Dave Kaplan on WGN Regarding Soriano and Pitching *Must Read*

[Waveland007]

1) said this deal got done b/c of HENDRY--apparently going into the negotiations there were 6 teams soriano was interested in and the angels were #1 and the cubs last

however, after meeting w/hendry, he changed his mind, as long as he's guaranteed 3 things which were non-negotiable: (a) guranteed lead off spot.period..doesn't want to move from 7th to 2nd,e tc (b) NTC (c) a position--he wants the cubs before the season starts to pick a position and stick w/it--no moving from CF to LF, etc

and apparentely soriano and his people talked to current and former cub players and asked them about hendry, they supposedly spoke highly of him

2) looking at pitching: sees cubs going w/7 pitchers (prior being #7)

looks like gil meche is there target
maybe schmidt, not sure on lilly (he's had some issues)
might try to trade for westbrook or lee
and marquis might be the cubs #6 pitcher

That would be one deep and sick rotation we would be 7 deep, so Hendry made this all happen and everybody loved him I guess speaks volumes about the guy he is.. :D :cool:

**Props to Ivychat for the information**

[HOLYCOW!25]

Hendry really is the man. Gotta love him.

[Zamby38]

Lol yeah, especially after pulling off something as unexpected as this.

[scuba]

Jimbo is the man! :D

[Waveland007]

I think Hendry was being held back as a gm, Kaplan on WGN radio was talkng about what the agent for Soriano said to him he basically told Hendry there were 6 teams with the same offer and we are 6th. Hendry said to Soriano's agent just give me a fair shot when negotiating that's all I ask. So they talked for 3 hours and when Alfonso and his agent left his agent said that is the most prepared and most impressive presentation he has ever seen and he has been doing this a long time. Soriano asked for numbers and he called about 5 people either current cub players or of the past to ask about Hendry and if he was this good a guy or was it for show. So they told Hendry what it would take and it was a done deal. So multiple teams had the same money on the table he chose us because of Hendry.

[Webgem]

Jimbo our hero....thanks for the x-mas gift...:D :D :D ...and I know you're not done yet..:)

[scuba]

Damn, wave. That's pretty cool. Jimbo is showing us what kind of GM he is now that nothing is holding him back and proving a lot of people out there wrong about him. And it's not like he is putting on a show for these guys according to past players like you mentioned, which says a lot. I really don't know what more to say. I'm lovin' Jimbo more and more each day! :D :D

[Drew]

Its good to see Hendry operate so well with fewer salary restrictions. I think some nay-sayers will attempt to make the point that the Cubs over paid Soriano, but from the sound of this, 5 other teams were about to also. Its nice to finally come out on top when chasing after an All-Star free agent. I love the fact that Hendry got this deal done early too, so now he can direct his full attention to pitching.