Why Does Jim Hendry Keep Giving Our Pitching Prospects to the Marlins?

In addition to telling Kerry Wood to go elsewhere, even though Kerry was willing to sign a contract with the Cubs for just one year, Jim Hendry has made what looks like another dumb trade involving Cubs pitching prospects with the Florida Marlins.

First, Wood. Fans complain about baseball players showing no loyalty to their teams when they sign big-money contracts to play elsewhere. Well, Kerry Wood has been loyal to the Cubs big-time. The last two years he took less money to sign one-year contracts with the Cubs. And he would have signed another one-year contract this year. But Jim Hendry said, nope, we don’t want you. Maybe that is the best thing for the Cubs. But don’t ever talk to me again about players being disloyal. If a player thinks signing for more money with a new team is better for him and his family, you can’t criticize him. Because the Cubs just did the same thing to Kerry Wood. (Maybe Kerry will win a World Series ring next year, just like a certain former Cubs first baseman did after he was told the same thing.)

But even worse was the trade of Jose Ceda to the Florida Marlins for closer Kevin Gregg. Jim Hendry keeps trading Cubs pitching prospects to the Marlins. In December of 2005 Hendry traded Ricky Nolasco, Sergio Mitre and Renyel Pinto to the Marlins for Juan Pierre. Pierre had one forgettable year with the Cubs and then signed with the Dodgers as a free agent. (We did not try to re-sign Pierre because he couldn’t throw from center field.)

As for Nolasco, Pinto and Mitre? Well, Ricky Nolasco had a 15-8 record with the Marlins last year with a 3.92 ERA and 212 innings pitched. Could have used him. Pinto pitched 67 games out of the bullpen with a 4.45 ERA. Not great, but he’s a lefty, and he has a career ERA under 4.00. Could have used him, too. (Mitre was injured in 2008 and did not pitch. He is now with the Yankees.)

Also, Hendry famously traded Dontrelle Willis (and others) to the Marlins in March of 2002. I have not criticized Hendry for that trade because we at least got Matt Clement and Antonio Alfonseca in exchange. Clement and Alfonseca helped get the Cubs to the NLCS in 2003. (I was upset, later, when I heard Hendry say that he did not know much about Willis when he traded him. That bothered me.)

Now Hendry has traded Jose Ceda for Kevin Gregg. Gregg had a good year for the Marlins as a closer, but his 3.41 ERA was in one of the bigger parks in the majors. He saved 29 games, but he had nine blown saves, not a good percentage. Also, his 2008 record was not as good as 2007 (32 saves, with four blown saves), and he has walked one batter for every two innings pitched for the last two years.) Plus he’s arbitration-eligible, so his $2.5 million salary is going up.

Jose Ceda was Baseball America’s number 4 prospect for the Cubs in 2008 (and was one of the Cubs’ ten prospects to watch in 2008 according to Minorleaguebaseball.com). He only had a so-so record at High-A Daytona in the Florida State League when he was mostly starting: 2-2 with a 4.80 ERA. But when he moved up to AA Tennessee and pitched out of the bullpen, he was 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA in 22 games/30.1 innings. Before the 2008 season Baseball America said (December 3, 2007): "The Cubs could have another Lee Smith on their hands. When he came out of the bullpen [in 2007], Ceda’s fastball sat in the mid-90s and reached 99 mph." Hmm. "Another Lee Smith." And we traded for somebody else’s so-so closer. Wonderful. (There was a concern about his weight, but Geovany Soto dealt with that issue, as did Kerry Wood himself.)

All in all, a typical Jim Hendry trade. Give away top-level prospects in exchange for veterans from other teams who are arbitration-eligible or about to become free agents. With enough money and high-enough ticket prices, Hendry has shown he can get the Cubs just barely into the playoffs. But it’s no way to build a team long-run, especially at a reasonable price. And that is important because I am getting tired of the constant ticket price increases.

Also, I am getting tired of seeing our prospects become stars for other teams, especially the Marlins.

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Update (11/15/08 5:00 p.m.):  Two additional things I should have mentioned about Gregg-Ceda trade.  One, Gregg lost the closer job with the Marlins in late August.  Two, he had knee surgery after the season.