking at a couple halfway decent positional players from our system for the first time in forever.

 

Does Murton really count since he came from the Red Sox system in the Nomar deal?

 

Shouldn't we get at least some credit for his development since he did spend a bit of time in our minors?

[frostwyrm]

Also, all of those types of players have now disappeared from the Cubs roster, which makes you wonder if Hendry has changed or not.

I'm not sure Hendry has changed. I think it may be more a case of Dusty likes that type of player but Piniella has this habit of liking players who can actually play.

 

Yeah, that certain species of useless utility player just isn't around anymore. Izturis was the last Dusty-type guy we had and Lou didn't like him. You do seem some traces of Dusty in his handling of Floyd, though it's more forgivable since Floyd was good as recently as 2005. Dusty liked players who had never been good. We ended 2005 with Jose Macias as our primary leadoff hitter. Hard to imagine Lou doing that.

[Electron Blue]

How does Hendry not get credit for Lee, Ramirez, or Nomar? That's exactly what he's supposed to do, find inefficiencies like that. The idea that he lucked into those is insane, especially when he was pretty much the orchestrator of the Nomar deal by all accounts.

 

Who knows, if Theriot continues to be good and Murton finally gets the chance to be a consistent producer, we could be looking at a couple halfway decent positional players from our system for the first time in forever.

 

Does Murton really count since he came from the Red Sox system in the Nomar deal?

 

Shouldn't we get at least some credit for his development since he did spend a bit of time in our minors?

 

Credit for development? not much, I'd say. But certainly credit for wanting him (i.e. scouting him). On the flip side, maybe the Cubs should get credit for developing Brendan Harris, but the blame for not wanting him (or, at least, not letting him "figure it out" in Chicago).

[dew1679666265]

How does Hendry not get credit for Lee, Ramirez, or Nomar? That's exactly what he's supposed to do, find inefficiencies like that. The idea that he lucked into those is insane, especially when he was pretty much the orchestrator of the Nomar deal by all accounts.

 

Who knows, if Theriot continues to be good and Murton finally gets the chance to be a consistent producer, we could be looking at a couple halfway decent positional players from our system for the first time in forever.

 

Does Murton really count since he came from the Red Sox system in the Nomar deal?

 

Shouldn't we get at least some credit for his development since he did spend a bit of time in our minors?

 

Credit for development? not much, I'd say. But certainly credit for wanting him (i.e. scouting him). On the flip side, maybe the Cubs should get credit for developing Brendan Harris, but the blame for not wanting him (or, at least, not letting him "figure it out" in Chicago).

 

I wouldn't blame the Cubs for not "letting Harris figure it out." If I recall correctly, Hendry stated around the time of the trade that the piece he hated giving up the most in the Nomar deal was Brendan Harris. On the face of the trade, you're getting a great shortstop and a good, young outfielder. You have to give up talent to get that and the talent was Harris.

 

Blame would be reasonable if Hendry traded Harris for a quick fix that Harris clearly would have been better than.

[C.C.]

Where would we be without Lilly, Marquis, Ward, Dero, floyd? Props for a great offseason from Hendry...Hopefully he gets that lifetime extension soon.

[NCCubFan]

Where would we be without Lilly, Marquis, Ward, Dero, floyd? Props for a great offseason from Hendry...Hopefully he gets that lifetime extension soon.

You're joking, right? I'll admit he made some good signings this past offseason, but that doesn't undo the damage he did in 2005 and 2006. The Cubs still are far behind where they were in 2003 and 2004; they just have the good fortune this year to be the least crappy in a crappy division. He doesn't deserve an extension simply for partially recovering from his past incompetence.

[RynoRules]

Where would we be without Lilly, Marquis, Ward, Dero, floyd? Props for a great offseason from Hendry...Hopefully he gets that lifetime extension soon.

You're joking, right? I'll admit he made some good signings this past offseason, but that doesn't undo the damage he did in 2005 and 2006. The Cubs still are far behind where they were in 2003 and 2004; they just have the good fortune this year to be the least crappy in a crappy division. He doesn't deserve an extension simply for partially recovering from his past incompetence.

 

Pretty sure he was kidding.

 

I think Lou is a good influence on Jim. That does not make up for his past mistakes, but the partnership is a far better one than what we suffered through over the past several years. The bets part of all of this is that Lou isn't afraid to ding crappy vets for young guys.

[Backtobanks]

Where would we be without Lilly, Marquis, Ward, Dero, floyd? Props for a great offseason from Hendry...Hopefully he gets that lifetime extension soon.

You're joking, right? I'll admit he made some good signings this past offseason, but that doesn't undo the damage he did in 2005 and 2006. The Cubs still are far behind where they were in 2003 and 2004; they just have the good fortune this year to be the least crappy in a crappy division. He doesn't deserve an extension simply for partially recovering from his past incompetence.

 

I don't know why he is joking. Ozzie just got a 5 year deal for taking a World Champion to last place to 2 years. On the same subject, Kenny Williams seems to have a lifetime position for doing the same thing.