Why, Jim, Why? Judging Hendry's 2008-09 Offseason

Okay, Jim, I've backed you before.  Sure, you've made some boneheaded moves—like giving up three pitchers for one year of Juan Pierre—but fleecing the Pirates for Aramis, fleecing the Marlins for Derrek Lee, etc.,  gives you a pretty long leash in my book. 

But this offseason you really wore out all the goodwill I've given you over the years.  Now, I'm willing to review the good stuff you did too, but there's not much of it:

1)  GOOD -- Letting Kerry Wood go to another team for $10-mil a year.   Sure, I hate paying closers starter-money too, and Wood's injury history didn't justify the contract.  After all, he made millions off this club while hardly ever earning it over a full year. So let Cleveland make that mistake. 

1A)  BAD --  Getting nothing for him.  Um, Jim, you ever heard of draft pick compensation for Type A free agents?   What did you have to lose, exactly?

2)  GOOD -- Not counting on Fukudome getting better offensively and realizing you needed more power out of your RF. 

2A)  BAD  --   Milton Bradley.  Come on, seriously...he had a career year, and you never give big money to guys coming off career years (the Mariners are STILL regretting Adrian Beltre...).

He's never healthy, he usually gets more print for off-the-field crap than on-the-field performance. He might be a marginally better defender than Dunn/Abreu/Ibanez et al, but no one else would've given him this contract.

3)  GOOD --  Understanding Mike Fontenot's numbers against right-handers made him a fine replacement for DeRosa at 2B. 

3A)  BAD  --  Trading DeRosa in the first place.  Sure, I understand not having to pay him $5.5 mil freed up some cash to go after the RF-to-be-named-later, but then you sign Aaron Miles? 

That means you only save $3 mil-net...Yes, him and Fontenot have underperformed so far and I still think they're likely to get better (how can they get any worse...) but in the meantime this trade is looking bad for you, Jim.

4)  BAD  -- Trading Michael Wuertz for a ham sandwich.  What did this guy ever do to offend Lou Pineilla so much?  Did he sleep with his daughter and not call her again?

5)  GOOD -- Releasing Chad Gaudin.  No one was going to trade for him after that lousy spring and he was taking up space.  He hasn't been wowing anyone in San Diego either.

5A)   BAD -- Releasing Luis Vizcaino without seeing what he could do.  Another guy that we're paying money to play for another team.  His career numbers were fine for a middle-reliever and as long as you kept him away from lefties, he would have been a good 6th-inning guy.

6)   GOOD -- Trading for Kevin Gregg after letting Wood go.  All it takes is one Marmol injury and we would have had no one with closing experience.  No, he hasn't had a great first half, but neither has Wood. 

And if he was repeating his numbers the last two years in the set-up role, no one would be complaining.  Surprisingly it's been righties that have been killing him, not lefties....

6A)  BAD  -- Trading for Aaron Heilman.  This guy had a bad year in '08, and I admit I also thought he was poised for a rebound and could have been another good sixth-seventh inning guy.  But sorry, Jim, he's just getting clobbered.

6B)  BAD -- Not getting at least 1 real lefty-on-lefty specialist and counting on Neal Cotts to do anything.

Jim, no one could have anticipated the Ramirez injury, or the Soto-Lee-Fontenot slow starts.  But giving money to Bradley really hurt the offense when we could have had Dunn, Ibanez or Abreu in RF this year.   And you completely ruined the bullpen by giving away established guys for literally nothing in some cases. 

You stil have time to turn it around, but aside from some of the regulars shouldering the blame for the stagnant offense,  you really deserve most of it right now.