The Jim Hendry BandWGN

Scotti · August 1, 2004

Nobody in our system has the upside to fill that spot I reserved for Jones, nearly as well, IMO.

Sisco has as much "upside" as any pitcher in the game.

Nomah is a .266 hitter outside of Fenway over the last three years. As a matter of fact, his offensive stats over that time frame are little better than KGon's away from home, except for the SO's, of course.

Nomar is hitting better on the road than he did at Fenway this year and his three year splits that you refer to were skewed by one season (2003).

Nomar also has the 4th best OPS for regular SS in all of baseball. AGon is next to last.

CaliforniaRaisin · August 1, 2004

O.K., one last one. Nomah is a .266 hitter outside of Fenway over the last three years. As a matter of fact, his offensive stats over that time frame are little better than KGon's away from home, except for the SO's, of course. And his D is not as good as KGon's. In his prime, his split wasn't nearly as stark. He strikes me as a player who will not age gracefully. Bosox got a bargain contract with him, the next team will overpay. Hundley. Sosa, Alou, Maddux, Hundley, Remlinger-- all huge contracts given to players past their prime (check their stats before and after their last contracts.) Now we want another.
The lefty fetish was a bit tongue and check, but look at this team, do we have a lefty at any position under 30? Hagerty at 23, is in rookie ball, with a + 4 ERA. He came to the Cubs with little experience, that TJ surgery was a particular killer developmentally for a player with his profile. And he's their only real chance at becoming a front of the rotation lefty. But, even before the injury, his stats at Mesa/Boise 2002, were a bit misleading--he gave up a ton of unearned runs and is strictly a two pitch guy. Longshot at being a 2 or 3 at the ML level.
As for the rest....for various reasons, nobody outside of Cubbieland is getting really excited about Sisco (anymore) and Pinto. They will never replace the output of a Clement, where as Jones very well might have exceeded it, down the road. The rest you mentioned are your garden variety, poop tossing lefties.

Potential future rotation of:
Prior
Wood
Z
Guzman
Jones
WOW, looked good to me. Nobody in our system has the upside to fill that spot I reserved for Jones, nearly as well, IMO.

Lastly, 7 courner O.F.ers
1) Harvey
2) DuBois
3) Hoffpuair
4) Collins
5) Sing
6) Weston
7) Jackson
Their is no drastic differential between Murton and any of these OFer's overall game. And you can throw Mallory, Bacon, Johnson and Valdez in with that group. Laugh all you want, but Weston and Mallory still may be latebloomers. And if Patterson gets pushed off to LF with the eventual arrival of Pie....Murton sure seems like are redundency to me.
Add a Hensley Ramirez or Shoppach and maybe I'm a little more agreeable to the whole idea.
Well, there you have it, bash away.

Wow. It's too late to bash away. Will do that tomorrow (though something tells me many folks here will by the time I come).

AFCubsFan · August 1, 2004

I've liked Hendry since he took over. Here's why I like him.

1. He's the underdog. He's just the common man working for the team. He is the man responsible for the surplus of talent the Cubs have in the minors.

2. Even though he wasn't the GM at the time, he was instrumental in getting Clement. Matt is one of my favorite players. He really seems to enjoy being a Cub.

3. This is the point where I officially decided this guy rules. His 1st offseason as GM, he traded Hundley for Karros and Grudz. I'm probably not alone in thinking that Hundley was unmovable. And let's not forget that the Dodgers are still paying him today! Karros and Grudz helped get this team to the playoffs. He also got Dusty Baker. Dusty was the best (or 2nd best) manager available during that offseason.

4. During the 2003 season, he made trades to keep the team in the hunt. Lofton and Ramirez helped a great deal with getting this team to the playoffs.

5. The 2004 offseason. He traded Choi for Lee. He stocked up the bench big time with Walker and Holla. Don't forget he also got a guy named Michael Barrett to be the team's catcher. Oh...and he talked the Trib into signing that Maddux guy. He also signed Glendon Rusch...and both have done a great job for the Cubs this year.

6. The most glaring hole left over was at SS. This was similar to the Hundley situation. There was no way Hendry could move that contract. There was definitely no way he could turn it into Nomar without trading one of the starting pitchers. How does he pull off that trade? It goes back to #1. He built a good farm system.

7. The bonus. The other GM's always play into his hands. He makes it seem like the other GM's idea. Hundley for Karros and Grudz was just a salary swapping trade (right :wink: .) The Pirates were just looking for someone to take on ARams salary, and the Cubs were there to help out. The Lee deal "fell" into his lap. He didn't want to trade away too much this season...he was considering making a final offer to Montreal...but Theo called and had to get rid of Nomar.

Theo- "Please help me Jim! I've worked out a 4 team trade. Just trade away Gonzalez, Jones, Beltran, and Harris and you can have Nomar. Please take it...it's my last offer.)

JH- "Well I don't know, that's gonna hurt our farm system"

Theo- "Fine...I'll throw in our #1 pick from last year. Just please take Nomar."

JH- "I don't know...he sounds kind of expensive..."

Theo- "OK...sorry. I'll throw in some cash. Just please take Nomar"

JH- "Alright already...I'll take Nomar. Just don't forget me helping you out like this."

Wow. I don't just like him as the GM. I may do a write-in vote for Hendry for President. On 2nd thought, I won't. I wouldn't want to pull him away from the Cubs.

Outshined_One · August 1, 2004

Well, there you have it, bash away.

*Cracks knuckles* Ohhhhhhhhhh this will be fun...

-As it has been mentioned, his three year splits away from Fenway are really not that bad. They are quite skewed due to his 2003 campaign, as it already has been mentioned. Also, it's not like he's moving from Fenway to the Chavez Ravine. Wrigley can be a very kind place to hitters, especially on days when the wind is blowing out.

-Take a look at the Cubs' SS offensive stats this year. They're the worst in the majors in AVG, slugging, and runs scored. Whether it's been Rnez, Martinez, or Gonzo, offensive production from that position has flatout sucked. Also, defensively, KGonz's range isn't all that good and his vaunted defense didn't come through when the Cubs needed it the most last year.

-Who's to say that Nomar will get a huge contract from the Cubs...if he even re-signs with this team at all? If the Dodgers sign him and overpay, great! We'll get some nice draft picks in compensation. I'm not going to complain about something the Cubs haven't done yet.

-Um...have you seen Pinto's production down at AA? Are you aware of Sisco's ceiling, which is even higher than Jones'? Have you seen the numbers Connolly has put up in Daytona, especially that CG 2 hitter? How about Rich Hill's first half? Sean Marshall's? What about Down's ceiling? Yeah, it's likely some of these guys will flame out, but as things stand now, the odds are really good that one of these "garden variety, poop tossing lefties" could become really good at the ML level. Most of them have already experienced success beyond Mesa/Boise (save for Downs), so I think they're on track for some good things if they keep healthy.

-That is a nice rotation. But then again, we might not have seen that rotation until around 2007 or so. I'm sure there'd be some nice fights over the 4 and 5 spots and maybe even the 3 spot if some one leaves, gets traded, or is injured or whatever. Between then and now, no one has absolutely any idea what will happen involving the prospects in our system. It could be conceivable that the Cubs snag a lefty with an even better lefty than Jones in next year's draft. We just can't predict the future like that.

-Again, Sing is a first baseman. He does not play corner OF at Daytona!

-As for your OF thing...wow. I'm going to let some one else handle that one...that...wow. Just...wow.

Transmogrified Tiger · August 1, 2004

Lastly, 7 courner O.F.ers
1) Harvey
2) DuBois
3) Hoffpuair
4) Collins
5) Sing
6) Weston
7) Jackson
Their is no drastic differential between Murton and any of these OFer's overall game. And you can throw Mallory, Bacon, Johnson and Valdez in with that group. Laugh all you want, but Weston and Mallory still may be latebloomers. And if Patterson gets pushed off to LF with the eventual arrival of Pie....Murton sure seems like are redundency to me.
Add a Hensley Ramirez or Shoppach and maybe I'm a little more agreeable to the whole idea.
Well, there you have it, bash away.

Murton is a worse case 3rd on this list, and might be higher. Hoffpauir, Collins, and Sing are all 1B by trade and Murton is a better hitter than all of them.

BigbadB · August 1, 2004

As for the rest....for various reasons, nobody outside of Cubbieland is getting really excited about Sisco (anymore) and Pinto. They will never replace the output of a Clement, where as Jones very well might have exceeded it, down the road. The rest you mentioned are your garden variety, poop tossing lefties.

Potential future rotation of:
Prior
Wood
Z
Guzman
Jones
WOW, looked good to me. Nobody in our system has the upside to fill that spot I reserved for Jones, nearly as well, IMO.

Lastly, 7 courner O.F.ers
1) Harvey
2) DuBois
3) Hoffpuair
4) Collins
5) Sing
6) Weston
7) Jackson
Their is no drastic differential between Murton and any of these OFer's overall game. And you can throw Mallory, Bacon, Johnson and Valdez in with that group. Laugh all you want, but Weston and Mallory still may be latebloomers. And if Patterson gets pushed off to LF with the eventual arrival of Pie....Murton sure seems like are redundency to me.
Add a Hensley Ramirez or Shoppach and maybe I'm a little more agreeable to the whole idea.
Well, there you have it, bash away.

Why is it that you can list Weston and Mallory as potential late bloomers, but all of our lefty prospect pitchers can't achieve a higher status than poop tossing lefties?

donobr · August 1, 2004

Do not forget Haggerty and Kraewic,Piggy's surge in k's

Crash · August 2, 2004

Just to get back to some Hendry love. Take a moment to consider some of the deals Hendry has pulled since becoming GM.

1. Dumping Todd Hundley for Grudz and Karros: He got two guys who helped us in a playoff run for a cancer with a horrible contract.

2. Bobby Hill, Hernandez the strikeout king, and a minor prospect for Lofton and Ramirez: For what amounts to Bobby Hill, Hendry got a key fill in for an injured Corey Patterson but also obtained what is now one of the best 3rd baseman in baseball.

3. Lee for Choi: Probably the most even of the trades, but that isn't nessarily a bad thing. The Cubs got a proven player who is putting up great numbers and has transformed the infield defense. The Marlins got a cheap young player who was having a fine year that they traded for players they needed for a run this season. Both teams got things they needed and have helped them.

4. The Nomar deal: A deal with outstanding upside and because of getting rid of A-gonzback, getting a good prospect back and cash has little downside.

Of course this is not even to mention the deal that sent Clement to the Cubs which Hendry was rumored to have had a hand in creating. Last year at this time everyone was killing the Cubs for giving up Dontrelle Willis but with the success and consistency of Clement the trade looks a bit better this year.

If Hendry can keep up this kind of success rate with trades we will be very lucky fans.

Codey · August 2, 2004

Just because someone has a big upside and high ceiling and all doesn't mean he's going to become that great pitcher eventually. We didn't lose Guzman, Pie, or Brownlie in that deal and we're very lucky for that. To get someone like Nomar, you'd think you'd have to give up a Pie/Guzman (or both) along with a Clement. Nomar is a huge upgrade over what we had at short. We gave up pitching prospects, and we have enough depth there.

I thought I overvalued prospects...

Doesn't Nomar have good stats in day games?

JC · August 2, 2004

2. Bobby Hill, Hernandez the strikeout king, and a minor prospect for Lofton and Ramirez: For what amounts to Bobby Hill, Hendry got a key fill in for an injured Corey Patterson but also obtained what is now one of the best 3rd baseman in baseball.

Sorry. I can't give Hendry nearly the credit for this that you can. He had Littlefield and a cash strapped organization by the short hairs and two gaping holes at CF and 3B. It was an obvious move IMO. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve credit for pulling the trigger and not being forced to include more prospects, but I just refuse to gush about it.

Crash · August 2, 2004

2. Bobby Hill, Hernandez the strikeout king, and a minor prospect for Lofton and Ramirez: For what amounts to Bobby Hill, Hendry got a key fill in for an injured Corey Patterson but also obtained what is now one of the best 3rd baseman in baseball.

Sorry. I can't give Hendry nearly the credit for this that you can. He had Littlefield and a cash strapped organization by the short hairs and two gaping holes at CF and 3B. It was an obvious move IMO. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve credit for pulling the trigger and not being forced to include more prospects, but I just refuse to gush about it.

See I never understood this idea that credit should be taken away because something was the "obvious" move. It seems now that unless something comes as a total suprise GM's don't get any credit because fans were able to think of it. The facts are Hendry was smart enough to know what team to approach, he was smart enough to know how little he would have to give up, and he was smart enough to realize Aramis would bounce back in a better enviroment.

Did Hendry have significant advantages over Littlefield? Absolutly and he was good enough to use them to the Cubs best advantage. Just because it was an "obvious" move doesn't mean it wasn't a very good one and doesn't mean Hendry shouldn't get all the kudos in the world for it.

Omar · August 1, 2005

Just thought I'd bump this.. GO JIM HENDRY!! MATT LAWTON!! WOOO!!!

CubfaninCA · August 1, 2005

Good job by Hendry. Lawton for Gerut. Nomar & Murton for ummmmm, do any of them play?? Lee for Choi. Ramirez and Lofton for Hill and ummm ???

HoopsCubs · August 1, 2005

Good job by Hendry. Lawton for Gerut. Nomar & Murton for ummmmm, do any of them play?? Lee for Choi. Ramirez and Lofton for Hill and ummm ???

It's really a terrific move considering he only gave up Jody Gerut (who really had no chance of being prominent in the Cubs OF). I almost think Hendry would have traded Dubois for Lawton earlier in the month, but figured he didn't want to see Jason in the NL, so he took an interim step.

By the way, I don't know if it was brought up in the Lawton for Gerut thread, but Lawton's OBP in July was .431. Compare that with Hairston's .304, and it's hard not to see this deal as an indictment of Jerry's lead-off capabilities.

Brian · August 1, 2005

Nomar & Murton for ummmmm, do any of them play??

Alex Gonzalez - plays 3rd for the Devil Rays, so no he doesn't really play :lol:

Francis Beltran - had elbow surgery so won't pitch this season

Brendan Harris - AAA

Justin Jones - High A

katway · August 1, 2005

Great job by Hendry. A good pickup probably only made possible by the Dubois trade. Probably most NL team did not want Dubois given his poor defense, but the kid was more atrtactive to AL teams. Hendsry gets what he can for Dubois (who Pittsburgh probably didn't want) and turns that into Lawton.

Hopefully, it's not too late to trun this season around. We have a lot of games left against Houston and we are going to need those to catch them.

CubinNY · August 1, 2005

I don't think getting Lawton represents anything special. To me the best that can be said is that Hendry changed one medicore player for another. Lawton hardly puts the Cubs over the top.

Maybe I'm just being a little too pesimistic after this weekend but IMO Lawton changes nothing.

katway · August 1, 2005

I don't think getting Lawton represents anything special. To me the best that can be said is that Hendry changed one medicore player for another. Lawton hardly puts the Cubs over the top.

Maybe I'm just being a little too pesimistic after this weekend but IMO Lawton changes nothing.

.380 OBP is above mediocre. Lawton gets on base (he even had a year with over .400 OBP), that will help a little. He's not great by any means, but may be the first legitimate leadoff hitter we have had since Lofton. Hairston was not a true leadoff hitter. So, he does change the dynamic a little bit. He doesn't put us over the top alone like a Manny or anything, but it's a good move for the team.

CubsWin · August 1, 2005

I don't think getting Lawton represents anything special. To me the best that can be said is that Hendry changed one medicore player for another. Lawton hardly puts the Cubs over the top.

Maybe I'm just being a little too pesimistic after this weekend but IMO Lawton changes nothing.

.380 OBP is above mediocre. Lawton gets on base (he even had a year with over .400 OBP), that will help a little. He's not great by any means, but may be the first legitimate leadoff hitter we have had since Lofton. Hairston was not a true leadoff hitter. So, he does change the dynamic a little bit. He doesn't put us over the top alone like a Manny or anything, but it's a good move for the team.

Lawton is the Cubs best lead-off hitter since Lofton. Granted, he alone doesn't put the Cubs into the playoffs, but when you shore up the bullpen with Williamson and Wood, swap Neifi for Nomar and add a legitimate lead-off hitter, then maybe....

Transmogrified Tiger · August 1, 2005

I don't think getting Lawton represents anything special. To me the best that can be said is that Hendry changed one medicore player for another. Lawton hardly puts the Cubs over the top.

Maybe I'm just being a little too pesimistic after this weekend but IMO Lawton changes nothing.

Reposted from the trade thread.

Going by Runs Created, here's some people Lawton has been better than this year:

Jose Guillen

Andruw Jones

Craig Biggio

Brady Clark

Geoff Jenkins

Carlos Beltran

Ryan Klesko

rickrolled · August 1, 2005

I don't think getting Lawton represents anything special. To me the best that can be said is that Hendry changed one medicore player for another. Lawton hardly puts the Cubs over the top.

Maybe I'm just being a little too pesimistic after this weekend but IMO Lawton changes nothing.

.380 OBP is above mediocre. Lawton gets on base (he even had a year with over .400 OBP), that will help a little. He's not great by any means, but may be the first legitimate leadoff hitter we have had since Lofton. Hairston was not a true leadoff hitter. So, he does change the dynamic a little bit. He doesn't put us over the top alone like a Manny or anything, but it's a good move for the team.
Lawton is the Cubs best lead-off hitter since Lofton. Granted, he alone doesn't put the Cubs into the playoffs, but when you shore up the bullpen with Williamson and Wood, swap Neifi for Nomar and add a legitimate lead-off hitter, then maybe....

I still don't really understand why people think Wood is going to be a boost to this team. He's injury prone and will have to pitch with less rest out of the 'pen, not to mention he gets hit hard in his first inning of work. I just don't think he's going to help us out a whole lot.

CubsWin · August 1, 2005

I don't think getting Lawton represents anything special. To me the best that can be said is that Hendry changed one medicore player for another. Lawton hardly puts the Cubs over the top.

Maybe I'm just being a little too pesimistic after this weekend but IMO Lawton changes nothing.

.380 OBP is above mediocre. Lawton gets on base (he even had a year with over .400 OBP), that will help a little. He's not great by any means, but may be the first legitimate leadoff hitter we have had since Lofton. Hairston was not a true leadoff hitter. So, he does change the dynamic a little bit. He doesn't put us over the top alone like a Manny or anything, but it's a good move for the team.
Lawton is the Cubs best lead-off hitter since Lofton. Granted, he alone doesn't put the Cubs into the playoffs, but when you shore up the bullpen with Williamson and Wood, swap Neifi for Nomar and add a legitimate lead-off hitter, then maybe....

I still don't really understand why people think Wood is going to be a boost to this team. He's injury prone and will have to pitch with less rest out of the 'pen, not to mention he gets hit hard in his first inning of work. I just don't think he's going to help us out a whole lot.

Well, it is certainly possible that he won't work out in the bullpen, but he is still a guy who can strike out a guy when he wants to and having that commodity in your bullpen is a valuable thing. Granted, he has to be healthy and on, but when he is, Wood's stuff is routinely ranked as the nastiest in the league. With less wear and tear being placed on his shoulder by pitching shorter stints, he could be a very valuable piece to the Cubs bullpen the last 2 months of the season.

What will happen? Who knows, but thats why they play the games and why we watch them. :wink:

Larry Horse · August 1, 2005

Nomar & Murton for ummmmm, do any of them play??

Alex Gonzalez - plays 3rd for the Devil Rays, so no he doesn't really play :lol:
Francis Beltran - had elbow surgery so won't pitch this season
Brendan Harris - AAA
Justin Jones - High A

Nomar Garciaparra - has played in 65 games since being acquired

Matt Murton - has a hard time seeing the field despite great numbers

Lee and ARam - great pickups, unfortunately there are 7 other positions, in which I would say RF, 2B, CF, LF and probably SS have no long range answers. Now if our current manager, who was hired by Hendry, had a brain in his head, he would have stuck Cedeno at SS, not started "Holly" so much due to the fact his career is coming to a close, stuck Murton in LF and play the rest of the year out, and the Cubs could have seen if they had 2 future starters. We're not talking about the dismantling of a dynasty here.

CubinNY is correct. Lawton is an upgrade over Gerut, but does it really solve anything?

There is really no trade Hendry could have made that would have put this team in line for a title, so it's just whistling in the wind. (Is that cliche correct?)

Edited August 1, 2005 by Larry Horse

CubinNY · August 1, 2005

If the Cubs offense "magically" turns around and become good and they make it to the playoffs I will gladly proclaim my stupidity to anyone who reads my posts

-I'll put that in my signature

UMFan83 · August 1, 2005

I applaud JH for being able to make a move that will surely help the team at least somewhat while almost all of the NL contenders were unable to do anything (Cardinals, Astros, Marlins come to mind). Maybe he is a bit too stubborn to give up those guys, but I think with Lawton we will see an immediate difference in how the offense operates, especially when Nomar comes back and shakes off the rust.

Good job Jim!

The Jim Hendry BandWGN

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Create an account or sign in to comment

Create an account

Sign in

Member Statistics

Prospect News & Highlights

Recent News

Notes & Rumors

Recent Blogs