Harden wants to stay and other stuff (Grabow, Starlin, etc.)

[David]

Saw this on MLBTR's Twitter...

 

* Free agent Rich Harden wants to return to the Cubs. His agent is likely to meet with Cubs GM Jim Hendry soon.

* The Cubs are expected to sign lefty reliever John Grabow to a two-year deal with an option for 2012.

* Agent Barry Praver says there's been no talk of waiving Carlos Zambrano's no-trade clause.

* The Cubs are likely to move Kosuke Fukudome to right, so they will be looking for a center fielder.

 

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/11/cubs-rumors-harden-grabow-zambrano.html

 

Here's hoping that last part means Cameron will be manning CF next year.

 

 

Here are some of the actual excerpts...

 

 

Rich Harden is holding out hope of remaining a Cub. His agent, Arn Tellem, is in Chicago and plans to meet with Hendry soon. Atlanta also may be shopping starter Kenshin Kawakami, who has two years and $13 million left on his deal. Though Ted Lilly will open the season on the disabled list, Hendry said: "We don’t feel we’re going to pick up anybody in a trade better than Ted. ...We’re always looking to get better on the mound, but Ted’s situation doesn’t factor in at all."

 

The Cubs are focusing on re-signing free-agent left-hander John Grabow, who is expected to sign a two-year deal with an option for 2012.

 

Carlos Zambrano’s agent, Barry Praver, said there has been no talk by Zambrano or the Cubs about waiving his no-trade clause. Praver also picked up Carlos Marmol as a new client. Big Z is staying in Chicago this winter.

 

Hendry didn’t rule out the possibility of top prospect Starlin Castro playing short in 2010.

 

The Cubs plan on moving Kosuke Fukudome back to right, leaving them in the market for a center fielder.

 

 

 

That Starlin Castro tidbit is surprising. Really hoping he just meant as a cup of coffee.

[CUBZ99]

Good to see that Harden wants to stay, but he is going to need to give the Cubs a discount in order for them to be able to sign him. Maybe an incentive laden deal?

[shnsajax]

Good to see that Harden wants to stay, but he is going to need to give the Cubs a discount in order for them to be able to sign him. Maybe an incentive laden deal?

 

Based on his career, an incentive laden deal is what most teams will be offering him.

[Little Slide Rooter]

It seems that all potentially big free agents express interst in returning to their team, so I dont expect too much of a discount. This being said, expecially with Lilly in question, I would strongly suggest signing Harden to an incentive laden deal, move Bradley for some salary space, sign Cameron and call it an off season.

[Derwood]

Castro at SS would mean Theriot moves to 2B or is traded. I have no idea what the market would be for him, but he's cheap and decent enough at the plate for his position

[Cubswin11]

It would be stupid to not at least enter negotiations with Harden and see if a 1-2 year, incentive, deal could be worked out. I am just luke warm on Castro starting at SS this year, I would like to see him have at least one more full season in the upper levels of the minors (AA/AA). However I wouldn't mind inviting him to ST and see what he can do, if he shows he can handle it there then maybe consider starting him on the OD roster.

[A-Cal]

if castro shows the goods in Spring Training...let him ride...the kid is special

[PrimeTime]

LOL at Hendry defending Miles and thinking the middle infield is fine..

 

Someone asked on the last blog why the Cubs seem “down” on Ryan Theriot. I don’t think 154 games played constitutes “down.” I think many of the fans are more down on Theriot than anything else. Here is what Jim Hendry said when asked if a middle infielder were a priority this winter:

 

"Not necessarily. I'm very happy with Ryan. Theriot's a winning-type player. He didn't play quite as well late when we were out of it as he did the previous year, but he gives you 110 (percent) every day. You win a lot of baseball games with him. I thought Baker did a really good job after we got him. He gives you a lot of protection. He plays well at second. I think Mike Fontenot was a guy, he'd be the first to tell you, that he had a disappointing year. We certainly need him to bounce back. We've got (Andres) Blanco, who's a great defender. It's no secret that (Aaron) Miles had just a tremendous hiccup and a poor year after two really good years at St. Louis."

[Butterscup1679666578]

It's also no secret that Aaron Miles has always sucked, Jim.

 

Hopefully they get a deal done and keep Harden.

[PrimeTime]

Cubs GM Jim Hendry says Milton Bradley may be back in 2010, and called the outfielder's '09 season a "major hiccup"

 

Via Twitter from Carrie Muskat

[YearofDaCubs]

LOL at Hendry defending Miles and thinking the middle infield is fine..

 

Someone asked on the last blog why the Cubs seem “down” on Ryan Theriot. I don’t think 154 games played constitutes “down.” I think many of the fans are more down on Theriot than anything else. Here is what Jim Hendry said when asked if a middle infielder were a priority this winter:

 

"Not necessarily. I'm very happy with Ryan. Theriot's a winning-type player. He didn't play quite as well late when we were out of it as he did the previous year, but he gives you 110 (percent) every day. You win a lot of baseball games with him. I thought Baker did a really good job after we got him. He gives you a lot of protection. He plays well at second. I think Mike Fontenot was a guy, he'd be the first to tell you, that he had a disappointing year. We certainly need him to bounce back. We've got (Andres) Blanco, who's a great defender. It's no secret that (Aaron) Miles had just a tremendous hiccup and a poor year after two really good years at St. Louis."

The sooner Hendry is gone the sooner we will become contenders.

[RedFlash]

Cubs GM Jim Hendry says Milton Bradley may be back in 2010, and called the outfielder's '09 season a "major hiccup"

 

Via Twitter from Carrie Muskat

 

Two words: Negotiating ploy. You ain't fooling anyone, Jim.

[rocket]

let's not rush starlin castro, please.

[sneakypower]

even worse than the perils of rushing Castro, we'd probably have mediocre production wasting a good year or two of cheap service time from him, to have him hit FA at 26 before his prime

[erik316wttn]

LOL at Hendry defending Miles and thinking the middle infield is fine..

 

Someone asked on the last blog why the Cubs seem “down” on Ryan Theriot. I don’t think 154 games played constitutes “down.” I think many of the fans are more down on Theriot than anything else. Here is what Jim Hendry said when asked if a middle infielder were a priority this winter:

 

"Not necessarily. I'm very happy with Ryan. Theriot's a winning-type player. He didn't play quite as well late when we were out of it as he did the previous year, but he gives you 110 (percent) every day. You win a lot of baseball games with him. I thought Baker did a really good job after we got him. He gives you a lot of protection. He plays well at second. I think Mike Fontenot was a guy, he'd be the first to tell you, that he had a disappointing year. We certainly need him to bounce back. We've got (Andres) Blanco, who's a great defender. It's no secret that (Aaron) Miles had just a tremendous hiccup and a poor year after two really good years at St. Louis."

The sooner Hendry is gone the sooner we will become contenders.

 

Agreed, but only half of our MIF is a problem. We could do a hell of a lot worse than Theriot. But we need another to replace him.

 

The one thing that irks me the most about Hendry is his complete inability or unwillingness to admit a mistake.

[RedFlash]

The one thing that irks me the most about Hendry is his complete inability or unwillingness to admit a mistake.

 

Umm.....Milton Bradley? By putting Bradley on the market to trade, Hendry has admitted it was a mistake. The problem isn't Hendry can not admit his mistake, it's the mistakes he's willing to admit to. He'll admit to Bradley being a mistake, but not Miles, despite Miles being arguably the worst player in MLB.

[davell]

I don't think Hendry even WANTS to keep Miles around honestly. But, he's untradeable. And asking Ricketts to take a bath on Bradley's contract is probably about all Jim can sack up for this offseason. It's not exactly getting him in Ricketts' good graces, in all likelihood, so he's probably stuck with Miles and hoping he improves a ton from last year's numbers.

[cubsfan26]

The one thing that irks me the most about Hendry is his complete inability or unwillingness to admit a mistake.

 

You can't say to the media that signing a guy was a mistake when he's still on the team. So he's gotta give the BS answers of saying stuff like he had a bad year and will rebound this year to show confidence in him.

[TheDude]

The one thing that irks me the most about Hendry is his complete inability or unwillingness to admit a mistake.

I'm sorry but this is a foolish thing to write. Managers, in any career, should not be in the habit of throwing current or former employees under the bus, especially not publicly. If Hendry were to come out and say "I made a huge mistake, signing Aaron Miles was a waste of resources that could have been better spent elsewhere, and I apologize to the fans" then he is effectively insulting Miles as a player and professional.

 

He would be burning bridges with that player, the player's agent, other players represented by the agent, and potentially the player's peers from former or future teams (who may decide not to consider the Cubs organization based on it's management's actions and words). You think black athletes had the Reds high on their list 20 years ago?

 

Hendry is a businessman and he isn't going to single out a bad contract because it singles out the athlete's performance and disrupts the baseball family. Even if his intention is to fault himself, he is still effectively saying in public 'that guy wasn't worth the money' which is easily interpreted by the player and his peers as 'that guy sucked.'

 

The only public apology a man in his position will make is if he gets caught snorting coke off a prostitute or some other perceived debauchery.

[Sammy Sofa]

The one thing that irks me the most about Hendry is his complete inability or unwillingness to admit a mistake.

I'm sorry but this is a foolish thing to write. Managers, in any career, should not be in the habit of throwing current or former employees under the bus, especially not publicly. If Hendry were to come out and say "I made a huge mistake, signing Aaron Miles was a waste of resources that could have been better spent elsewhere, and I apologize to the fans" then he is effectively insulting Miles as a player and professional.

 

He would be burning bridges with that player, the player's agent, other players represented by the agent, and potentially the player's peers from former or future teams (who may decide not to consider the Cubs organization based on it's management's actions and words). You think black athletes had the Reds high on their list 20 years ago?

 

Hendry is a businessman and he isn't going to single out a bad contract because it singles out the athlete's performance and disrupts the baseball family. Even if his intention is to fault himself, he is still effectively saying in public 'that guy wasn't worth the money' which is easily interpreted by the player and his peers as 'that guy sucked.'

 

The only public apology a man in his position will make is if he gets caught snorting coke off a prostitute or some other perceived debauchery.

 

No kidding. Who are these mythical GM's out there "admit to a mistake" that some people seem to expect? A bad GM that tosses players under the bus like that would be even worse than a GM that signs a bad player to begin with.

[erik316wttn]

Um.... where did I ever say Hendry had to throw him under the bus? Admitting a mistake can be something other than saying "This guy sucks, I don't want him on my team anymore." If Hendry doesn't try to actively replace him or get rid of him somehow (think another Bradley trade but on a smaller scale), it's obvious that he's happy with Miles, who was a mistake from the start.

 

Hendry has taken far too long to correct himself on a great deal of things: Neifi, Bynum, Macias, letting Dusty play those guys ad nauseum, letting Dusty manage out his contract instead of canning his sorry ass, and other things I'm too tired to think of right now.

[CubColtPacer]

Um.... where did I ever say Hendry had to throw him under the bus? Admitting a mistake can be something other than saying "This guy sucks, I don't want him on my team anymore." If Hendry doesn't try to actively replace him or get rid of him somehow (think another Bradley trade but on a smaller scale), it's obvious that he's happy with Miles, who was a mistake from the start.

 

Hendry has taken far too long to correct himself on a great deal of things: Neifi, Bynum, Macias, letting Dusty play those guys ad nauseum, letting Dusty manage out his contract instead of canning his sorry ass, and other things I'm too tired to think of right now.

 

I don't know when you expected Hendry to do something about Bynum. He got only 136 AB's in his 1 season with the Cubs (and he had a 764 OPS). Half of those came in late August and September when the Cubs were hopelessly out of it and were running short on available players as well. He was then traded in the offseason for better talent.

 

Neifi wasn't really a problem until 06 when he was on the multi-year deal (obviously the Cubs didn't intend for him to get that many at-bats in 05 but he did fine as the backup SS pressed into starting duty). Hendry then made the mistake of re-signing him to a 2 year deal, but by August he had "admitted" that mistake by trading him.

 

There are definitely situations where Hendry has kept too much faith in guys for too long, but there are also plenty of situations where players and coaches have had shorter leashes. I have a hard time seeing how he's worse than any other GM in that area.

[Hawk4Hall]

Miles better not be back.

[SouthSideRyan]

Freddie Bynum??

[TheDude]

Um.... where did I ever say Hendry had to throw him under the bus? Admitting a mistake can be something other than saying "This guy sucks, I don't want him on my team anymore."

As I already stated, Hendry could be entirely diplomatic in an apology and make statements only about his own judgment and job, and it will still be interpreted by many players as an insult or attack on the player in question. People will read between the lines and read further than the intent.

 

It's simply bad business.