Phuck the Cubs Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 Chicago Cubs president and chief executive officer Andy MacPhail announced today he has extended the contract of Vice President and General Manager Jim Hendry through the 2007-2008 campaigns. Hendry, 50, was named the team's vice president/general manager July 5, 2002 -- and went on to build the 2003 National League Central Division Championship team. He hired Manager Dusty Baker in November 2002 and the pair combined to lead the Cubs to 256 total wins over the 2003-2005 seasons -- the franchise's highest total for a three-season span since 1969-1971 (259) and third-highest since 1937-1939 (266). MacPhail said, "I believe Jim possesses the skills and aggressive temperament necessary for a general manager to be successful. I am very pleased for him to be responsible for our baseball operations and am very confident that he will lead us once again into the postseason, and on to the World Series." Hendry originally joined the club as the director of player development in 1994 and was named the scouting director the following year. In 2001, he was promoted to vice president of player personnel. During his tenure, Hendry has orchestrated a number of trades for players including: Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Matt Clement, Kenny Lofton and Juan Pierre. In addition, he has gone on to sign Ramirez to a long-term contract and inked contracts with Ryan Dempster, Scott Eyre and Bob Howry. The 2004 and 2005 clubs Hendry helped build hit .268 and .270, respectively, marking the first time since 1937-1938 Chicago had back-to-back seasons with team averages of .268 or better. In addition, since Hendry took over GM duties, Cubs pitchers have led the NL in strikeouts every season. The Dunedin, FL, native began his big league career in the Florida Marlins organization. Prior to that, he coached at the high school and collegiate level, recruiting and coaching 24 players who went to play in the majors. He was Baseball America's National Coach of the Year in 1991 after leading Creighton to a third-place finish in the College World Series. Hendry received a bachelor's degree in communications and journalism from Spring Hill College in Mobile, AL, in 1977, and a master's degree in athletic administration from Biscayne College (now St. Thomas University) in Miami in 1980. http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/new...t=.jsp&c_id=chc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fathom Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 Rumor is that they weren't able to agree to an extension with D. Lee. If that's true, he's as good as gone after this year to the Yankees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Critic Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 I think they'll get Lee signed up. Extending Hendry is a decent move. He's a pretty good GM, but I believe that he's under some pressure to make "frugal" moves right now. Hard to believe that cash machine would play "short arms, long pockets", but it seems to be the philosophy lately. Extending Baker would be a disaster for them. He's a terrible manager, and he doesn't seem to care half the time. They'd be well-served to get someone like Piniella. I think that team would respond to Lou - they do have some solid pros like Lee, Barrett, Maddux, Dempster and others, and I think they'd get behind a more demanding bench presence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 If they extend Baker's deal, all they'll end up doing is paying extra to buy his deal otu when they fire him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShoeLessRob Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 QUOTE(fathom @ Apr 8, 2006 -> 11:43 AM) Rumor is that they weren't able to agree to an extension with D. Lee. If that's true, he's as good as gone after this year to the Yankees. Sad but true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitesoxfan101 Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 (edited) He's just as bad as Baker, but since the Pirates gave him Ramirez and the Marlins gave him Lee and Pierre for nothing out of desperation to dump expensive players, people don't realize it for some reason. Great news here if you dislike the Cubs. Edited April 8, 2006 by whitesoxfan101 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Critic Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Apr 8, 2006 -> 04:14 PM) He's just as bad as Baker, but since the Pirates gave him Ramirez and the Marlins gave him Lee and Pierre for nothing out of desperation to dump expensive players, people don't realize it for some reason. Great news here if you dislike the Cubs. But the Phillies "gave" Thome to the Sox and the D-Backs "gave" Vazquez to the Sox for basically the same reason. Plus, KW once traded for a guy of the wrong name. Does that make KW a bad GM? I don't think so. Hendry made those moves to help his team, regardless of the other team's motives. Any GM who could turn the horrific Todd Hundley into Mark Grudzielanek and Eric Karros is doing something right. He's a decent GM - not a genius, not a hack. He was worth re-upping with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greasywheels121 Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 QUOTE(The Critic @ Apr 8, 2006 -> 06:58 PM) But the Phillies "gave" Thome to the Sox and the D-Backs "gave" Vazquez to the Sox for basically the same reason. Plus, KW once traded for a guy of the wrong name. Does that make KW a bad GM? I don't think so. Hendry made those moves to help his team, regardless of the other team's motives. Any GM who could turn the horrific Todd Hundley into Mark Grudzielanek and Eric Karros is doing something right. He's a decent GM - not a genius, not a hack. He was worth re-upping with. Thome's a little different situation. Sure, Philly was probably ready to dumb the contract, but they had a very solid Ryan Howard waiting in the wings. It wasn't a bad deal on their part at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitesoxfan101 Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 (edited) QUOTE(The Critic @ Apr 8, 2006 -> 05:58 PM) But the Phillies "gave" Thome to the Sox and the D-Backs "gave" Vazquez to the Sox for basically the same reason. Plus, KW once traded for a guy of the wrong name. Does that make KW a bad GM? I don't think so. Hendry made those moves to help his team, regardless of the other team's motives. Any GM who could turn the horrific Todd Hundley into Mark Grudzielanek and Eric Karros is doing something right. He's a decent GM - not a genius, not a hack. He was worth re-upping with. We gave up an everyday MLB CF for Thome, and we gave up one of the game's top prospects, a solid bullpen arm, and a pitcher who, although old, is one of the best ever in big games for Vasquez. Hendry didn't have to give up NEARLY that much for Lee, Pierre, or Ramirez, but rather benefitted from desperate teams. Good deals are ones that look even at the time but turn out well for you, not when you get a great player in a salary dump. The Cubs followed up 2003 with a choke job in 2004 and a pathetic 2005. But hey if a 3-1 start in 2005 means time to re up the GM, good for them. I really don't care about that team anymore, but they could have a much better GM than Hendry, however the fact that he's average makes the Cubs excited due to their pathetic history, so whatever. Edited April 8, 2006 by whitesoxfan101 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soxfest Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 (edited) Cubs always do these type of s*** announcements on Saturday's so they have to take less heat in media for there decisions and hope by Monday no one remembers.:puke Edited April 8, 2006 by Soxfest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitesoxfan101 Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 QUOTE(Soxfest @ Apr 8, 2006 -> 06:06 PM) Cubs always do this s*** announcements on Saturaday's so they have to take less heat in media for there decisions. :puke Ehh not here, most Cubs fans like Hendry because of the great 2003 season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Apr 8, 2006 -> 03:14 PM) He's just as bad as Baker, but since the Pirates gave him Ramirez and the Marlins gave him Lee and Pierre for nothing out of desperation to dump expensive players, people don't realize it for some reason. Great news here if you dislike the Cubs. The Pirates gave him Ramirez not even because Ramirez was expensive at the time. They gave him Ramirez because the Pirates are idiots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitesoxfan101 Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Apr 8, 2006 -> 06:18 PM) The Pirates gave him Ramirez not even because Ramirez was expensive at the time. They gave him Ramirez because the Pirates are idiots. Oh really? I thought he was in the last year of his deal and they didn't want to have to pay him, but also didn't want to lose him for nothing. They are even dumber than I thought in that case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Critic Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 A big part of why the Pirates gave up on Ramirez was that he was lazy at working on his defense, had a couple injuries slow him down and seemed to quit on the team a little bit. If he had stayed there, I think he'd have busted by now. The trade was a wakeup call for him, and he has answered it ( except for the injury part, that still plagues him ). His defense has improved, although he's no Gold Glove threat. He doesn't make the lazy error on throws as often anymore. His bat will make people more tolerant of what he lacks on defense. The fact is, while most GMs will tell you that the best deals are the ones that help both teams ( something KW is very good at, as we know ), if you're going to do a lopsided deal you may as well end up on the winning end of it. He found desperate trade partners in Pittsburgh and Florida ( even the Willis trade wasn't a real giveaway on the Cubs' part because Willis wasn't projected to arrive that quickly ) and took advantage. We'd canonize KW even more than we do now if he could find someone in that desperate position. I don't care enough about Hendry to argue his case any further than this, I just think he's done a decent enough job of addressing what he sees as the Cubs' weaknesses. They just have too many weaknesses for him to get to them all.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buehrle>Wood Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 QUOTE(The Critic @ Apr 8, 2006 -> 10:58 PM) But the Phillies "gave" Thome to the Sox and the D-Backs "gave" Vazquez to the Sox for basically the same reason. Plus, KW once traded for a guy of the wrong name. Does that make KW a bad GM? I don't think so. Hendry made those moves to help his team, regardless of the other team's motives. Any GM who could turn the horrific Todd Hundley into Mark Grudzielanek and Eric Karros is doing something right. He's a decent GM - not a genius, not a hack. He was worth re-upping with. It's more of the deals that he hasn't made is what makes him a bad GM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
santo=dorf Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 (edited) QUOTE(The Critic @ Apr 8, 2006 -> 05:58 PM) But the Phillies "gave" Thome to the Sox and the D-Backs "gave" Vazquez to the Sox for basically the same reason. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> That's entirely innaccurate. The Marlins' and Pirates' moves to the Cubs were 100% financially-based. Thome was traded because he was blocking a young player, and Arizona had to trade at Vazquez because he demanded a trade. Neither of those teams cried poor, and they actually gave the Sox a lot of money. EDIT: Ramirez was less about the money because of his attitude, but he was arbitration eligible. The Pirates would later go on to "sell" Kendall and Giles (although they did get a good package for him.) Edited April 9, 2006 by santo=dorf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KipWellsFan Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 no no no notorious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwerty Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 QUOTE(KipWellsFan @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 03:06 AM) no no no notorious Someone had some liqour... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyyle23 Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ Apr 9, 2006 -> 11:30 AM) It's more of the deals that he hasn't made is what makes him a bad GM. What deals are those? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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