Chicago Cubs' Jim Hendry defends Mark DeRosa trade

I guess this sets to rest the hope of getting DeRo back.

5 months ago Madison Cub Fan 37 comments 0 recs |

Comments

He won't admit he made a mistake...

… but, I personally thought there was no way in the world DeRo would be coming back to the Cubs. I think if they did bring him back, it would be like saying to the public, “I made a BIG mistake.” I just don’t think Hendry roles that way.

by TheHawkRules on May 27, 2009 10:53 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

If you read the whole article, Jim Hendry does admit that he makes mistakes.

“Some of the moves work out right away and some of them take a little time to work out,” Hendry said. “And sometimes they don’t work. It’s just part of the gig.”

He just doesn’t agree that he made a mistake with DeRosa. Fontenot and Miles have hit just as well as DeRosa when you isolate their performances v. RHP and LHP respectively. That’s why I don’t agree either.

Sean Marshall is a good starter.

by DGU on May 27, 2009 11:25 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, Jimbo talks a good game.

He manages to not admit he made a mistake while leaving open the possibility that he made a mistake at the exact same time.

I've committed to tweeting about the Cubs for the rest of the season. (Does that sound as ridiculous as I think it does?) Anyway, if you're on Twitter, you can follow me here.

by dat cubfan daver on May 28, 2009 10:01 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

But you can't isolate those performances because...

… Fontenot and Miles have not been in the platoon role envisioned for them. Granted, maybe that would have worked out fine for replacing DeRosa. Instead, injuries have left the bench dangerously depleted, which is why some of us clamored for DeRo’s return.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al on May 28, 2009 10:02 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I can understand

1) wanting his return
2) wanting a deeper bench to begin with.
3) being annoyed that Lou doesn’t play platoon players in ideal circumstances.

But that’s not relevant to Jim Hendry’s decision to trade Mark DeRosa and go with Fontenot/Miles at 2B. Isolating their production is precisely the thing to do when determining where mistakes were made and where not.

Sean Marshall is a good starter.

by DGU on May 28, 2009 10:30 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think you misunderstood what I wrote, then.

Yes, you can isolate those numbers and compare them to the Fontenot/Miles production (and even consider what Bradley might do, because presumably, trading DeRosa was done in part to afford Bradley).

But it is clear that the trade made the bench weaker. And that IS a factor in making such a deal.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al on May 28, 2009 10:52 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Which would give Hendry

the perfect excuse for bringing him back. He could blame it on the injuries and not eat crow for his poor judgment.

by 100yearitch on May 28, 2009 1:15 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

LIKE I SAID BEFORE....

Hendry is not going to admit making a mistake but I bet he thinks about it …..DERO was not a super star but about right now the club could sure use him……

by cubs north on May 27, 2009 11:52 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's what I said...

“He just doesn’t agree that he made a mistake with DeRosa.”

My whole post was about DeRo and him only…. Even if he thought he made a mistake, this would be a bad time to admit it. Maybe years down the road, he can say he did… but right now, with the teaming NEEDING DeRo… it would be bad PR to say “I made a mistake in getting rid of him.” The media/fans would eat him up for sure.

that’s my opinion anyway…

by TheHawkRules on May 27, 2009 11:39 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

If not you... then dubs north and BLou are just other examples.

Plenty of people are making the case that Jim Hendry can’t admit any mistakes, which I think is off line.

Sean Marshall is a good starter.

by DGU on May 28, 2009 7:41 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well...

I don’t think he’s perfect… I am just saying that I don’t think he can admit that getting rid of DeRo was a bad idea at this time. Know what I mean? It’s like the captain of the titanic running around on the ship and going “I shoulda turned away from the ice berg.”

When things are going rough, it’s better to focus on positives than negatives. It just won’t help anything at all. If did admit it, all the media, fans, etc would be rambling on about it.

Basically, right now wouldn’t be a good time to admit a mistake.

by TheHawkRules on May 28, 2009 10:30 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Mistakes were made.

Jim Hendry can admit the mistake of not having an adequate SS/3B backup.
Jim Hendry can admit the mistake of giving Milton Bradley a contract that encourages him to play hurt.

But the biggest reason everyone thinks the season is a disaster is that Rami is down and DeRosa simply wasn’t going to be told to sit on the bench and wait for Aramis to be injured. DeRosa wasn’t going to be the short-side platoon partner with Mike Fontenot. It was not a mistake to trade Mark DeRosa.

Sean Marshall is a good starter.

by DGU on May 28, 2009 10:34 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I disagree...

… but, i’ve said it all winter. I’m not just now saying it was mistake because we could use him. I’ve said from the trade it was mistake… and many people agree with me.

Regardless, it doesn’t matter what either of us believe. It’s just our opinions. No big deal and no need to start getting silly mate. Have a good day man.

by TheHawkRules on May 28, 2009 10:47 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hey - I respect your opinion.

I didn’t like this trade when it was first made. I’ve come to appreciate what we’ve gotten out of the deal. I can see where you’re coming from. Have a good day, too!

Sean Marshall is a good starter.

by DGU on May 28, 2009 11:38 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hendry forever lives in denial

Hendry is not a good GM. Instead he has the luxury of one of the game’s biggest payrolls to mask his ineptitude and make up for mistakes.

Kenny Williams runs circles around Hendry with a fraction of the payroll. So too do any number of GMs in the game. Hendy would utterly FAIL if he were in charge of a team witha payroll situation like they have in most places. I’m sick and tired of him living in denial about the deficiencies and downturn of certain player and the continuing lackluster farm system he presides over.

As far as I’m concerned job one for Tom Ricketts should be to fire Crane Kenney, Jim Hendry and Oneri Flieta.

Awww, come on guys, it's so simple maybe you need a refresher course. It's all ball bearings ...

by BLou on May 28, 2009 7:38 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Kenny Williams does not run circles around Hendry...

nor does he do it with a fraction of the payroll. Outside of this year, the White Sox payroll has been higher.

Lasy four years payroll:

White Sox: 96 M, 121M, 108M, 102M
Cubs: 134M, 118M, 99M, 94M

by Corey Patterson on May 28, 2009 9:41 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Those look a lot like numbers and facts

BLou has a rare form of dyslexia that doesn’t allow him to read those.

by Wreckard on May 28, 2009 11:54 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's back to the...

… “we weren’t lefthanded enough” excuse. Ridiculous.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al on May 28, 2009 8:07 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

the Dodgers have already prepared for our being left handed

4 of the 5 pitchers in their rotation are leftys. So we could use some right handed hitting this weekend.

Just say no to players named Aaron on the Cubs.

by nji232 on May 28, 2009 8:43 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

As a team we're batting

.246 vs LHP and .248 vs RHP.

Join the BCB Flickr Group: http://flickr.com/groups/bleedcubbieblue

by tony412 on May 28, 2009 9:32 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks for posting this.

I was hoping someone would ask Hendry about the DeRo trade, and his response is about what I expected.

I've committed to tweeting about the Cubs for the rest of the season. (Does that sound as ridiculous as I think it does?) Anyway, if you're on Twitter, you can follow me here.

by dat cubfan daver on May 28, 2009 10:00 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Consider this.

We had a rookie player hit with an OPS over .900 last year. What would it have said to the farm system, to the players as a whole if we told Mike Fontenot – “That wasn’t good enough for you to get a chance to play more regularly”?

Sean Marshall is a good starter.

by DGU on May 28, 2009 10:36 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Hendry is a worse baseball man than I think if he couldn't understand Fontenot's objective value

We’ve been over this very many times before. Mike Fontenot is a limited skill over-achiever type with was very selectively used in 2008 to maximum benefit. It was dumb to push Fontenot beyond his limitations to help this team. Real dumb.

Awww, come on guys, it's so simple maybe you need a refresher course. It's all ball bearings ...

by BLou on May 28, 2009 11:15 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

You're a worse baseball man than you claim if you believe that

The marginal gain of Fontenot’s defense at 2nd over Derosa’s makes up for most if not all of the difference in their offensive statlines.

by Wreckard on May 28, 2009 11:56 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

The mistake was not

In trading DeRosa, the mistake was in signing Aaron Miles.

He could have just as well saved the five million and gotten someone from the minors at minumum salary to do the same that Miles has done in his entire career. Or he could have signed someone better. Now he can’t release Miles and he doesn’t have the roster spot/money to get someone better.

However, people need to realize that the reason this team is struggling is not DeRosa. Bradley is hitting .200, Lee has been bad (hopefully he will continue to improve), Soriano has been struggling greatly, Soto is dreadful. The marginal difference of having DeRosa play 3B at this moment was not going to prevent the recent losing streak.

by Luis on May 28, 2009 12:07 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I didn't realize till I looked at the numbers

but Soriano is hitting .040 lower in May then he did in April. That’s annoying, and I hope he snaps out of it.

With Miles on the DL and Scales on his way back up to the club, maybe we’ll see some better things out of the infield. :D

"I don’t really play baseball, I feel it." -- Milton Bradley

by drewishdrewid on May 28, 2009 12:19 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agree.

As the season wears on, the Miles signing is becoming an 800 lb. gorilla making 4.9 million bananas.

Since the Cubs departed on that dreadful road trip, Soriano has been ice cold. Geo is…trying. His OPS has risen from .463 on May 1 to its current state of .604.

I've committed to tweeting about the Cubs for the rest of the season. (Does that sound as ridiculous as I think it does?) Anyway, if you're on Twitter, you can follow me here.

by dat cubfan daver on May 28, 2009 1:14 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

The good news is...

… that Soriano is a notorious streak hitter. He could go on one any time.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al on May 28, 2009 2:17 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Now that is a spot on analysis.

Hey, it's a new century!

by cowsarecool220 on May 28, 2009 1:39 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Bruce Miles...

…reported on Waddle & Silvy yesterday that re-acquiring DeRosa has been discussed in the Cubs’ front office, but that his contract (which he intimates was the central reason for the DeRosa trade), unless the Tribe would eat some of it, precludes the Cubs from trading for him. The implication, of course, is that Hendry is/was willing to eat crow if the price is/was right. (I don’t know how to provide a link to cite this – find it on their podcast if you’re interested.)

Incidentally, DeRosa was interviewed and said he never really thought he was traded to make room for Peavy – he was told by Hendry that the Cubs’ brass simply thought Fontenot was as good and deserved a shot.

I’m going to vomit if the Cardinals or Brewers sign DeRosa.

"Writing is exciting and baseball is like writing. You can never tell with either how it will go or what you will do." -- Marianne Moore

by duboisdm on May 28, 2009 1:03 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

The Brewers are apparently not interested.

The Cardinals are, though. According to MLBTR, so are the Yankees.

The longer the season goes on, the less the remainder of DeRosa’s contract. Maybe later in June, they’ll decide they can afford it. Of course, that’d be closer to Ramirez’ return date.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al on May 28, 2009 2:19 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

great to know

that the Cubs are so limited in payroll flexiblity that they can’t take on a 5.5 mill salary! At this point what’s left of DeRo’s contract? 4M?
If that’s the case than I guess we can expect no major move this year and in all likeliehood a 3rd place finish. I agree with BLou……….hendry needs to GO…..the sooner the better!

by plenz on May 28, 2009 2:28 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

The financial strictures

may include plans for another move later on. Or Jim might be able to swing a trade in which financial burdens are swapped. Or a trade could be made for an inexpensive player.

Is Sean Marshall our most dependable starter?

by DGU on May 28, 2009 2:31 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

That might be the way to make the DeRo deal...

… see if you could get the Tribe to take a contract of ours. Like, say, Aaron Heilman’s.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al on May 28, 2009 2:39 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Y'know, I'd sign off on that deal.

Until and unless Heilman turns things around, I’m hereby changing his nickname from “Fully K” to “The Nervous Accountant.”

I've committed to tweeting about the Cubs for the rest of the season. (Does that sound as ridiculous as I think it does?) Anyway, if you're on Twitter, you can follow me here.

by dat cubfan daver on May 28, 2009 2:43 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs