Missed It By That Much

Those Jake Peavy talks will probably heat up again once the Ricketts take over the team or Rich Harden hits the disabled list, but just how close were they to completing the trade over the winter?

 They were so close, in fact, that Peavy's side had begun the process of negotiating how much of his salary would be deferred. I's were being dotted, t's were being crossed.

Buster Olney makes it sounds like they were in the middle of the press conference before the red phone rang from Sam Zell to put a stop to the deal. I guess we may never know, but Padres general manager Kevin Towers certainly thought a deal was just about in place, so there's probably more truth than fiction to that story.

The other newsworthy item is that USA Today pegs the Cubs total payroll at $134,809,000. That's the third highest in baseball behind the Mets and Yankees and well ahead of the fourth place Boston Red Sox ($121,745,999).

NL Central Payroll

 Cubs $ 134,809,000
Astros $ 102,996,414
Brewers $ 80,182,502 
Cardinals $ 77,605,109
Reds $ 73,558,500
Pirates $ 48,693,000 

 

By USA Today's numbers, the Cubs increased their spending by $16.5 million from last season and are outspending their closest division rival by nearly $32M. 

Division
Teams
 Difference Rounded
NL East Mets over Phillies $36M
NL Central Cubs over Astros $32M
NL West Dodgers over Giants $18M
AL East Yankees over Red Sox $80M
AL Central Tigers over White Sox $19M
AL West Angels over Mariners $15M

 

Well, it's not quite the Evil Empire, but I think it's safe to retire the Cubs don't spend enough clichés. And while you still have to make the right decisions with that money, the Cubs and Jim Hendry are working at a decided advantage...a $32 million advantage.

Tags: 
Cubs rumors
Payroll
Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 12:55pm
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Comments

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 1:38pm

http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/...

press release w/o all the actual names....great work.

Submitted by Q-Ball
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 1:51pm

I forget; can you recap for us who was supposedly headed to SD in that deal?

I remember Marshall for sure, plus maybe Josh Vitters, but can't recall exactly. Need a refresher.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 2:01pm

I don't think anyone knows exactly, Marshall was supposedly off the table though.

Supposedly a 3-team deal with DeRosa to the Phils (possibly) for some pitchers who would go to San Diego along with Vitters, Hart and Marquis and probably some cash. Padres would look to flip Marquis of course.

http://thecubreporter.com/archive/all/2008/12/9 

also this
http://thecubreporter.com/2008/12/11/no-peavy-deal...

Submitted by navigator
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 2:08pm

Over to the right of me as I post lies Arizona Phil's updated estimated payroll and there are some glaring discrepancies , e.g. USA Today has Ryan Dempster at $9MM and AzPhil has it at $12MM.

http://content.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/salari...

As for the so-called spending advantage, there's spending and then there's spending. Hendry just blows money out his ass. Backloaded contracts, guaranteed contracts for chumps who get cut before the season starts, long term contracts for total busts, etcetera, etcetera..... ad infinitum.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 2:12pm

some of those they're not counting bonus money...

some of them are higher though, so I don't know the reason for the difference. Most of it was grabbed by stories when the contracts were signed and Cot's Baseball Contracts.

Submitted by mannytrillo
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 2:15pm

The difference is because of Dempster's $4 million signing bonus he got this year. USA Today only is showing his base salary which isn't showing the whole picture.

And don't forget Hendry giving out no-trade clauses to everyone except Jose Macias...:)

Submitted by Dr. aaron b
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 2:26pm

I always liked the one way player options. Those were neat!

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 7:18am

Most likely he got the signing bonus last year, to dodge some of the expected tax hikes.

Submitted by mannytrillo
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 8:53am

Very possibly true, but it would still likely count against this years budget/payroll.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 2:19pm

further investigation...

they have the salaries at $1M higher for Zambrano, Ramirez, Soriano, Fukudome, and Lilly. They have $250K higher on Lee.

$3M lower on Dempster (which is weird, because it should be a $4M bonus)

they also don't seem to be counting any payments for Marquis, Bako, Blanco or Gaudin.

Submitted by mastrick
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 2:11pm

Cubs have been a playoff team two years in a row and look like they're headed for a third so I'm going to lay off the management team. My new whipping boy is Corey Fukudome, the Cubs' bakayaro!

Submitted by Dr. aaron b
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 2:25pm

Hendry sucks, spending 30% more than everyone else in a weak sister division doesn't make him Billy Beane.

Blind squirrels find acorns. Ed Wade GM'd a team to the World Series for chrissakes.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 2:30pm

Ed Wade GM'd a team to the World Series for chrissakes.

He did? 

Submitted by Jackstraw
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 2:56pm

Hendry doesn't suck, and saying it hundreds of times doesn't make it true.

Submitted by big_lowitzki
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 4:13pm

Ed Wade GM'd a team to the World Series for chrissakes.

Ooh... please do tell. What team was that?

Unless, of course, you mean when Wade traded Lidge to the Phillies, giving the Phillies the closer they needed to win the World Series...

Submitted by Dr. aaron b
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 4:24pm

Excuse me, Dan O'Dowd

I got my shitty GM's confused.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 2:31pm

http://thecubreporter.com/cubs-40-man-roster

Submitted by Ryno
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 2:56pm

Beat up on Hendry if you want, but I truly believe most GMs rely on their managers to tell them what they need. It's no coincidence Lou has had better tools to work with than Dusty had. I'm also convinced Fuku is perfectly capable of being an impact player. It's too soon to write him off.

Hendry isn't some GM genius, but he's no Littlefield, either.

Submitted by mannytrillo
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 3:32pm

Yeah, I am sure Dusty told Hendry, don't spend the extra $30MM and leave the payroll at around $100MM.

Submitted by Ryno
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 4:37pm

No no, you can't just post a snide comment and think you made your point. Tell me how you think the coversations went between Dusty and Hendry. Or do you suppose they just never talked? I'm really confused.

This is the manager who would routinely field Neifi Perez when better (albeit not much better) options were available.

Of course another $30 mil would help, but who cares. Dusty wasn't going to get it done.

Submitted by mannytrillo
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 4:45pm

I have absolutely no clue how the conversations between Dusty and Hendry went, nor do I know how they go between Hendry and Lou. I would think it would be a collaborative effort to decide what they need and who to get. But I do think they did talk, as I am sure most managers/GM's do, most likely daily.

Submitted by SJS
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 6:28pm

All you need to know is that Dusty stole ABs from TheRiot and gave them to Neifi...anyone who steals from TheRiot in a dream better wake up and appologize.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 7:20am

I think replacing Derek Lee's bat with Neifi Perez's was a sign that Dusty is just too stupid to manage a cub with serious aspirations.

Submitted by crunch
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 3:34pm

seriously?

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 3:17pm

Farnsworth time for KC with a 1-run lead in the bottom of the 8th...

I'm going to go set-up my lawn chair to watch this fire burn.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 3:25pm

burn, burn, burn

1st/3rd with one out....

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 3:28pm

makes Carlos Quentin look silly though...2 outs with Thome up

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 3:30pm

and up in smoke it goes...

3-run HR Thome....

Submitted by Ryno
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 3:32pm

Farnsworth is a waste.

Submitted by jacos
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 3:39pm

Beat me to it.

I came on to make fun of the Farns.

Good call Rob.

Submitted by The Joe
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 3:30pm

Just beautiful.

Submitted by John Beasley
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 3:33pm

Kyle being Kyle. What a bad contract.

Submitted by kmokeefe
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 3:21pm

Farnsworth closing for the royals today?

...why

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 3:23pm

not closing...bottom of the 8th.

Submitted by kmokeefe
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 3:33pm

yeah...I both didn't look at the posts directly above me annnnnnnd mistook an 8 for a 9 on gamecast...well done

Submitted by Jim Hickmans Bat
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 3:24pm

Count me in with the Hendry is decent, not great crowd. He's done a real nice job of getting the free agents that he wants. He's used his minor league talent to engineer a lot of trades that helped the big league team. And he's relied on his scouts to resurrect several players from the scrap heap and get useful play out of them (Dempster, Barrett and Edmonds come to mind).

His biggest dings are that he is not as fiscally sharp as he should be, the Cubs big wallet covers up some sloppy decision making at times. And he has the most maddening fetish for overpaying for fringe players, I don't know that I've ever seen anything like it. $5MM deals to Neifi, Blanco and Aaron Miles, huh? A million bucks and trading a warm body for Jose Macias? Weird.

Overall, I'd rate Hendry's tenure a solid B.

Submitted by mannytrillo
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 3:34pm

Good point Jim! And when his payroll was well below $100MM, the sloppiness really showed.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 7:21am

Does Lou make that much more money than Dusty did?

Submitted by mannytrillo
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 8:54am

I think they make about the same.

Submitted by Dr. aaron b
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 4:14pm

Concur Jim

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 4:24pm

you concur that he deserves a B, but that he sucks?

Submitted by Dr. aaron b
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 4:32pm

C+/B-

Does he suck as bad as Ed Lynch of Andy McFail? NO

Is he Billy Beane,Theo Epstein,Josh Byrnes or Walt Jocketty? NO

I suspect that even a total Dud like Dave Littlefield could have backed into a couple of 90 win seasons if Pirate management had let him outspend everyone else in the central by 30%

It's like beating a 10 year old kid in basketball, then claiming your NBA ready.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 4:42pm

this year they're outspending the Astros by 30% or so, but it hasn't been anywhere close to that before...

2008 - 19% over Cardinals

2007 - 10% over Cardinals

2006 - 2% over Astros

2005 - Cardinals outspent Cubs by 6%

2004 - 9% over Cardinals

2003 - Cardinals outspent Cubs by 5%

but Jocketty is incredible... 

Submitted by Dr. aaron b
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 4:56pm

Jocketty was GM in St. Louis from 95-2007.

7 post season's
2 pennants
1 ws win
9 winning records in 12 years spending less than than the cubs almost every year.

Jim Hendry GM from 2002- now

1 90 win season
4 winning records in 7 years

You can't even compare the track records

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 5:15pm

if the USA today numbers are correct and Jocketty was the GM from 1995-2007 (not bothering to look it up): Cards outspent the Cubs from 1996-1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005. (a few of these season the 2 teams were only a million or two off either way).

so by spending less than the Cubs almost every year you must have meant spending more than the Cubs more than half the time....it's opposite day. 

And Hendry was named GM half-way through the 2002 season....

Submitted by Stevens
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 5:09pm

Is he Billy Beane,Theo Epstein,Josh Byrnes or Walt Jocketty? NO

Is someone actually making this claim? What frustrates me about the Hendry hate is the presumption of Hendry love. Who is claiming him to be the best GM in baseball? I mean, did we all see the cock-up that was his 40-man roster management this year? That said, he's gotten more big things right than wrong.

I agree that B- is about right on JH.

GOOD:
Big wins on a few obvious big trades. Successfully re-signing players like Wood and ARam to home-town discounts. Scrapheap recovery for Dempster/Borowski. Getting his free agent targets once the purse strings were unleashed by McDonough

BAD:
As mentioned, goofy roster management. Trading prospects and players at their lowest value. VERY frustrating reliance on marginally useful stats for evaluating hitters, like hitting with RISP. The Juan Pierre trade. Awful team OBP until Lou showed up.

Division champs for 2 years in a row and 3 of the last 6 is still pretty good. I will dance in the aisles when the Cubs take it all, but I've always maintained that I can be happy if this team is consistently and highly competitive. Jim Hendry has given me that. I give Lou a lot of credit too, but Jim's the boss. He deserves credit with his blame.

Submitted by crunch
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 5:17pm

is it worth mentioning that beane is overrated vs. his results...especially when you look at them longer than just a few years past his projects being drafted or hitting the bigs?

last season's team was beyond an embarrassment full of 1-dimensional players...$300 million team or $30 team.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 5:35pm

they were 49-41 before they traded Harden, 3.5 behind the wild card with a payroll in the bottom 5. They're almost always in the bottom half of the payroll and had a run of 8 straight winning season from 1999-2006. Probably would have been over .500 last year before the fire sale.

I would have pegged them to contend with the Angels this year before the pitching injuries.

Submitted by crunch
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 5:43pm

harden couldn't help the pile of crap they've had there the past 2 years. the bats last year were inexcusable.

this year is looking just as pathetic, imo.

he had a great run, but things are looking stagnant and the once strong pitching is looking trashy.

Submitted by big_lowitzki
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 7:05pm

harden couldn't help the pile of crap they've had there the past 2 years. the bats last year were inexcusable.

What the hell are you are talking about? Sometimes you say some really strange shit.

Lets repeat what Rob said. When Harden was traded, they were 49-41.

That is the best smelling pile of crap that I have ever smelled.

Submitted by crunch
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 10:33pm

maybe you should look at the pile of bats they called a team there...it was on par with the 06 cubs.

harden getting traded didn't cause the team to tank..the team caused it, itself.

Submitted by big_lowitzki
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 10:45pm

Very simply question... how is a team that is 49-41 a pile of shit?

Oakland's offense was bad last year. There is no question. But that doesn't mean that Beane didn't still put together a team that could win.

And, btw, if you think this year's Oakland team's offense is similarly a "pile of shit," then I have a bridge to nowhere to sell you somewhere in Alaska.

Submitted by Dr. aaron b
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 11:08pm

You don't need a bridge up there. I heard the Gov. can see Russia from her house!

Submitted by crunch
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 12:05am

"Very simply question... how is a team that is 49-41 a pile of shit?"

1- because they play 162...they lost 12 games out of 1 pitcher and they go toilet?

2- http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/OAK/2008.s...

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 12:14am

they also traded Blanton...

Duchscherer and Gallagher also went to the DL...

they did have a very poor offense though....

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 3:43pm

(stifles laughter)

somehow this is his 4th Opening Day start...maybe there's another Jeff Suppan I don't know of...

Submitted by Bleeding Blue
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 4:14pm

I find it really funny that some of the same people who complained a couple years ago that Hendry never signed big name free agents and only kept people if he got a hometown discount are now complaining that he sucks because he spends too much money and/or spends it wastefully.

If you have a veteran team like the Cubs, and you've got a quality roster like the Cubs, you're going to have to spend money. The Cubs don't let people go or trade them near the end of their contract because they get too expensive, and the payroll numbers show it.

I think you can say that Hendry probably paid more than he needed to this past offseason for Dempster and Bradley, but that's only because he was agressive and went after the players he wanted before it was quite so clear that the market for player salaries had fallen off so dramatically.

Submitted by Dr. aaron b
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 4:27pm

In hindsight I think it was probably McFail who put the handcuffs on Hendry spending.

Why can't we have some sort of happy medium?

Sitting at a poker table with McFail and Hendry would be like sitting between a guy who folds each and every hand and a guy who pushes "all in" every hand.

That being said, we have a good team and I am really optimistic.

Submitted by jacos
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 4:38pm

"In hindsight I think it was probably McFail who put the handcuffs on Hendry spending"

I have no proof of McFail handcuffing Hendry, but I believe he did also.

From the stories of Mark Grace annual resigning being seen as a free agent signing to McFail wetting his pants when he offered Mike Hampton the biggest contract in Cubs history I could see it being true.

Submitted by Ahone Ahtwo Ahthree
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 4:39pm

Personally, I applaud Hendry for not sitting on his ass in the offseason. We won 97 games last year, so it would have been easy to just phone it in and say that we were good enough to win again this season, but he made some moves to try and make us better. Not every free agent signing and trade gets a gold star, but Hendry helped to perpetrate rapes on both the Pirates and Marlins to get Ramirez and DLee, and Soriano was far and away the best offensive free agent on the market when he was signed, and he is by no means a bust.

I know some of the moves made this past offseason were questionable, like trading DeRosa and signing Miles, but I've said it before and I'll say it again (and it was reiterated in this article) - my belief is that those moves were made (along with obtaining Garrett Olson) in anticipation that the Peavy deal was going to get done. Something obviously changed, and I'm guessing either Hendry changed his mind about not wanting to pay the ridiculous price Towers was asking, or Towers wanted to up the ante a bit more. I guess we'll never really know, but my point is that Hendry is always looking to try and make the team better. It doesn't always work out, but hindsight is 20/20 and I'll take back to back playoff appearances any day...

Submitted by CT_Steve
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 4:51pm

Following up on our Olympics discussion from last night...

http://www.reason.com/news/show/132714.html

Submitted by crunch
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 5:00pm

no offense, but can you remove the 6mb image at the top left of the page?

Submitted by Ryno
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 5:11pm

I was wondering wth was going on... thought it was my computer.

Submitted by Dr. aaron b
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 5:02pm

Other than Dallas Green he is the best Cubs GM of our/my lifetime. He isn't terrible. He's just a middle of the road GM with a top 5 payroll.

Brian Cashman with less foresight.

At least he isn't Larry Himes or Ed Lynch.

Submitted by Chad
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 6:47pm

At least Himes got us Sosa.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 6:50pm

and cost us Greg Maddux

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 6:12pm

Soriano, Theriot, Lee, Bradley , Ramirez, Johnson, Soto, Fontenot, Dempster

vs

Matsui, Rodriguez, Berkman, Lee, Tejada, Blum, Pence,  Bourne, Wandy

Submitted by Jim Hickmans Bat
on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 6:55pm

Very pleased to see Fontenot in there against the lefty. If he can be marginally productive against LHP early in the season, we may not see much of Miles beyond a strictly utility IF role--a role for him that I can certainly live with.

250 PAs for Miles: OK. 400 PAs for Miles: not OK.

Submitted by Arizona Phil
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 11:22am

Submitted by navigator on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 1:08pm.
Over to the right of me as I post lies Arizona Phil's updated estimated payroll and there are some glaring discrepancies , e.g. USA Today has Ryan Dempster at $9MM and AzPhil has it at $12MM.

===============================

NAVIGATOR: This comes up every year.

USA Today prorates (averages) signing bonuses over the lenghth of a player's contract when determining players salaries & club payroll even if the signing bonus is paid in a lump sum when the player signs a contract (as is usually the case), while the numbers I provided on the right tab here at TCR are what the Cubs are actually paying out in payroll in 2009 (which commences with the end of the 2008 World Series), including lump sum signing bonuses, buy-outs, termination pay, and other pay-outs (like the Cubs paying a portion of Jason Marquis' salary), and also includes guaranteed salaries or minor league split salaries for players on the 40-man roster who are optioned to the minors.

Allowing clubs to calculate payroll by prorating signing bonuses is part of the CBA and it's done to reduce club payroll when determining revenue sharing & luxury tax.

Clubs consider post-season contract buy-outs, lump-sum signing bonuses for players signed after the conclusion of the World Series, termination pay for released players, and any agreement to pay a portion of a traded player's salary (as is the case with Jason Marquis), as a part of the next season's payroll, although that type of accounting is not reflected in the USA Today payroll numbers.

The only post-season payments that clubs consider to be a part of the previous year's payroll are performance bonuses that are earned by players who have incentives in their contracts.  

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