This offseason will make or break Jim Hendry

[utkcub]

He has the pieces in the farm as well as the backing of ownership now, there are no more excuses. I have always been a Hendry backer, but if moves aren't made this offseason that will obviously improve this team then it will be time for him to go. These horribly back ended contracts time after time is paralyzing our front office. We have two proven hitters that we can't move because of their contracts. This isn't 2003 anymore, he can no longer hang his hat on the trades for Lee and Ramirez. This smartest move Hendry ever made was hiring Jaramillo, but it could be too little too late.

 

Discuss

[UMFan83]

Overpaying to keep Grabow was a great start to his "make or break" offseason.

[utkcub]

Exactly, it's only a matter of time before they extend Aaron Miles \:D/

[Sammy Sofa]

Pieces in the farm for what?

[utkcub]

For making trades...we actually have talent now

[SABR Gamer]

Lol, due to Hendry's situation (no money to spend) and the fact that if he doesn't make a significant trade then its almost automatically a "break" offseason, along with the fact that if he DOES make a trade then people will most likely want to kill Hendry for trading away our prospects when we finally have some that are promising, Hendry is pretty screwed (thank god). So, hopefully we will have someone with some seriously ownage GM skills at GM in 2011.

[A New Era]

I say the best thing Hendry could do (grabow was not a great move but atleast it's not a long term move that could really hinder the cubs like the bradley fiasco), is to keep bradley, trade a few minor pieces for some decent talent to fill holes, and don't go trading away the best of our farm and focus more on the next several years of building a good team long term.

 

Having said that he will spend the rest of our budget and probably trade one or two top pieces for a semi big name that will underperform. Hopefully he gets fired after that.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I think Milton Bradley and the way the situation was handled broke Hendry, and the only thing that can save him now is a rabbit.

[jersey cubs fan]

He has the pieces in the farm as well as the backing of ownership now, there are no more excuses.

 

There never have been any legit excuses. Hendry has been in this organization for a decade and a half, he had a major input on every team of this decade, and he's had the backing and support of owners, including ever increasing payrolls while many teams were flat or even declining. If there was a lack of young talent in the organization before, Hendry shares the blame. If there were missteps in the past, Hendry played a large part in that. He has been here forever and his teams have been major disappointments. This offseason isn't going to make or break him. He may stay or he may go, but Hendry has solidified his legacy, of extremely expensive mediocrity and occassional moderate success, and that won't change with this offseason.

[Bull]

He has the pieces in the farm as well as the backing of ownership now, there are no more excuses.

 

There never have been any legit excuses. Hendry has been in this organization for a decade and a half, he had a major input on every team of this decade, and he's had the backing and support of owners, including ever increasing payrolls while many teams were flat or even declining. If there was a lack of young talent in the organization before, Hendry shares the blame. If there were missteps in the past, Hendry played a large part in that. He has been here forever and his teams have been major disappointments. This offseason isn't going to make or break him. He may stay or he may go, but Hendry has solidified his legacy, of extremely expensive mediocrity and occassional moderate success, and that won't change with this offseason.

 

Second place again and he keeps his job. But he has to be closer to 1st than 4th this year. But he'll lose Piniella, which will cost him his job in October 2011.

[C.C.]

I don't think it matters much what Hendry does in the off-season. He's not going to miraculously turn into a top tier GM. He's gone after this year.

[Tarver]

Hendry isn't just broke, he's shattered. We should hope he doesn't have the backing of ownership. Less likelihood he can damage this roster further.

[Tarver]

What's frustrating is that most here could see what a bind this team would be in this season years ago. Everyone was just hoping we could at least make it to the WS in 08 or 09. Barring a huge payroll escalation, I don't see how the 10 team won't be markedly inferior to those squads. He had his shot, it didn't work, and he has to suffer the consequences.

[Backtobanks]

I think that Hendry's fate will be decided by the 2010 results. If the Cubs win the NL Central, it could go either way. Anything less, he's gone. It might be hard for Ricketts to fire Hendry if the Cubs get into the playoffs and advance past the first round.

[Guest]

I can't think of a GM who has done more harmful things to the organization he works for and continued to keep their job for as long as Hendry has been here. Simply amazing.

 

The oversight committee probably isn't the best since the organization was owned by a corporation that was more interested in tv viewers and people who read newspapers, but the time is now. No more damage is still better than more damage.

 

I'd rather go into 2010 with the roster that the Cubs currently have than have Hendry make one more stupid move that will further hamper this team's future.

[YearofDaCubs]

make or break? The guy has been broken for a very long time now. He is a horrible GM.

[NCCubFan]

Second place again and he keeps his job.

I disagree. Anything short of at least winning a series in the playoffs, and maybe even making the World Series, and I think he's gone. Just getting back to the level of 2007--08 isn't enough; they need to make progress beyond that level. And I realize that's probably a tall order, but Hendry himself is responsible for handcuffing the team payroll-wise, so that level of performance should still be required for him to keep his job.

[TruffleShuffle]

I can't think of a GM who has done more harmful things to the organization he works for and continued to keep their job for as long as Hendry has been here. Simply amazing.

 

i can think of plenty. ned colletti, brian sabean, ed wade, j.p. ricciardi (yes he was canned but he got a ton of rope). colletti has been the beneficiary of a great farm system but hands out dumb contracts like candy; sabean, aside from his scouts finding some really good pitchers, has consistently fielded a team of washed-up veterans, wade has completely pillaged the minor league system to field a mediocre big league club. the cubs might be poorly positioned now but i can't say that hendry has been worse than those guys, and a few others.

[Guest]

I can't think of a GM who has done more harmful things to the organization he works for and continued to keep their job for as long as Hendry has been here. Simply amazing.

 

i can think of plenty. ned colletti, brian sabean, ed wade, j.p. ricciardi (yes he was canned but he got a ton of rope). colletti has been the beneficiary of a great farm system but hands out dumb contracts like candy; sabean, aside from his scouts finding some really good pitchers, has consistently fielded a team of washed-up veterans, wade has completely pillaged the minor league system to field a mediocre big league club. the cubs might be poorly positioned now but i can't say that hendry has been worse than those guys, and a few others.

 

Hendry has had the resources to draft and sign pretty much whoever he's wanted, has had his budget increased to almost double since he took over as GM, and basically had a very limited number of bad contracts on his hands in the early stages of his position as GM.

 

The farm system went from one of the best to one of the worst, he has consistently given out long term deals to guys he wishes were either traded now or were already traded. He continually looks at other team's make ups to determine what his team needs to be successful, like more lefthanded hitters to offset dominant right handed pitching.

 

He spends a significant portion of each offseason attempting to fix the mistakes made in previous seasons rather than spending that valuable time looking for ways to improve the team. He's been horrible. And a top 5 payroll team in the league deserves better than horrible. The time is now. New ownership is in place. If the time isn't really now since Ricketts may need time to evaluate who is available and who is the best fit for the position, then take away all of Hendry's abilities to further hinder the team moving forward. Pull a Steinbrenner and nix any trade that will inevitably hurt the team beyond 2010.

 

He had his chances and he failed. Firing him isn't something new or unique. It happens all the time in that industry. Results are expected when you take that position, and they know that going in. The results just aren't there for the resources he was given.

 

And to think about what kind of position this team was in going into the 2003 season and where they are now is pretty sad. Here I was thinking dynasty and between Dusty and Hendry, it's become an embarrassment and a bit painful to watch.

 

Ironically, just as I was finishing this post, Hendry was busy fixing another one of his mistakes from the previous year by trading Aaron Miles to Oakland.

[UMFan83]

Hahaha, I love how 3 of the first moves Hendry is gonna make this offseason are 1) not giving arb to Gregg essentially ending our relationship with him, 2) Dumping Aaron Miles and eating Jake Fox and $1 million, 3) soon to be trading Milton Bradley and eating a ton of his salary.

 

How can a general manager f up that badly in one offseason? And how can he be allowed to fix the mess? Although I have no problem with any of the moves so far, I have a problem with the fact that they are messes we had to get rid of in the first place.

[Guest]

Hahaha, I love how 3 of the first moves Hendry is gonna make this offseason are 1) not giving arb to Gregg essentially ending our relationship with him, 2) Dumping Aaron Miles and eating Jake Fox and $1 million, 3) soon to be trading Milton Bradley and eating a ton of his salary.

 

How can a general manager f up that badly in one offseason? And how can he be allowed to fix the mess? Although I have no problem with any of the moves so far, I have a problem with the fact that they are messes we had to get rid of in the first place.

You forgot handing out a $7.5M/2yr contract to a completely ordinary reliever.

[Guest]

Hahaha, I love how 3 of the first moves Hendry is gonna make this offseason are 1) not giving arb to Gregg essentially ending our relationship with him, 2) Dumping Aaron Miles and eating Jake Fox and $1 million, 3) soon to be trading Milton Bradley and eating a ton of his salary.

 

How can a general manager f up that badly in one offseason? And how can he be allowed to fix the mess? Although I have no problem with any of the moves so far, I have a problem with the fact that they are messes we had to get rid of in the first place.

You forgot handing out a $7.5M/2yr contract to a completely ordinary reliever.

 

I think what UMF was referring to is that all those moves were fixing his mistakes from last year. The one you mentioned is just an old habit. :hello:

[Backtobanks]

Hahaha, I love how 3 of the first moves Hendry is gonna make this offseason are 1) not giving arb to Gregg essentially ending our relationship with him, 2) Dumping Aaron Miles and eating Jake Fox and $1 million, 3) soon to be trading Milton Bradley and eating a ton of his salary.

 

How can a general manager f up that badly in one offseason? And how can he be allowed to fix the mess? Although I have no problem with any of the moves so far, I have a problem with the fact that they are messes we had to get rid of in the first place.

 

1. So you wanted him to offer Gregg arbitration?

2. So you wanted to keep Miles?

 

The real offseason hasn't really started yet, but dumping Heilman, Gregg, and Miles looks like addition by subtraction. As for Bradley, I'm sure it won't be pretty, but we'll have to wait and see.

[Guest]

Hahaha, I love how 3 of the first moves Hendry is gonna make this offseason are 1) not giving arb to Gregg essentially ending our relationship with him, 2) Dumping Aaron Miles and eating Jake Fox and $1 million, 3) soon to be trading Milton Bradley and eating a ton of his salary.

 

How can a general manager f up that badly in one offseason? And how can he be allowed to fix the mess? Although I have no problem with any of the moves so far, I have a problem with the fact that they are messes we had to get rid of in the first place.

 

1. So you wanted him to offer Gregg arbitration?

2. So you wanted to keep Miles?

 

The real offseason hasn't really started yet, but dumping Heilman, Gregg, and Miles looks like addition by subtraction. As for Bradley, I'm sure it won't be pretty, but we'll have to wait and see.

it was more of a comment on last offseason, I believe.

[sweetpeteman]

Hahaha, I love how 3 of the first moves Hendry is gonna make this offseason are 1) not giving arb to Gregg essentially ending our relationship with him, 2) Dumping Aaron Miles and eating Jake Fox and $1 million, 3) soon to be trading Milton Bradley and eating a ton of his salary.

 

How can a general manager f up that badly in one offseason? And how can he be allowed to fix the mess? Although I have no problem with any of the moves so far, I have a problem with the fact that they are messes we had to get rid of in the first place.

 

1. So you wanted him to offer Gregg arbitration?

2. So you wanted to keep Miles?

 

The real offseason hasn't really started yet, but dumping Heilman, Gregg, and Miles looks like addition by subtraction. As for Bradley, I'm sure it won't be pretty, but we'll have to wait and see.

 

 

And whats the connection between these four players?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They were all brought in by Hendry last year. Its one thing to allow a reliever to walk after he didn't perform the way to wanted, but to have to trade three players and allow a fourth to walk after signing and trading for them last year shows how incompetent you are. Its only made worse by the fact that he doesn't seem to be learning from his mistakes.