Official Apologize to Hendry Thread

[CoolHandLuke]

I'd say Hendry got the better end of the Barrett/Miller deal.

[Backtobanks]

Dempster, Theriot, Harden, Edmonds, Fukudome...

 

executive of the year

 

if you ask me

 

indeed. hopefully we won't be changing our tunes come october.

 

In this year of presidential politics, NSBB has a lot more flip-floppers than the Republicans or Democrats. I've been a supporter of Hendry since the begining and for all of the jokes and personal insults, I think he is constantly working on making the Cubs better. His biggest weaknesses are a tendency to overpay certain players and to trust his managers (esp. Baker) too much. All of us (myself included) "armchair GMs" forget that it takes 2 teams to make a trade. There should be no reason to "change our tunes come October" because Hendry has done what he has had to do to get us to October (assemble the best team in baseball). If injuries happen or players fail, don't put the blame on Hendry.

[Tracer Bullet]

I'd say Hendry got the better end of the Barrett/Miller deal.

 

Wasn't Oakland just a middle-man there? They got Barrett from Montreal for a ptbnl and the next day traded him to Chicago for Miller. I don't know who the ptbnl was, but I thought that was just a slightly delayed 3-team trade. Maybe I'm remembering incorrectly.

[Tracer Bullet]

Dempster, Theriot, Harden, Edmonds, Fukudome...

 

executive of the year

 

if you ask me

 

indeed. hopefully we won't be changing our tunes come october.

 

In this year of presidential politics, NSBB has a lot more flip-floppers than the Republicans or Democrats. I've been a supporter of Hendry since the begining and for all of the jokes and personal insults, I think he is constantly working on making the Cubs better. His biggest weaknesses are a tendency to overpay certain players and to trust his managers (esp. Baker) too much. All of us (myself included) "armchair GMs" forget that it takes 2 teams to make a trade. There should be no reason to "change our tunes come October" because Hendry has done what he has had to do to get us to October (assemble the best team in baseball). If injuries happen or players fail, don't put the blame on Hendry.

 

I don't think anyone forgets it takes 2 to make a trade. I think we look at Hendry's track record and his inability to string together years of success, despite now having a big payroll and a weak division, and find him lacking as a GM. Doesn't mean he doesn't try or doesn't make some good moves.

[El Ridda]

Plus I think it would be really fun to have a few beers with him.

 

 

Yup. I have heard that Jimbo goes into full Prior bashing mode after a few Whiskey waters.

[Tyrant]

Plus I think it would be really fun to have a few beers with him.

 

 

Yup. I have heard that Jimbo goes into full Prior bashing mode after a few Whiskey waters.

 

Wasn't there a pretty revealing piece on some website about a luncheon where Hendry went off on Prior and was very candid? I seem to recall that from a ways back.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Plus I think it would be really fun to have a few beers with him.

 

 

Yup. I have heard that Jimbo goes into full Prior bashing mode after a few Whiskey waters.

 

Wasn't there a pretty revealing piece on some website about a luncheon where Hendry went off on Prior and was very candid? I seem to recall that from a ways back.

 

Yeah, it was on Hire Jim Essian.

[CubColtPacer]

Now with Hendry we've had 2 good years of him at GM, two bad years, and two more good years.

 

While he's made the team better in 08 then ever before, I wouldn't say that he necessarily did a better job of building the team then he did in the first couple years. He just had more resources to play with.

 

Do I think the Cubs have one of the best GM's in the business? No, probably not. His fascination with certain things will still lead him to make some head scratchers at times, and probably more than the very best do. That led to trades like Pierre and Izturis.

 

I do think he is in the next level down of GM's though, the very good ones. Free agency has been a mixed bag for Hendry. Overall though, the biggest criticism you can levy at Hendry in free agency is what he didn't do in the offseasons before 05 and 06 to improve the team to what it needed to be, not to what he did. We've had a decent amount of overpayment over the years, but very few of the big contracts that completely flopped. He's balanced that overpayment of other free agents by managing to sign most of the stars that were already on the team to hometown discounts.

At the same time, Hendry has usually done a very good job sifting through talent in free agency and finding the players who likely are going to be productive even while other attractive players flop (DeRosa and Lilly are the best two examples of this). Lately, Hendry seems to have gotten a lot better at bargain shopping as he starts to go for more players who are good at 1 thing to fill specific roles (Ward, Johnson, Edmonds), instead of trying to carry players who can do a little of everything but nothing particularly well (Macias, Bynum).

 

Trades though have always been Hendry's forte. He always has done a good job of evaluating the talent on his own team, and so if you look at it with a talent given/talent recieved method, Hendry has come way out on top. Mostly for buying, and a little for selling. The biggest problem for trades has been that Hendry has sometimes targeted the wrong player. Pierre, Izturis, Bynum, Trachsel. Those weren't good trades no matter how little talent went back the other way, although the likelihood of any of those players playing for the Cubs today would be pretty low. Overall though, if you consistently either have a major win (people contributing significantly for your squad, not for the other) or a minor loss (trade value lost, but otherwise no significant contributions for either side) you're likely to come out ahead, and Hendry has done that.

 

I think you'll see an extension for Hendry in the next month or two, and I won't be against it one bit. But I hope he doesn't take that extension as complete validation of what he's doing. He still could stand to improve quite a bit in certain areas. But I overall really like the new and improved Jim Hendry of the last 1 1/2 years. He has targeted mostly the right kind of players. He has overpaid at times, and gotten some other bargains. He has addressed the needs of the ballclub (talent infusion in the offseason after 06, more OBP in the offseason after 07, and more pitching during the season in 08). I'm looking forward to seeing what he does to continue to build the ballclub in the next couple of years even while knowing that there will probably be a few at-bats or a few innings given each year to his projects that don't work out (this year that was Chad Fox). Overall though, that's a drop in the bucket to the overall team, and the overall team continues to get stronger, for now and for the future.

[Tyrant]

Plus I think it would be really fun to have a few beers with him.

 

 

Yup. I have heard that Jimbo goes into full Prior bashing mode after a few Whiskey waters.

 

Wasn't there a pretty revealing piece on some website about a luncheon where Hendry went off on Prior and was very candid? I seem to recall that from a ways back.

 

Yeah, it was on Hire Jim Essian.

 

That's right. I remember reading it, but never being sure if it was all true or not.

[CubinNY]

 

I think Hendry's main weakness might also be a strength. He gives his manager the players that the manager wants. Fortunately for us Lou knows what he's doing and he does the right thing most of the time.

[jersey cubs fan]

Nothing to apologize for. He did an absolute piss poor job of generally managing the Cubs for several years and only began to turn things around when the ownership allowed for an increase in payroll matched only by a couple other teams.

[Soul]

Nothing to apologize for. He did an absolute piss poor job of generally managing the Cubs for several years and only began to turn things around when the ownership allowed for an increase in payroll matched only by a couple other teams.

 

I hate to say it, but things started to turn around when the Trib gave him the resources to overpay for Soriano.

[CubColtPacer]

 

I think Hendry's main weakness might also be a strength. He gives his manager the players that the manager wants. Fortunately for us Lou knows what he's doing and he does the right thing most of the time.

 

I would agree with that. The other thing that Lou helps with is that if Hendry does one of his infamous buy low moves, if it's not working Lou won't stick with it for very long.

 

I think that if Lou does leave after next season, that next manager search could be very important because Hendry might tweak his philosophy to whoever is the manager next. Hendry is a good talent evaluator and pretty good negotiator, but I'm still worried about his philosophy not being stable. It's just so hard to tell if his philosophy was changing and that's why he hired Lou, or he hired Lou and his philosophy changed to match him.

 

And sure, spending money is nice for Hendry, but you still have to be a good GM to spend it on the right people. The Cubs are one of the top 10 payrolls in baseball this year. They are 18 games over .500.

3 of the top 10 teams in payroll are under .500. 3 others are 6 games over, 2 games over, and 1 game over. 6 of the top 10 teams in payroll do not have great results.

 

Spending money certainly gives you an advantage over some other teams, but it's still not easy to spend what the Cubs have and build a top 5 team, especially a team that the window does not close in 2008. They haven't completely gone for broke here. They've set themselves up for now, but the next 2-3 years should still have contending teams once again with only minor moves needed to be done.

[El Ridda]

Plus I think it would be really fun to have a few beers with him.

 

 

Yup. I have heard that Jimbo goes into full Prior bashing mode after a few Whiskey waters.

 

Wasn't there a pretty revealing piece on some website about a luncheon where Hendry went off on Prior and was very candid? I seem to recall that from a ways back.

 

Yeah, it was on Hire Jim Essian.

 

That's right. I remember reading it, but never being sure if it was all true or not.

 

I remember reading that and cracking up. I also have a friend that won some silent auction for a private dinner with Hendry (and one guest)... I think this dinner happened in 2004. So I guess it was jut the three of them at Maggiano's or something, and Jim was shockingly candid about his thoughts about current and past players, near trades, and of course, Prior. My friend told me that Jim threw down cocktails like a young John Belushi, mixed in a f-bomb every other word, and repeatedly called Mark Prior a Fing P***Y. Pretty great stuff if you ask me.

[jersey cubs fan]

And sure, spending money is nice for Hendry, but you still have to be a good GM to spend it on the right people. The Cubs are one of the top 10 payrolls in baseball this year. They are 18 games over .500.

3 of the top 10 teams in payroll are under .500. 3 others are 6 games over, 2 games over, and 1 game over. 6 of the top 10 teams in payroll do not have great results.

 

Spending money certainly gives you an advantage over some other teams, but it's still not easy to spend what the Cubs have and build a top 5 team, especially a team that the window does not close in 2008. They haven't completely gone for broke here. They've set themselves up for now, but the next 2-3 years should still have contending teams once again with only minor moves needed to be done.

 

They've been top 10 before and didn't spend it on the right people. The difference is the substantial increase they've allowed to be allocated for 2-3 years from now, when Trib no longer owns. Hendry has clearly gone for broke, as they have next to nothing on the farm to replace what's already up. And they've got a couple guys performing at $10+ million levels who are going to need to get paid if they keep them next year.

[soapy]

Nothing to apologize for. He did an absolute piss poor job of generally managing the Cubs for several years and only began to turn things around when the ownership allowed for an increase in payroll matched only by a couple other teams.

 

that's kind of how i look at it. i'm not going to apologize for criticizing moves that were stupid. really the only move i can think of that i was very critical of that has worked out wonderfully (so far) is Edmonds. certainly i was wrong about that. i guess i wasn't too fond of the Derosa signing because of the dollars, but that's been great.

 

other than that, i think most people have been critical of stupid moves and have praised his good moves. certainly Hendry has been pretty good the last two seasons with signing Derosa, Lilly, Wood, re-signing Ramirez, re-signing Zambrano, signing Fukudome, to a lesser extent maybe you throw Soriano in there. the Marquis signing is still bad, IMO, and of course picking up Trachsel last season. the good has out-weighed the bad though lately.

 

as far as this trade is concerned, it's about as good as i could have hoped for. despite the injury concerns, it was definitely worth the risk.

[Billy_Buck]

Do I think the Cubs have one of the best GM's in the business? No, probably not.

 

 

I do think he is in the next level down of GM's though, the very good ones.

I think that's a good summation. In my view, to use Hendry-speak, "We're always looking to make this team better, and if a deal comes along that includes a GM that would make us better, I'd certainly look at it."

 

He's put together a good club this year. I hope it keeps up.

[Bobson Dugnutt]

Dempster, Theriot, Harden, Edmonds, Fukudome...

 

executive of the year

 

if you ask me

 

not that i disagree that hendry could be a candidate for exec of the year, but i'm not sure what theriot and dempster have to do with it. there was basically zero doubt that they were going to make the 25-mean out of spring training, it was just a matter of how they would be used, which seems like more of a credit to lou than anything. fukudome, harden, edmonds i can agree with, and gaudin could probably be added to that list. re-signing wood for relatively cheap to be a reliever could also be a notch on his belt for exec of the year consideration.

[swordsman]

Was Hendry responsible for the Huntley trade to the Dodgers? I remember the architect of that deal being heralded as the second coming.

[Bobson Dugnutt]

Was Hendry responsible for the Huntley trade to the Dodgers? I remember the architect of that deal being heralded as the second coming.

 

 

Yeah, he was. That was his first off-season as general manager.

[YearofDaCubs]

I'll apologize when we get to the World Series.

[Fro]

 

I don't think anyone forgets it takes 2 to make a trade. I think we look at Hendry's track record and his inability to string together years of success, despite now having a big payroll and a weak division, and find him lacking as a GM. Doesn't mean he doesn't try or doesn't make some good moves.

 

Weak Division? In the last 5 seasons, when we haven't won the division (2004, 2005, 2006), a team from the NL Central has played in the World Series. The Central's the best division in baseball this year.

 

You can't really blame Hendry for 2004 either... you definitely can for 2005/2006 though.

[David]

 

I don't think anyone forgets it takes 2 to make a trade. I think we look at Hendry's track record and his inability to string together years of success, despite now having a big payroll and a weak division, and find him lacking as a GM. Doesn't mean he doesn't try or doesn't make some good moves.

 

Weak Division? In the last 5 seasons, when we haven't won the division (2004, 2005, 2006), a team from the NL Central has played in the World Series. The Central's the best division in baseball this year.

 

You can't really blame Hendry for 2004 either... you definitely can for 2005/2006 though.

 

That really doesn't mean all that much. Doesn't mean the division was strong those years. It may have been (in 2004, it certainly was), but the fact that the teams from the division made the World Series doesn't mean the division was strong.

 

That said, the NL Central is certainly a very strong division right now compared to others.

[NCCubFan]

Was Hendry responsible for the Huntley trade to the Dodgers?

No, but he was responsible for the Hundley trade. :D

[sneakypower]

Dempster, Theriot, Harden, Edmonds, Fukudome...

 

executive of the year

 

if you ask me

 

not that i disagree that hendry could be a candidate for exec of the year, but i'm not sure what theriot and dempster have to do with it. there was basically zero doubt that they were going to make the 25-mean out of spring training, it was just a matter of how they would be used, which seems like more of a credit to lou than anything. fukudome, harden, edmonds i can agree with, and gaudin could probably be added to that list. re-signing wood for relatively cheap to be a reliever could also be a notch on his belt for exec of the year consideration.

The overriding concensus on here (which I thought to be warranted but vastly overstated) were that Dempster and Theriot were simply unacceptable players that needed to be replaced with players who represented an improvement. And the whole offseason Hendry kept reiterating that the club was high on both players and ultimately stuck with both, to great results. The Edmonds signing is another great example of Hendry going against strong dissent from the fanbase to improve the team.

 

And call me naive, but I think there really was something to MacPhail handcuffing Hendry in previous offseasons. As he has shown with Fukudome, Lilly, Soriano, Harden, etc. if he wants a player he'll do whatever it takes to bring them aboard. I strongly suspect he would have signed Beltran and probably Furcal without MacPhail pressuring him to stick to a budget. And he's forced to go halfway, and employ inferior options in Cedeno, Burnitz, Jones, which doesn't suit a big market team very well. Trading prospects for legit proven players is how a big market team ought to operate, and he seems to understand that.