Jim Hendry signs 4-year contract extension

[Dallas Green]

I'm happy about this, just get us a lead-off hitter and a LH bat.

 

http://chi-ball.com/blog/2008/10/16/hendry-extension-close/

[sneakypower]

i don't think any of the three things you just said are going to go over very well

[UMFan83]

Meh, not especially happy not especially sad. We've gone over the Hendry tenure ad nauseum here. There are some things that he's done that I've liked, there are a lot of things that he's done that I don't like. But there really isnt anyone besides Randy Bush who would be able to step in and be the GM if Hendry opted out and left. Bringing anyone from outside the organization would probably not be a good idea at this point.

 

On the other hand, I get the sense that despite his success, Jimbo isn't exactly revered among baseball circles. Not to say he is thought of as bottom of the barrel either, but basically I don't think there would be much demand for Jim as another teams GM, meaning that his threatened (or rumored) opt-out is mostly just a leveraging tactic for a new deal coming off consecutive playoff appearances.

 

Of course I could be really wrong about that, there are people on this board with a much better grasp of the industry than I.

[UMFan83]

Whoops...maybe I am wrong

 

According to major league baseball sources, Cubs Chairman Crane Kenney recently declined to give the Seattle Mariners permission to talk to Hendry about their vacant GM position. The Mariners had hoped Hendry would be available because 2008 was the last guaranteed year of his contract.

 

Then later in the article..

 

Hendry's departure Hendry would be a major blow for the franchise as he could take free agents Ryan Dempster and Kerry Wood with him, along with several highly respected lieutenants.

 

Makes me wonder if he would take Randy Bush, leaving the Cubs without a worthwhile GM.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-081016-chicago-cubs-jim-hendry,0,582070.story

[Guest]

Makes me wonder if he would take Randy Bush, leaving the Cubs without a worthwhile GM.

 

Just go get Logan White. Why the Mariners haven't made a play at him is confounding.

 

I think Randy Bush would make a horrible GM and I am not a fan of Oneri Fleita.

[Dallas Green]

i don't think any of the three things you just said are going to go over very well

 

LOL. Yeah those are just my opinions. You could win a championship with the team we had, it just hasn't worked well in two post-seasons.

[cubsfan26]

Whoops...maybe I am wrong

 

According to major league baseball sources, Cubs Chairman Crane Kenney recently declined to give the Seattle Mariners permission to talk to Hendry about their vacant GM position. The Mariners had hoped Hendry would be available because 2008 was the last guaranteed year of his contract.

 

Then later in the article..

 

Hendry's departure Hendry would be a major blow for the franchise as he could take free agents Ryan Dempster and Kerry Wood with him, along with several highly respected lieutenants.

 

Makes me wonder if he would take Randy Bush, leaving the Cubs without a worthwhile GM.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-081016-chicago-cubs-jim-hendry,0,582070.story

 

 

Yeah I think there would be interest for Hendry then some think. I know many have not like some of his moves in the past, but even the best GM's make subpar moves.When it comes down to it Hendry has made alot more good moves then bad. Then when you consider he's put a competitive team on the field 5 of 6 years(05 team could have contended for playoff spot without all the injuries) he's been the GM, and has 3 division titles in 6 years. His resume is actually pretty solid, and I can see the Mariners, Blue Jays and a few other teams interested. But I would be surprised if Hendry isn't back, he seems to like it here, and the team is happy with him.

[UMFan83]

Whoops...maybe I am wrong

 

According to major league baseball sources, Cubs Chairman Crane Kenney recently declined to give the Seattle Mariners permission to talk to Hendry about their vacant GM position. The Mariners had hoped Hendry would be available because 2008 was the last guaranteed year of his contract.

 

Then later in the article..

 

Hendry's departure Hendry would be a major blow for the franchise as he could take free agents Ryan Dempster and Kerry Wood with him, along with several highly respected lieutenants.

 

Makes me wonder if he would take Randy Bush, leaving the Cubs without a worthwhile GM.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-081016-chicago-cubs-jim-hendry,0,582070.story

 

 

Yeah I think there would be interest for Hendry then some think. I know many have not like some of his moves in the past, but even the best GM's make subpar moves.When it comes down to it Hendry has made alot more good moves then bad. Then when you consider he's put a competitive team on the field 5 of 6 years(05 team could have contended for playoff spot without all the injuries) he's been the GM, and has 3 division titles in 6 years. His resume is actually pretty solid, and I can see the Mariners, Blue Jays and a few other teams interested. But I would be surprised if Hendry isn't back, he seems to like it here, and the team is happy with him.

 

I don't see his style working well with a mid-sized market team like Seattle. Hendry makes good moves, but he also throws a lot of money at his problems as well. I can't see him having the flexibility to do that in Seattle, a market that has let very good players leave due to money. And if they do give him some money to spend, are they going to give him more money to spend when he makes mistakes on some of his big money acquisitions?

[erik316wttn]

I'm a lot higher on Hendry than I've been in the past. I think it was the Harden deal that proved to me that he at least had some measurable brain activity. However, how do we know he won't fall back into the bad habits he did when Dusty was here?

 

He strikes me as a guy who lets his manager pretty much run the entire show, and he'll go out and get the players his manager wants. Which is fine to an extent, but there are times he just has to put his foot down and say no, and I don't really know if he did that much with Dusty.

[CubColtPacer]

Whoops...maybe I am wrong

 

According to major league baseball sources, Cubs Chairman Crane Kenney recently declined to give the Seattle Mariners permission to talk to Hendry about their vacant GM position. The Mariners had hoped Hendry would be available because 2008 was the last guaranteed year of his contract.

 

Then later in the article..

 

Hendry's departure Hendry would be a major blow for the franchise as he could take free agents Ryan Dempster and Kerry Wood with him, along with several highly respected lieutenants.

 

Makes me wonder if he would take Randy Bush, leaving the Cubs without a worthwhile GM.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-081016-chicago-cubs-jim-hendry,0,582070.story

 

 

Yeah I think there would be interest for Hendry then some think. I know many have not like some of his moves in the past, but even the best GM's make subpar moves.When it comes down to it Hendry has made alot more good moves then bad. Then when you consider he's put a competitive team on the field 5 of 6 years(05 team could have contended for playoff spot without all the injuries) he's been the GM, and has 3 division titles in 6 years. His resume is actually pretty solid, and I can see the Mariners, Blue Jays and a few other teams interested. But I would be surprised if Hendry isn't back, he seems to like it here, and the team is happy with him.

 

I don't see his style working well with a mid-sized market team like Seattle. Hendry makes good moves, but he also throws a lot of money at his problems as well. I can't see him having the flexibility to do that in Seattle, a market that has let very good players leave due to money. And if they do give him some money to spend, are they going to give him more money to spend when he makes mistakes on some of his big money acquisitions?

 

The Mariners spent around 1 million less than the Cubs this year and outspent them last year. They are plenty willing to spend money. They just haven't spent it on the right people.

[UMFan83]

Whoops...maybe I am wrong

 

According to major league baseball sources, Cubs Chairman Crane Kenney recently declined to give the Seattle Mariners permission to talk to Hendry about their vacant GM position. The Mariners had hoped Hendry would be available because 2008 was the last guaranteed year of his contract.

 

Then later in the article..

 

Hendry's departure Hendry would be a major blow for the franchise as he could take free agents Ryan Dempster and Kerry Wood with him, along with several highly respected lieutenants.

 

Makes me wonder if he would take Randy Bush, leaving the Cubs without a worthwhile GM.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-081016-chicago-cubs-jim-hendry,0,582070.story

 

 

Yeah I think there would be interest for Hendry then some think. I know many have not like some of his moves in the past, but even the best GM's make subpar moves.When it comes down to it Hendry has made alot more good moves then bad. Then when you consider he's put a competitive team on the field 5 of 6 years(05 team could have contended for playoff spot without all the injuries) he's been the GM, and has 3 division titles in 6 years. His resume is actually pretty solid, and I can see the Mariners, Blue Jays and a few other teams interested. But I would be surprised if Hendry isn't back, he seems to like it here, and the team is happy with him.

 

I don't see his style working well with a mid-sized market team like Seattle. Hendry makes good moves, but he also throws a lot of money at his problems as well. I can't see him having the flexibility to do that in Seattle, a market that has let very good players leave due to money. And if they do give him some money to spend, are they going to give him more money to spend when he makes mistakes on some of his big money acquisitions?

 

The Mariners spent around 1 million less than the Cubs this year and outspent them last year. They are plenty willing to spend money. They just haven't spent it on the right people.

 

Touche. I stand corrected.

[Backtobanks]

Whoops...maybe I am wrong

 

According to major league baseball sources, Cubs Chairman Crane Kenney recently declined to give the Seattle Mariners permission to talk to Hendry about their vacant GM position. The Mariners had hoped Hendry would be available because 2008 was the last guaranteed year of his contract.

 

Then later in the article..

 

Hendry's departure Hendry would be a major blow for the franchise as he could take free agents Ryan Dempster and Kerry Wood with him, along with several highly respected lieutenants.

 

Makes me wonder if he would take Randy Bush, leaving the Cubs without a worthwhile GM.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-081016-chicago-cubs-jim-hendry,0,582070.story

 

 

Yeah I think there would be interest for Hendry then some think. I know many have not like some of his moves in the past, but even the best GM's make subpar moves.When it comes down to it Hendry has made alot more good moves then bad. Then when you consider he's put a competitive team on the field 5 of 6 years(05 team could have contended for playoff spot without all the injuries) he's been the GM, and has 3 division titles in 6 years. His resume is actually pretty solid, and I can see the Mariners, Blue Jays and a few other teams interested. But I would be surprised if Hendry isn't back, he seems to like it here, and the team is happy with him.

 

I don't see his style working well with a mid-sized market team like Seattle. Hendry makes good moves, but he also throws a lot of money at his problems as well. I can't see him having the flexibility to do that in Seattle, a market that has let very good players leave due to money. And if they do give him some money to spend, are they going to give him more money to spend when he makes mistakes on some of his big money acquisitions?

 

I don't think it's fair to predict what he would do in another market when his "style" is based on one job with a big-market team. He might be very flexible if put in a different situation. That's like saying Brian Cashman could never be successful with another team.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Whoops...maybe I am wrong

 

According to major league baseball sources, Cubs Chairman Crane Kenney recently declined to give the Seattle Mariners permission to talk to Hendry about their vacant GM position. The Mariners had hoped Hendry would be available because 2008 was the last guaranteed year of his contract.

 

Then later in the article..

 

Hendry's departure Hendry would be a major blow for the franchise as he could take free agents Ryan Dempster and Kerry Wood with him, along with several highly respected lieutenants.

 

Makes me wonder if he would take Randy Bush, leaving the Cubs without a worthwhile GM.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-081016-chicago-cubs-jim-hendry,0,582070.story

 

 

Yeah I think there would be interest for Hendry then some think. I know many have not like some of his moves in the past, but even the best GM's make subpar moves.When it comes down to it Hendry has made alot more good moves then bad. Then when you consider he's put a competitive team on the field 5 of 6 years(05 team could have contended for playoff spot without all the injuries) he's been the GM, and has 3 division titles in 6 years. His resume is actually pretty solid, and I can see the Mariners, Blue Jays and a few other teams interested. But I would be surprised if Hendry isn't back, he seems to like it here, and the team is happy with him.

 

I don't see his style working well with a mid-sized market team like Seattle. Hendry makes good moves, but he also throws a lot of money at his problems as well. I can't see him having the flexibility to do that in Seattle, a market that has let very good players leave due to money. And if they do give him some money to spend, are they going to give him more money to spend when he makes mistakes on some of his big money acquisitions?

 

I don't think it's fair to predict what he would do in another market when his "style" is based on one job with a big-market team. He might be very flexible if put in a different situation. That's like saying Brian Cashman could never be successful with another team.

 

Seattle isnt exactly a small market team. They're not the Cubs, Red Sox, or Yankees, but they have money, and they have spent it in the past. While I do agree that with a small market team like the Royals, Hendry would be screwed, but with Seatlle, he could make some noise.

[Careless]

Then later in the article..

 

Hendry's departure Hendry would be a major blow for the franchise as he could take free agents Ryan Dempster and Kerry Wood with him, along with several highly respected lieutenants.

 

Makes me wonder if he would take Randy Bush, leaving the Cubs without a worthwhile GM.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-081016-chicago-cubs-jim-hendry,0,582070.story

I doubt someone the Cubs want as GM if Hendry leaves will leave to work as Hendry's underling.

[nilodnayr]

Makes me wonder if he would take Randy Bush, leaving the Cubs without a worthwhile GM.

 

Just go get Logan White. Why the Mariners haven't made a play at him is confounding.

 

I think Randy Bush would make a horrible GM and I am not a fan of Oneri Fleita.

 

Yeah, thats my reaction as well, Randy Bush is nowhere close to a worthwhile GM. Hendry has "succeeded" not because of his underlings but possibly in spite of his underlings.

[JeffH]

Bruce confirms the horrible news:

 

http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/770

[mul21]

Bruce confirms the horrible news:

 

http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/770

 

Yep, awful news that the 1st Cubs GM to bring the team to consistent respectability would get an extension. Worst. News. Ever.

 

Not saying I agree with everything he does or even his overall philosophy, but, hey, we could have Ed Wade or Ned Colletti.

[Dallas Green]

Bruce confirms the horrible news:

 

http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/770

 

Yep, awful news that the 1st Cubs GM to bring the team to consistent respectability would get an extension. Worst. News. Ever.

 

Not saying I agree with everything he does or even his overall philosophy, but, hey, we could have Ed Wade or Ned Colletti.

 

Ned Coletti :-& The only thing worse than his moves is his toupe

[Larry Horse]

Bruce confirms the horrible news:

 

http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/770

 

Yep, awful news that the 1st Cubs GM to bring the team to consistent respectability would get an extension. Worst. News. Ever.

 

Not saying I agree with everything he does or even his overall philosophy, but, hey, we could have Ed Wade or Ned Colletti.

 

 

Hmmmm....consistent respectability. That's quite a standard of success.

 

Hendry has basically been given an open checkbook since he started and the Cubs have one playoff series win to show for it. If "consistent respectability" is what Cub fans are looking for then I guess Hendry has done a great job.

[UK1679666180]

But there really isnt anyone besides Randy Bush who would be able to step in and be the GM if Hendry opted out and left. Bringing anyone from outside the organization would probably not be a good idea at this point.

 

Wilken would be in that running as well.

 

Hendry has earned a multi-year deal as Bruce had mentioned the positives outweigh the negatives. There are some flaws with him (free agent age regression is one of my main beefs still), hopefully those exposed flaws early in his tenure have become items to have been learned from.

[erik316wttn]

But there really isnt anyone besides Randy Bush who would be able to step in and be the GM if Hendry opted out and left. Bringing anyone from outside the organization would probably not be a good idea at this point.

 

Wilken would be in that running as well.

 

Hendry has earned a multi-year deal as Bruce had mentioned the positives outweigh the negatives. There are some flaws with him (free agent age regression is one of my main beefs still), hopefully those exposed flaws early in his tenure have become items to have been learned from.

 

He really got me on board this year with the Edmonds, Johnson, and Harden acquisitions. I was so/so on him at best until then, thinking he merely got lucky with the Aram and Nomar trades. My biggest concern about him was listed upthread, as I think he gives his manager far too much say in player acqusitions sometimes.

[UK1679666180]

But there really isnt anyone besides Randy Bush who would be able to step in and be the GM if Hendry opted out and left. Bringing anyone from outside the organization would probably not be a good idea at this point.

 

Wilken would be in that running as well.

 

Hendry has earned a multi-year deal as Bruce had mentioned the positives outweigh the negatives. There are some flaws with him (free agent age regression is one of my main beefs still), hopefully those exposed flaws early in his tenure have become items to have been learned from.

 

He really got me on board this year with the Edmonds, Johnson, and Harden acquisitions. I was so/so on him at best until then, thinking he merely got lucky with the Aram and Nomar trades. My biggest concern about him was listed upthread, as I think he gives his manager far too much say in player acqusitions sometimes.

 

That's what a non-control freak GM does as far as listening to his manager, good or bad.

[rocket]

Hendry's probably earned the extension, though I can't say I'm thrilled about it. If that makes any sense.

[erik316wttn]

But there really isnt anyone besides Randy Bush who would be able to step in and be the GM if Hendry opted out and left. Bringing anyone from outside the organization would probably not be a good idea at this point.

 

Wilken would be in that running as well.

 

Hendry has earned a multi-year deal as Bruce had mentioned the positives outweigh the negatives. There are some flaws with him (free agent age regression is one of my main beefs still), hopefully those exposed flaws early in his tenure have become items to have been learned from.

 

He really got me on board this year with the Edmonds, Johnson, and Harden acquisitions. I was so/so on him at best until then, thinking he merely got lucky with the Aram and Nomar trades. My biggest concern about him was listed upthread, as I think he gives his manager far too much say in player acqusitions sometimes.

 

That's what a non-control freak GM does as far as listening to his manager, good or bad.

 

It's fine that he's not a control freak. But he has to put his foot down sometime. We all know how Dusty felt about his "toys" (Neifi, Macias, Bynum, Ordonez, etc) to the point where it got ridiculous. Hendry needed to step in and get rid of those guys because Dusty's continual overuse of them really hurt the team. But he didn't. He let Dusty do whatever the hell he wanted even though people like my wife, who know crap and a half about baseball, asked me why Dusty kept playing those "crappy" guys.

 

It's the same with the Eyre/Howry situation. You just know Lou had his ear in releasing Eyre, even though he was clearly the better of the two, because Lou had a thing for Howry. It's one thing if a manager wants a player, and he is even entitled to some mistakes in personnel decisions. However, continual misuse of a player or players to the point where it's a clear detriment to the team deserves intervention by the GM, something we have not yet seen Hendry do.

[BigbadB]

I was a Hendry hater in the early days of his tenure as GM. I agree with Erik that he got lucky with some of the deals he made.

 

And I also agree with Pinger that he has probably learned from his mistakes. There seems to be more emphasis on improving the horrible BB/9 and OBP rates this team was consistently putting up year after year.

 

I'm not a hater anymore, but he's far from being a successful GM. For whatever reason, he has been able to get ownership to release the purse strings. Money has turned this organization from a failure to a contender. Unfortunately, money isn't the only answer to a successful program. Player development is way behind where it should be. If they can fix that problem, I'd actually be on board with Hendry and would be hopeful that it would be an awesome ride.