Cubs and Hendry to begin contract negotiations

[whitesoxfan101]

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...-home-headlines

 

Cubs' plan: Keep Hendry

Extension for Baker probably would follow

 

By Paul Sullivan

Tribune staff reporter

 

April 4, 2006

 

CINCINNATI -- The Cubs will begin negotiations Wednesday on a contract extension for general manager Jim Hendry, sources said.

 

A deal could be announced as early as Thursday.

 

It's no secret the Cubs have been planning to retain Hendry, who took over for President Andy MacPhail as Cubs GM midway through the 2002 season and has been in the organization since 1994.

 

Hendry is credited with upgrading the farm system, with bringing back Greg Maddux and with raising expectations so high that anything less than a contending team is considered a failure on the North Side.

 

Last year's fourth-place finish was a low point on Hendry's résumé, but the team won the Central Division title in 2003 and was in contention for a National League wild-card spot in '04 before falling apart in the final week.

 

The Cubs have a .527 winning percentage in Hendry's first three full seasons on the job, and no real speculation has surfaced that he'd be gone after '06.

 

The ball then would be in Hendry's court regarding the future of manager Dusty Baker, who is expected to receive an extension as well.

 

How long Baker will have to wait for a new contract remains to be seen. It could be poor public relations to give Baker an extension if the team gets off to a poor start, even though Hendry and MacPhail remain in Baker's corner. If the Cubs start well, Baker could ride the wave of good vibes to a two- or three-year extension.

 

Baker is in the final year of a four-year, $15 million deal and has said he wants to stay in Chicago. His name cropped up in rumors over the summer for possible managerial openings with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Nationals, though Grady Little wound up getting the Dodgers job and Frank Robinson remained in Washington.

 

Some concern was raised recently over whether Baker still had his heart in managing the Cubs, especially after some of the criticism he received from his end-of-the-season dispute with former broadcaster Steve Stone in '04, and the fundamentally poor play of his disappointing '05 team. But those concerns appear to have been allayed in the off-season, at least in the minds of Cubs management.

 

Great news. Hopefully Hendry wants Baker back as badly as he says and gets it done, I'd love to see those 2 bumbling idiots stay together for several more years.....although my feelings for the Cubs aren't hate anymore since we won it all. Now, they are simply fun to laugh at.

Edited April 4, 2006 by whitesoxfan101