The Sheik wrote:They can keep Hendry for his "baseball ties," but we need to Isiah Thomas him and move him to a consultant role. He absolutely can not be the GM of this team any longer. The guy needs to just be fired for the Soriano contract. Look at it this way. I wont blame him for the Milton deal, Bradley came off a big time contract year and looked the most attractive(albeit I would have probably taken Dunn). Giving Soriano superstar money was (Please Use More Appropriate Word). Signing Aaron Miles for 2yrs. Overpaying for Fukudome and Bradley when there was no market. He had to extend Zambrano so I wont blame him for that.
His pros have been little garbage pickups(meaning not much was given up) like Harden, Baker, Edmonds, Reed Johnson.
IMO I would prefer we stop spending to get out of a rut. We need to look to deal Derrek Lee this winter. Possibly Bradley although I wouldnt mind giving him one more chance. Let Harden and Grabow go for the picks. and just look to stock pile young proven talent or prospects by trading off assets like Ted Lilly or Zambrano. I just dont see this team being tweaked enough to win a world series. Maybe you give it half a season, but with Lee and Lilly being expiring deals you better get something for them before they leave.
Hendry's a mediocre GM. He's done a lot of moves that most people did not like that worked out like Lilly, initially signing DeRosa, and we have brought some impact prospects in like Soto, Marmol, Wells, and Z several years ago. Speaking of Soto doesn't anyone else think that Pudge would be a perfect backup for him. He could really help him get his head straight and get in shape. He's already in a part-time/backup role with Texas. Absolutely do not do the rebuild option. In a couple of years Lee and Lilly will be gone any ways and then you put in the young players. If you add Figgins and Scutaro or any two of the middle infielders and dump Fontenot, Miles, and Theriot for prospects and someone like Aubrey Huff to come off the bench and play part-time you've already fixed a ton of hitting problems. And if you add Rafael Soriano you've got one of the nastiest when on 1-2 SU Closer combos in him and Marmol. You take the picks for Gregg. Try and resign Harden to something like a 3 year, 22 million dollar deal with tremendous incentives for innings pitched, and # of games started. If he turns an offer like that down go after Duchscherer, Hudson, maybe Millwood, or Lackey/Washburn to replace and if that all fails you get draft picks and maybe put Gorzo or someone from the system in the 5th starter role. And when all of this dealing is done you end with 6 or 7 prospects from draft picks and deals and end of with great pieces. Also on the farm system- our farm system has improved a lot this year, Burke, Castro, Lee, and Colvin have all had breakout years and Jackson looks like he'll be a nice player and not to mention other success stories and obviously Vitters. I know I'll take a lot of flack for this plan but boldness could help this team. Sheik you are completely wrong about Bradley and especially Fuku. Fuku was getting great offers from SD and LA and several other teams were interested in him. If I'm right the Pads might have offered more money. Also Bradley was being chased by TB and could have resigned with Texas. People think Hendry's a terrible GM but be grateful we don't have Dayton Moore, guy hands out contracts to mediocre players with no thought whatsoever, signed Meche, Guillen, Bloomquist to huge contracts, has Crisp, Guillen, DeJesus, Meche, Betancourt, Farnsworth, and Cruz on huge contracts no to mention him giving up two top prospects for Betancourt whom Keith Law deems "the worst player ever". All this and they still absolutely suck! Sorry to make everyone read this much.