Results tagged “jimhendry”

It wouldn't be as big a miracle as making the 2009 playoffs, but being able to trade troubled outfielder Milton Bradley? That would provide something of a silver lining to the entire debacle and mean that the Cubs wouldn't eat the entire Bradley contract without at least a little something in return. A report in today's Tribune says that San Francisco or San Diego are two current possible destinations for the right fielder and Kansas City is also being mentioned. San Diego is the only team to openly admit an interest in Bradley but the Trib's Paul Sullivan suggests the Giants' Aaron Rowand could make for a nice swap for Bradley. Of course, given the flop seasons from Bradley and the Cubs' other big free agent signing for '09 - Kevin Gregg - it's still going to be hard for GM Jim Hendry to wash await the taint.

Embattled Cubs outfielder Milton Bradley tried to improve a very bad situation on Wednesday, by issuing a formal apology through his agents. Bradley also dropped his union grievance over the suspension on Wednesday, when the Cubs agreed to suspend him with pay -- meaning he'll earn about $400,000 while sitting at home (waaaaaaaaaaaaay more than what Marcus makes by blogging in his underwear from a basement).

With 2009 rolling around, many of us made New Years resolutions -- go to bed earlier, save more money, eat better. For the Cubs, apparently, their resolution was giving up Pie. The North Siders traded Felix Pie, their onetime center fielder of the future, to the Baltimore Orioles over the weekend in return for two pitchers. In return for Pie - who will perhaps be best remembered for his twisted testicle - the Cubs landed left-handed pitcher Garrett Olson and Class A right-hander Henry Williamson. Olson was just 9-10 with a 6.65 ERA in 26 starts for Baltimore last season.

Park Ridge officials are puzzled by the sudden appearance of signs at the intersection of Prospect Avenue, Touhy Avenue and Northwest Highway declaring the thoroughfare "Honorary Jim Hendry Way." Hendry, the general manager of the Chicago Cubs, is a Park Ridge resident. Park Ridge director of public works Wayne Zingsheim said a Illinois Department of Transportation rep told him the signs were installed based on an ''executive order from the governor's office.'' The city's mayor, Howard Frimark, and aldermen are also clueless as to the story surrounding the signs and when they went up. The rub? The City Council was preparing to vote on a measure that would prohibit such designations of honorary streets, but since the poles on which the "Hendry Way" signs appeared are property of IDOT, the city has no say. What Hendry did to deserve the designation is anybody's guess (Blago is a confessed Cubs fan), but we have two ideas: either a big campaign donation or he's being honored for his propensity to overpay outfielders. [via]

With the free agent signing period for Major League baseball set to begin at 12:00 a.m. Friday morning, clubs are making trades to get the most of what they can before they lose players to the market. First up are the Sox, who dealt Nick Swisher and minor leaguer Kanekoa Texeira to the New York Yankees in exchange for infielder Wilson Betemit and a pair of right-handed pitchers, Jeff Marquez and Jhonny Nunez. While Betemit saw some big league action this year, both pitchers spent '08 in the minors.

The Chicago Cubs and GM Jim Hendry have reached an agreement on a contract extension that will keep Hendry with the Cubs through the 2012 season. Hendry has the third-longest tenure at GM (July 2002 to present) and is the only Cubs GM to see the team go to the postseason three times. He's also the only Cubs GM to see the team lose in the playoffs three times. Said Hendry upon the extension announcement, "It's an honor to receive this long-term commitment from the Chicago Cubs. We know there is work to be done in reaching our goal, and I thank my staff for their commitment to this organization. We'll continue to do everything it takes to reward our great fans for their dedication to this team." Like a World Series trophy? Awesome. K thnx bai.

Sammy Sosa's boom box. Dugout electrical fans. Now we can add "Dodgers plumbing" to the list of things that frustrated Cubs players have taken out their aggressions on. Who broke the water pipe that caused the dugout to flood? No one's fessing up - and Cubs GM Jim Hendry doesn't give a rat's ass. He told the Trib:

Answer quickly... who was the last Cubs pitcher to win 20 games?

Well, that was fast! Barely 24 hours ago, Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome announced that he would leave Japan to play in the major leagues. Fukudome and the Cubs have already reached an agreement on a four-year deal, supposedly for between $48 and $50 million. By signing the outfielder, the Cubs beat out the Padres, White Sox and a couple other clubs rumored to be interested.

Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome finally declared his intentions to play in the major leagues next season. Considered to be one of the best outfielders in Japan's top professional league, he's expected to draw interest from a number of team. Among the teams most interested are both the Cubs and White Sox, as well as the San Diego Padres. Will the latest Japanese sensation land in Chicago? “It’s no secret we’d like him to come to...

The Cubs finally traded maligned outfielder Jacque Jones on Monday, sending him along with $2 million to Detroit for utility infielder Omar Infante. A slow start to the 2006 season after signing a 3-year, $16 million deal to join the Cubs caused the fans to sour quickly on Jones. He became the next "Corey Patterson" -- which Chicagoist predicted the day he signed -- and the target for relentless taunting by the fans in the...

Athletes these days just don't have nicknames like they used to — isn't that right, Fred?

Is that a goat we hear bleating? Because no sooner do the Cubs climb into a tie with the Brewers for the NL Central lead, they lose one of their top sluggers to injury. Alfonso Soriano landed on the disabled list on Monday, after tearing his right quadriceps in Sunday night's game against the New York Mets. Attempting to run from first to third on a Ryan Theriot single in the third inning, he came...

Baseball's non-waiver trading deadline passes this afternoon, and while both our clubs have been attached to rumored moves, little has happened yet. While the Cubs look to add any missing pieces for a playoff push, the Sox were expected to be big sellers as they remain well below .500 for the season.

In a trade that was surprising in its swiftness, the Cubs traded embattled catcher and "good guy" Michael Barrett (or "number 8" for those of you who don't visit Wrigley Field for the baseball) and cash to the San Diego Padres for backup catcher Rob Bowen and minor league prospect Kyler Burke. The trade closes the book on Barrett's three-plus years as a Cub, a time marked by emotional outbursts, an uncontrollable temper, suspect defensive...

This is not a fun time to be a baseball fan in Chicago. Whether a White Sox or Cubs fan, you no doubt have that sinking feeling about your team's prospects for the postseason after they were swept this week. The Cubs lost 9-0 to the Florida Marlins on Wednesday, following a day full of meetings. The players held one. So did management. Didn't help, at least on Wednesday. The players felt they needed to...

So just what, exactly, is Ryan Dempster's role on the Cubs' pitching staff? Not even Ryan himself seems to know.

Chicagoist can be lazy sometimes. We feel like we just keep writing, and writing, and writing about injury woes and the Cubs. So we recently decided that it'd be well worth our while to write a fill-in-the-blank post we can simply re-use each time somebody else goes down. How fitting that Mark Prior gives us the first opportunity to utilize our new time saving bit of prefab journalism: Cubs former pitching phenom Mark Prior, who...

For the Cubs, every silver lining seems to have its cloud. While the offense and pitching came together and led the team to a 12-4 victory over the San Diego Padres Monday night, the victory may cost the Cubs the services of Alfonso Soriano for a while. Soriano left the game in the fifth inning after straining his hamstring, which could land the Cubs' 136-million-dollar man on the disabled list. Soriano injured his hamstring trying...

Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano, still awaiting his Feb 20th salary arbitration hearing, made a pretty strong declaration on Monday. Entering the final year of his current deal, he stated that if he and the Cubs don't come to an agreement on a multi-year contract before the season begins, he's leaving the Cubs when he becomes a free agent after the upcoming season.

Both of our baseball teams made some noise involving pitching on Wednesday at MLB's Winter Meetings, with the Cubs signing a high-priced free agent, while the White Sox traded away one of their starters. The Cubs signed Ted Lilly to a 4-year, $40 million deal — with Jim Hendry in the hospital, no less! "Jim was hooked up to an EKG machine, and we got it done," Lilly's agent explained. Hendry had been admitted to...

For a company in financial trouble, the Cubs' parent company sure has been quick to open up the wallet this off season. Following last week's re-signing of Aramis Ramirez to a rich new deal, the Cubs made the biggest splash of baseball's free agency period by signing Alfonso Soriano to an 8-year, $136 million deal on Monday. Soriano batted .277 with 46 home runs, 95 RBIs, 41 doubles and 41 stolen bases -- becoming the...

Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry annouced on Sunday that the team had agreed to new contracts with free agents Aramis Ramirez and Kerry Wood, answering two questions about the Cubs' 2007 roster. To be honest, Chicagoist was surprised that either one is coming back, let alone both of 'em.

Chicagoist is clearly in the camp with those who believe that Dusty Baker's days as Cubs manager are numbered. With his contract expiring, the Cubs floundering and his blaming everybody but himself we just don't forsee Dusty manning the Wrigley dugout come April.

So is Dusty Baker on the hot seat or not? Recently, comments from Cubs GM Jim Hendry made it sounds like the Cubs skipper might not be returning from the All Star Break.

While the Cubs prized arms have been little more than ongoing sources of concern, their prized slugger has been manificent since joining the team prior to the 2004 season. On Monday, the Cubs signed Derrek Lee to a $65 million, 5 year extension. The deal is expected to be annouced officially during a scheduled Tuesday press conference. Lee won the NL batting title with a .335 average last year, while leading the league in hits...

Remember a few weeks back, when the Baseball Prospectus ran an article quoting an anonymous source who reported that the Cubs' Mark Prior looked to be suffering from shoulder problems? And remember how Cubs GM Jim Hendry strongly denied that there was anything wrong with Prior? If you're like Chicagoist, you figured then it could be a while before we saw Mark Prior pitch in an actual game. Either Baseball Prospectus's anonymous tipster is psychic,...

We all know Spring Training is officially under way for the Cubs when the first denials about Mark Prior's injuries start coming from the Cubs brass. Yesterday, Cubs GM Jim Hendry issued a strong denial to reports in Baseball Prospectus from an anonymous source that Prior looked to be experiencing shoulder problems and looked "weak and sick.'' While one could try to belittle info from an anonymous source, it's supposedly the same one who first...

Throughout Florida and Arizona, players begin reporting to Spring Training to begin preparation for the 2006 season. However, it's looking like one play who won't be reporting to any camp is former Cubs outfielder Sammy Sosa, who turned down an offer from the Washington Nationals. The only Major League offer Sosa received, the Nats deal only offered a non-guaranteed 1-year, $500,000 deal. Having already turned down offers from teams in Japan and overtures from the Dominican team to play in the upcoming World Baseball Championships, Sosa's agent said, "... I can say, with reasonable certainty, that we've seen Sammy in a baseball uniform for the last time."

Chicagoist is scratching our heads this morning at Jim Hendry's latest signing. Looking to replace Jeromy Burnitz in right field, he signed former Twins outfielder Jacque Jones to a 3-year, $16 million deal.