Jim Hendry signs 4-year contract extension

[mul21]

Do those weeks not count?

 

They certainly count, but I think you have to take into account the new management crew in place and the time it took them to figure out the team they had. They finished 85-77 and were 7 (?) games under .500 in early June. That means they played 15 games over the last 4 months of the season. Or about a .570 winning %, which is solid for MLB.

[jersey cubs fan]

Do those weeks not count?

 

They certainly count, but I think you have to take into account the new management crew in place and the time it took them to figure out the team they had. They finished 85-77 and were 7 (?) games under .500 in early June. That means they played 15 games over the last 4 months of the season. Or about a .570 winning %, which is solid for MLB.

 

No you don't. It was a baseball team and anybody with a pulse knew all they needed to know about the players. They didn't need time to learn how to play together or understand the playbook or gel, they struggled a little early and got better later, and when all was said and done won 52.4% of their games.

[cubsfan26]

Any season we make the postseason is a good season. Baseball is to hard of a sport to make the playoffs in, so to discredit them because they only won 85 games and played in a bad division would be silly. Thats like saying 2004 was a good season because we won 89 games, even though we missed out on the wild card by 3 games. In 2007 this team had issues the first 53 games, and started out 22 and 31. But the point is they turned things around and had the best record in the NL(second best in baseball) after early June. Yes they had some luck playing in a bad division(as they had bad luck in 04), so they were able to come back from being in a big hole, but it's not their fault what division they play in.

[chuckywang]

HALLELUJAH!!

 

I have been a Hendry supporter ever since 2003 and this is great news.

[cubsfan26]

No you don't. It was a baseball team and anybody with a pulse knew all they needed to know about the players. They didn't need time to learn how to play together or understand the playbook or gel, they struggled a little early and got better later, and when all was said and done won 52.4% of their games.

 

 

Lets not forget Marmol wasn't on the team for most of the first two months of the season, and wasn't moved to a late inning reliever for a few weeks after he got called up. Because if I remember right, our bullpen was giving away alot of close games early in the season, and having Marmol could have easily been a 3-4 game swing. Plus Barrett defense, Izturis sucking, and Wade Miller sucking also set us back early in the season. So in my opinion the team that we saw the last three months of the season was better then a 85 win team, and was just set back because of it's start. Of course guys like Jacque Jones, Bob Howry, Scott Eyre and a few others played better. But alot of the teams improvement also came from adding Marmol, Marshall, and a few other things.

[mul21]

No you don't. It was a baseball team and anybody with a pulse knew all they needed to know about the players. They didn't need time to learn how to play together or understand the playbook or gel, they struggled a little early and got better later, and when all was said and done won 52.4% of their games.

 

 

Lets not forget Marmol wasn't on the team for most of the first two months of the season, and wasn't moved to a late inning reliever for a few weeks after he got called up. Because if I remember right, our bullpen was giving away alot of close games early in the season, and having Marmol could have easily been a 3-4 game swing. Plus Barrett defense, Izturis sucking, and Wade Miller sucking also set us back early in the season. So in my opinion the team that we saw the last three months of the season was better then a 85 win team, and was just set back because of it's start. Of course guys like Jacque Jones, Bob Howry, Scott Eyre and a few others played better. But alot of the teams improvement also came from adding Marmol, Marshall, and a few other things.

 

Yeah, I was more referring to the usage of Izturis and Theriot, the stabilization of the pen, and just the overall usage patterns of different players. Not the players learning to play together or anything bizarre like that.

[dew1679666265]

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.

 

"Consistent respectability" is a lot better than watching the Cubs of the 50's and 60's go through 20 years of 4th and 5th (and lower) place finishes. To be honest, a GM can only put together a team that is strong "on paper", the performance is basically up to the players, coaches, and manager. According to the "experts", Hendry put together the best team "on paper" in the NL (and maybe in all of baseball). The players slumped at the wrong time (or choked) and the Cubs lost 3 in a row, but it doesn't diminish the fact that Hendry assembled a 97-win team.

 

.....which means absolutely nothing. He may have "assembled a 97 win team" in the regular season, but somehow his handpicked "best team "on paper"" can't quite make that leap in the postseason. I don't want to be one of those Cub fans who 30 years from now is still waiting for a World Series win and I'm not going to give Hendry any props until it happens. He has had a financial advantage that no other Cub G.M. has ever had, so back-to-back division titles sure isn't much of a return on the humongous amount of money he has been allowed to spend.

 

The playoffs are a crapshoot. You can't blame Hendry for what happened. He put together a great team, and that is all a GM can do.

 

I just wonder if all the people who are lessening the Cubs loss in the playoffs by calling it a crapshoot would be doing the same thing had the Cubs gotten to the World Series. Would it be a crapshoot then?

 

I know I'm a little late responding to this, but figured I would anyway.

 

People were saying the playoffs were a crapshoot long before the Cubs imploded in them. I just have no idea what Hendry could have done to ensure a team that won 97 games could win 11 more in the postseason.

 

The way the Cubs collapsed, no GM could have stopped it.

[dew1679666265]

I like this move. I can see where three years might have been slightly better than four, but I'm fine with his deal.

 

I've been torn on Hendry the past couple of seasons. I liked him early in his tenure, but him keeping poor players like Izturis, Neifi, Macias, etc., I began to sour on him a bit. I also wasn't crazy about his seeming lack of interest in OBP.

 

Then, Bruce started talking about the renewed interest in the front office about OBP and other non-batting average/counting stats. Then Hendry started bringing in players like DeRosa, Theriot (though some on here hate him), Fukudome, etc. and I started seeing the commitment to more advanced stats.

 

There's a commitment to winning in the front office (yay cliche!) and Hendry is showing more and more that he understands what it takes to win. Because of that, I feel like he can put together the team we've all been waiting for.

[nilodnayr]

In my opinion Hendry deserves an extension. He had a ton of pressure the last two seasons to get this team to the postseason, and his job was basically on the line. Yes he's had some money to spend, but alot of GM's have money to spend. How many teams have had pay rolls simliar or higher then us and missed the playoffs the last two seasons? Sure not every one of his moves have been good ones, and Fukudome does look a little scary right now. But most of Hendry moves lately have been good ones, and our regular season results speak for themselves.

 

 

 

As for sucking in the postseason, I don't really see how we can really blame Hendry. Is it Hendrys fault that guys like Lilly,Hill, Harden and Dempster pitched good all season then had bad starts in the postseason? Is it Hendry fault that Ramirez, Soriano, Soto, Theriot, Edmonds/Jones and so on couldn't hit at all in the postseason? When a GM is putting together a team, it's very hard to know how good or bad these players will play, once the postseason starts. What happen in the postseason the last two years could have happen to any GM. It's not his fault that the good players on the team, didn't play like good players. It's not like the Cubs weren't good enough to beat the Dbacks or Dodgers. They just played alot better then us, and there's nothing a GM can do about that.

 

Can we please stop saying that our 2007 regular season was good?

 

Considering how bad the first 6-8 weeks of 2007 were, I think the 2007 was pretty good.

 

Do those weeks not count?

 

I'm not sure the original poster said the 2007 regular season was good, but I don't see why you can't call it that. If somebody said really good or great, that would be pushing it, but how isn't 85-77, with a pythag record of 87-75, and an NL ranking of 8 in runs scored and 2 in ERA not good? It was the 6th best record in the NL, which generally qualifies you for the playoffs in any US sport aside from baseball, and they did win their division. Clearly they were nothing special but it was a pretty good team.

 

I think you have a good point there. The Cubs should play hockey instead of baseball.

[Wheelimus]

The playoffs are a crapshoot. The only way the Cubs are ever going to finally win a World Series is with consistent appearances. One of these years it will pay off.

 

The reason we've gone 100 years without a Series win is because we've had so few appearances. You aren't going to get very far only making the playoffs once a decade, at best.

 

So I'm pretty happy with Hendry. We've made it two years straight now. I have no reason to think we won't make it again next year. And, as the skit goes, we'll probably lose again. But if we can keep making the playoffs more often than we don't, we will win eventually.

 

Of course, it doesn't hurt that I'm 28 and feel I have many decades to wait it out. :-))

[Outshined_One]

Sticky'd.

[jersey cubs fan]

Sticky'd.

 

why?

[JeffH]

Sticky'd.

 

why?

 

To provide a convenient place to discuss the malfeasance in the Cubs' front office.

[gflore34]

Listening to BB on the score this afternoon, while they seemed to agree with the move, they weren't sure of the Cubs apparent enthusiasm regarding his extension. Citing a lack baseball vision like, surprise, the Tampa Bay management, yes it took them only 10 years to make the WS. But, how much "vision" and "skill" did it take to draft Longoria (3rd pick), Upton (2nd pick) and Price (1st pick)? With those draft slots even the vision-less Hendry couldn't have messed up.

[Vanilla Ice]

dont be so sure. he has screwed up some high picks, right?

[Outshined_One]

Sticky'd.

 

why?

 

It seemed like important news and was starting to get buried on this page. It'll be de-sticky'd after this news has run its course.

[UMFan83]

Listening to BB on the score this afternoon, while they seemed to agree with the move, they weren't sure of the Cubs apparent enthusiasm regarding his extension. Citing a lack baseball vision like, surprise, the Tampa Bay management, yes it took them only 10 years to make the WS. But, how much "vision" and "skill" did it take to draft Longoria (3rd pick), Upton (2nd pick) and Price (1st pick)? With those draft slots even the vision-less Hendry couldn't have messed up.

 

Sure but it did take a lot of vision to create a long term plan, and stick to it through losing, terrible attendance and fan apathy. Plus, as we've seen the the past *coughluismontanezcough* it is possible to mess even top 3 picks up.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Sticky'd.

 

why?

 

It seemed like important news and was starting to get buried on this page. It'll be de-sticky'd after this news has run its course.

I think it already has

[jersey cubs fan]

Sticky'd.

 

why?

 

It seemed like important news and was starting to get buried on this page. It'll be de-sticky'd after this news has run its course.

 

If it was important it wouldn't have been buried. There really isn't anything to say on the matter. I think you let it die a natural death.

[Blue W]

Let me get this straight, a team that has the second best record in baseball from June 1 on in 2007 and wins its division does not even qualify as good. A team that led the toughest division in its league for the majority of the year, had the league's best record and won its diivision going away is terrible because it had a bad streak of 3 games at the wrong time. And the guy who built a team capable of gret play and winning the division two years in a row in 323-game sample size is an idiot because somehow he makes the same team suck in a a six-game playofff sample. That's it. It's Hendry. Let's take him out back and kick the crap out of him.

[CubinNY]

It's Hendry. Let's take him out back and kick the crap out of him.

I'd settle for a 1 year contract.

 

The new owner shouldn't be saddled with a drunken sailor on shore leave. Hendry has spent an incredible sum of money to "stay competitive within division".

[Backtobanks]

It's Hendry. Let's take him out back and kick the crap out of him.

I'd settle for a 1 year contract.

 

The new owner shouldn't be saddled with a drunken sailor on shore leave. Hendry has spent an incredible sum of money to "stay competitive within division".

 

It's a good thing you aren't Hendry's agent. By all accounts, Hendry built the best team in the NL (possibly the best team in both leagues) and you complain that he spent an incredible sum of money to "stay competitive within their division". Well the last time I looked the Yankees, Mets, Angels, White Sox, and Red Sox are all sitting at home after spending an incredible sum of money too and I don't see the outrage aimed at their GMs.

[imb]

Sticky'd.

 

why?

 

It seemed like important news and was starting to get buried on this page. It'll be de-sticky'd after this news has run its course.

 

If it was important it wouldn't have been buried. There really isn't anything to say on the matter. I think you let it die a natural death.

 

he hadn't pushed one of the mod buttons in a while and wanted to remind people

[17 Seconds]

The only way the Cubs are ever going to finally win a World Series is with consistent appearances.

 

Or until they have a core of players who don't get freaked out the second the playoffs start.

[BCVM22]

The only way the Cubs are ever going to finally win a World Series is with consistent appearances.

 

Or until they have a core of players who don't get freaked out the second the playoffs start.

 

Difficult to know if you have the latter if you don't do the former.