Hendry on 720AM tonight

Hendry defended the Marquis signing, saying a starting pitcher has to do two things: win games, and give you a lot of innings.  He said Marquis would do both.  He's only 28, and he's won 42 games over the last three years.  He admitted Marquis finished 2006 badly, and didn't point to any specific work Marquis or Rothschild had done to fix any problem.  "With our bullpen, the way it's constructed [meaning keeping only 11 pitchers?], we need starters to give us innings.  Zambrano will give us innings, Marquis will give us innings, we hope Rich Hill will mature into a guy who gives us innings, Lilly will give us 6 innings a start."

When asked whether the Cubs were still going to acquire a centerfielder, in about 5 minutes of talking, Hendry never once brought up the name of Jacque Jones.  It had a "you're dead to me" feel.  Instead, he mentioned that Pagan is still on the roster, and "can play defense across the outfield" and "we didn't get a fair look at him last year when he was injured in the middle of the year."  He mostly said they would try Pie in Spring Training, and if he is ready, he will play.  The Cubs will not acquire anyone who is in a long-term contract (unless they could move to another role) or who would otherwise block Pie.  Kaplan said "A scout from another team told me Pie can play defense anywhere right now.  Is it too much pressure to play the kid every day on a team that wants to win now, or is it fine if he bats eighth and isn't counted on as a run producer?"  Hendry said they would do what was (1) best for the Cubs and (2) best for the player.  "This is no weakminded kid.  At age 21, he's a strong person (paraphrasing).  When he's ready to play, he'll tell us, in the sense that how he's playing will make it obvious that he's ready."  It sounds like Lou is on-board with this plan.  

That was about it.