According to a report from Phil Rogers in the Tribune on Thursday afternoon, the Cubs could be close to signing Jim Hendry to an extension. The Seattle Mariners asked for permission to interview Hendry for their general manager position and Crane Kenney "declined to give the Mariners permission to talk" to the Cubs current GM. Hendry has until December 30th to exercise his option for the 2009 season.
The report from Rogers stated, "some within the Cubs organization has said it was uncertain whether he would exercise that option knowing he would enter a lame-duck season, either under new ownership or with the slowing moving sale clouding the franchise's future."
Rogers indicated the Cubs are discussing a 3-year extension with Hendry and it "could be completed soon." With the organizational meetings starting on Sunday in Mesa, expect the official announcement to be made by the weekend. Dave Kaplan reported on Thursday night that his sources told him that the Cubs are working to announce the deal before Monday morning when the meetings officially get underway.
If Jim Hendry does not receive and sign the extension, the Cubs could be without a big part of their front office in place for the off-season. Rogers mentioned if Hendry left the Cubs he could take free agents Ryan Dempster and Kerry Wood with him, along with others on his current staff.
It is debatable whether Hendry deserves an extension or not, but the bottom line is while the organization is going through the sale, there must be consistency in the Cubs front office in order to make the ownership transition as seamless as possible.
Stay Tuned....
Neil,
Sorry to make a point un-related to your post ... but I'm sitting here -- 12.15 am in Beantown -- Watching the Red Sox complete a remarkable comeback......
Boy I wish the Cubs had some of the same qualities as this team.....Patient hitters --- Youkilis, Pedroia --- even YIKES -- JD Drew... Papelbon -- as arrogant as he is --- throws only a fastball -- and yet --- is completely unhittable!
You gotta admire that!
Does anyone ever watch PTI? Did you catch it today? They were talking about what should the Dodgers shell out to keep Manny.
(I'm paraphrasing a bit)
Kornheiser:"they should bring a bucket of money, and ask him how much he wants?"
Wilbon: "are you kidding me? like a blank check?"
Kornheiser: "how much money do you think the Dodgers made in the postseason?"
Wilbon: "you can't measure that."
Kornheiser: "they wouldn't have gotten there without him, and they wouldn't have made it that deep without him either, and that's a fact, just look at his stats"
Look, I despise Scott Boras...more than anyone, and it's not just because I think he's a prick to begin with, it's because he's destroying the very fabric of the game with the huge contracts. They can't just keep going up. I mean, we all cringed at 25 mill per for AROD, but now he's making even more...I think like 30 or something million. I mean, if you're the Rays, Twins, or Marlins, that's like almost your entire team's salary. He's treating this game like it's the Real Estate boom, and he money will always flow. NEWSFLASH BOR-ASS!!!!! The economy is down, and the commish even sends a notice out to teams to curb spending due to the economy and falling attendance and profit numbers. Sorry....got a little side-tracked there...
Anyway, the baseball brass later edited his warning a little bit, stating that some markets are better prepared to handle a down-swing, so they won't be affected. The Cubs, in my opinion, are more able than any other team but the Yankees to handle it. It is because the Cubs have such a large contingent across the globe that they can recoup additional salary from merchandise, media, etc. I definitely subscribe to the thinking of Kornheiser here though. Manny would definitely bring more money to the team. It would allow the team to virtually trade Lee and insert Hoffpauir at first without even having to sign a replacement first baseman like Teixeira. It would instantly upgrade our outfield, and his numbers are far superior to Lee's anyway, so it'd more than replace that. Couple that with the fact Hoffpauir is a power lefty bat that has more than earned his chance, and I think we have a good team there.
I'd love a Beltran trade straight up for Soriano, though that's pie in the sky at this point. And I'd love Furcal at the top of our lineup, but the Dodgers and Furcal have basically intimated that he'll re-sign there, so that's out of the question.
Someone on this site...can't remember who...maybe Agustin or JimK said what we really need is grinders on this team.
I just watched the BoSox make another improbable comeback with a bunch of grinders....guys like Pedroia, Youkilis, Ortiz, Drew, and Papelbon totally carried this team. But they're no slouches statistically speaking during the season either. I see Theriot, Fontenot, Reed Johnson, Edmonds, and Marmol in this light. Now, all we need is two big bats like Manny and Beltran, and we'll be there.
Related to your post -- Hendry is good at picking up relatively low-cost/no-cost free-agents like Marquis, Lilly, Reed Johnson etc.....
What he is TERRIBLE at... absolutely one of the WORST.... is drafting talent for the Farm system...
Just look at the freaking Red Sox --- Jon Papelbon, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Jon Lester, Justin Masterson, Jacoby Ellsbury....
How about a team that just beat us -- Broxton, Loney, Russell Martin, Corey Wade, Billingsley, Kershaw.....
or the team that beat them -- the Phillies: Rollins, Howard, Hamels, Ryan Madson
Cubs -- Theriot (Excellent), Hoffpauir(looks Excellent -- but small sample size to really measure up)Fontenot(Ok!),Marshall (Ok!), Hill(Pathetic!), Gallagher(Very Mediocre), Wuertz(IMBECILE), DuBose(Imbecile!) Pie(5 Tool Player?? I have yet to see 1 tool)
I truly think that outside of Brian Cashman and Brian Sabean, who are utter morons, Hendry has to be the worst evaluator of farm talent in baseball....
He is good with free agents --- so I don't know about any extension --- a short one maybe --- How about he start paying ATTENTION to the freaking draft and farm system pick ups in trades....
He is dreadful at that
Baron...not a problem. A GREAT comeback by the Red Sox. I am working on it and hopefully soon I will have a place you can make your own post about any topic....
Baron, WOW...you posted like right as I was writing...I wish the same thing too....and as I said, we sign Manny, and trade for Beltran, and you got yourself at the very least, a World Series appearance. Consider their postseason stats:
Manny:
103 games, 378 AB's, 64 runs, 108 hits, 16 doubles, 28 home runs, 74 RBI, 70 walks, 85 K's, .286 avg, .399 OBP, .550 SLG
***oh, and regular season, averages 41 hr, 133 RBI, .314 avg, .411 OBP
Beltran:
22 games, 82 AB's, 31 runs, 30 hits, 4 doubles, 11 home runs, 19 RBI, 18 walks, 13 K's, .366 avg, .485 OBP, .817 SLG
***regular season 29 hr, 108, .281 avg, .357 OBP
None of our players so many hold dearly like Soriano and Lee, even come close to those numbers....not even close. I just don't see a reason not to bring a bucket of cash, and load of players (for Beltran) to get it done
baaron, not to mention Utley, Myers, Werth and Victorino! And I too envy the Red Sox cojones.
Aaron I would take Beltran-Soriano swap in a heartbeat. Highly unlikely though...