Oct 18 2008
Cubs GM Jim Hendry To Recieve Extension, But Why?
In a previous article I discussed my view that the immediate financial future of the Cubs, especially their ability to change the on-field structure of the team for the better, is in a precarious position, because of the way their payroll was designed for the team’s open window for a title run to come in the 2007 and 2008 seasons. The title didn’t come, of course, but now the Tribune Company is preparing to extend the contract of the architect of that design, General Manager Jim Hendry.
The writing for this move appeared on the wall after Cubs Chairman Crane Kenney gave Hendry a vigorous public vote of confidence last week, then earlier this week denied the Seattle Mariners permission to talk to Hendry in their search for a new GM. The new multi-year deal for Hendry is expected to be announced at the Cubs organizational meetings in Arizona this coming week.
The question is, why? Why give Hendry a multi-year extension when his current contract already contains a club option for 2009? Well, there’s an answer, but it’s not one that Cubs fans are going to like to hear. We’ll get to that in a minute.
It’s no secret that the Cubs will be sold sometime soon, either this offseason or next year. Given that new owners in sports almost universally like to bring in their own front-office personnel, it makes no sense to extend Hendry now, if there’s a strong chance that a new owner won’t want to keep him around.
And as I’ve said before, Hendry was the designer of the Cubs contracts of recent years, a number of questionable deals that are all highly back-loaded, excepting Derek Lee’s, which runs at a clean $13 million per season through 2010. The team’s payroll was a club record 118 million dollars this season, but that number is a mirage that hides the true nature of the team’s situation. Alfonso Soriano, Aramis Ramirez, Carlos Zambrano, Kosuke Fukudome, Ted Lilly, and Jason Marquis are all getting big raises for next year.
The players named above, including Lee, accounted for 74.375 million of the 2008 payroll. In 2009, those 7 account for 95.775 million. Now take into account that the team has exercised Rich Harden’s option for ‘09, and has both Mark DeRosa and Jeff Samardzija signed through at least next year, and you’re already up to 111 million dollars in ‘09 for just 10 players.
Oh, and by the way, the club doesn’t have a single other player signed past 2008. Not one.
Given that Jim Hendry was the architect of this whole hideous mess, it would’ve been appropriate for the club to give him his option year, and see if he could still bring back a competitive team next year, see if he could work deals with the young stars of the club like Geovany Soto, Carlos Marmol and Ryan Theriot to keep them in Cubs uniforms for relatively low prices. A multi-year extension just doesn’t make any kind of baseball sense.
Which brings us to the answer you’ve been waiting for, and it should be no surprise to anyone who’s familiar with the way the organization opperates. The Tribune Company just really doesn’t care what does or doesn’t happen with the team on the field, because they’re selling a product, not a baseball team, and given the economic state of the nation, they expect that product to remain in their hands for awhile longer. Jim Hendry is a good company man, and the company intends to reward him, whether or not his decisions have been good for the baseball team they happen to own.
5 Responses to “Cubs GM Jim Hendry To Recieve Extension, But Why?”
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I may be in the minority, but I actually think Hendry has done a good job and don’t mind the extension. He hasn’t always made the right decisions, but at least he’s trying - something other Cubs GM’s have not done.
This is sad that it all boils down to business first and caring second.
Hendry’s had his good moments, his trades for Ramirez, Kenny Lofton and Russell Simon in 2003 were a big part of the reason the Cubs went to the playoffs that year. But his decisions have also depleted a farm system that was brimming with talent just a few years ago, and the back-loaded & no-trade contracts he’s signed have now tied their hands regarding the on-field talent.
I’ll forgive him for everything if he brings in Man-Ram.
I’d love to see Manny in a Cubs uniform, but Soriano’s contract is almost unmovable.