XZero771679666304

I agree with you to a point. Judging a GM based solely on W-L is not the best way. However, given that: A)The Cubs nearly won the pennant in 2003 and nearly lost 100 games only 3 seasons later B)His resources increased each year subsequent to 2003 The team's W-L record is a pretty clear indictment of his incompetence (aside from 2004, when he assembled a great team). It is his fault that he counted so heavily on Wood and Prior when they were injured. It is his fault he seemed more concerned with giving fat contracts to relievers than improving a dismal offense. It is his fault that he doesn't recognize the ability to get on base as a key to a consistent offense. And it is his fault he sat on his thumbs while Dusty ruined our young talent. It is his fault that he buys high and sells low. All these things contributed to a poor W-L record. And lets not pretend that Jim inherited a barren team. He had Wood/Prior/Zambrano, Sammy Sosa (when he was still awesome), Patterson (when he still had tremendous trade value), etc. With what he had, and the money he was given, there is no excuse whatsoever for the team not to have won at least 2 division titles from 2003-2006, and that's considering all the injuries in 2004. No excuse.

I agree. I think the Cubs were in a far more favorable position in 2002 than they are now. In 2002 the team was stocked with young, cheap talent and didn't have the potential millstone contracts the current squad is saddled with. It sickens me to think what might have been had Dusty Baker not gotten his claws into Wood and Prior. Sammy's contract was no picnic, but he was still producing 5 years ago. As for the contracts now, I think only Soriano's is unmovable as is. Barring an injury, I think Z and even Lee could be moved to a New York team or Boston as an in-season deal. The only potential millstone I see is Soriano.

I wouldn't call the Soriano contract brilliant. He was bidding against himself. Nobody would have given Soriano 8 years, probably not even 7. Which is why is didn't mention Soriano specifically. Hendry has been very good overall when it comes to negotiating. As far as Alfonso goes, I'm not sure he wouldn't have gotten a similar deal from someone else. Maybe a year and 20 million less, but a similarly structured deal. I think Jim felt he had to hit Soriano and his agent with something too good to refuse before the bidding really got started, for the sake of having it not drag on all offseason. I don't agree with that, but I think that was the idea.

I am thrilled that he signed Z. I was stunned and thrilled when he re-signed ARam. I was sure Aramis was being fitted for an Angels jersey. The deal for ARam was awesome, as were the deals for Lee and Nomar. The Kendall deal is looking pretty good right about now. Hendry seems to be a brilliant negotiator, both with free agents and in trade talks. However, Hendry is also abysmal at recognizing weaknesses and addressing problems. He spends too much on the bullpen, and his refusal/inability to recognize the lack of OBP as a key problem throughout his entire tenure has been very damaging. Not all of the Cubs problems have been his fault, unless you hold him entirely accountable for Dusty Baker. Remember that it was Hendry's idea to make a closer of Dempster, while Dusty stubbornly kept running Hawkins out there. In fact, I think Jim did a great job overall until 2005, when the wheels seemed to fall out of his brain. At best it is a wash, but when you look at the team's performance against the money Jim was given to spend, it's hard not to think he has done a sub-par job overall.

The Cards are playing well relative to the Cubs and Brewers, but not really well overall. This series could be an ugly battle of attrition before it's over. They have won 8 out of 10 all against teams above .500. Now the brewers and the dodgers are both struggling, but you have to give the Cards credit for going out there and contributing to those struggles. I give the Cards credit, but the Dodgers and Brewers were both teams headed south in a real hurry before the Cards got to them. Heck, the Dodgers barely managed to score in Cincinnati and had lost 6 of 7 going into the STL series. The Brewers had lost 5 of 7 going into the last series.

The Brewers are in free fall.

The Cards are playing well relative to the Cubs and Brewers, but not really well overall. This series could be an ugly battle of attrition before it's over.

The Cubs believed Wieters would have commanded a major league contract and they weren't willing to give him that - it was one of the main reasons they passed on him. but he didn't command a major league contract. I don't really care what the reason is, the Cubs passed on the best hitter in the draft, and that pisses me off. It's not like they passed on a Prior for Brazleton. Vitters wasn't rated much lower than Wieters, and was rated as better by some. I was a bit perplexed by the Cubs passing on Wieters when it happened (and still am a bit), mostly because he is relatively close to the big leagues and would fill a position in need. Having said that, Vitters is no slouch and I am not really that upset about it.

I can if the game is already a blowout.

hahahaha, so you're saying cardinals are absolute dogcrap except for when they won the last world series im pretty sure it's completely legitimate to complain about the cardinals being lucky last year and this, especially when you see that until recently they were being outscored by nearly 100 runs on the season and remained in contention. let's just look at your previous post. pitcher killed himself, his fault larussa driving drunk, his fault spezio's drug addiction, his fault pujols' numbers down slightly, not that big of a deal, and for the love of god look at derrek lee before you try to get sympathy there carpenter has been on borrowed time forever, you were lucky to get what you did from him mulder hasn't returned from a torn rotator cuff as quickly as you would like? you really expected to get a lot of him this year? sorry about your setup man, ill give you that your 37 year old, injury prone center fielder isn't aging particularly well? shocking. and rolen looked crap at the end of last year too. he's not the same guy anymore, but that's why 8-year contracts are a bad idea. the cardinals haven't really been all that unlucky this year at all, and when you look at guys like duncan who just magically start hitting with the major league team but not elsewhere, it's just silly to think that you're going to come in here and act like you've been dealt a tough hand. You're dead on. Edmonds is old, Carp was always a major surgery waiting to happen. As far as Rolen goes, his 2004 was an aberration. If anyone expected that was the real Scott Rolen, they were doomed to disappointment. With the exception of Hancock and LaRussa (which were results of stupidity), all the bad things that happened to the Cards this year were pretty predictable.

Yeah, except he's not. Since the beginning of June, the Cubs are 7-4 when Marquis starts. And 200+ posts in two days? Wow. I once posted 250 times in a single game thread. And I have been here since 2003 and still have less than 8000 posts.

they should drag his ass down to the bank cha-ching! He'll get paid like crazy for a ball whose significance will be largely gone within a decade.

After a couple days of butt kissing, hopefully the period of the nation being held hostage will finally come to an end.

Give them points for originality.

That inning was ruined by Jones. Everyone else at least worked a deep count.

I don't understand it at all. Look, I like Wood, he's a nice guy. He has pitched some great games, he was so compelling in 1998, and he almost single handedly got us our only postseason series win since 1908. But I don't understand the attachment to a guy who has 71 career wins and has made only 30 starts twice in his career. I know people are latching on to what he was, a dominating rookie with an unhittable slurve, a fireballer with a 96 MPH tailing fastball, etc. But to call any part of Kerry's career the "Wood era" would be selling short the disappointment that is/was his career. This part is totally and utterly meaningless. Yes it is. Kerry really should have won 20+ games 2 or 3 times. He would have if wins were actually an indicator of how well someone pitched.

You should not talk religion in the workplace, ever. Agreed. Potentially divisive subject matter isn't good for the workplace environment.

Well, at the very least my wife will be thrilled. She has a huge crush on Kerry.

OMG, he's getting skinnier by the day. He must be on the South Bronx Parasite diet.

What do I win? :D The Philly series is not over so you lose sorry. He said by the end, not at the end. Technically he is correct.

no way... '03 and '04 were better, but the '00, '02, '05 and '06 teams were complete trash ('06 probably was the worst) and the '01 team was sammy sosa and a bunch of other guys. And the 2003 team was only better because of the pitching staff (the exploitation of which caused the 2004-2006 teams to be as bad as they were).

what? The 2006 team was worse. The 2005 team was worse. The 2002 team was worse. The 2001 team was worse. The 2000 team was worse.

HR please. No GIDP, or I will kill you.

WP