Cubs deliver their pitch
By Teddy Greenstein
Chicago Tribune staff reporter
November 11, 2002, 11:29 PM CST
The Cubs finally met face-to-face with the object of their desire Monday.
After weeks of keeping their feelings to themselves, Cubs President Andy MacPhail and general manager Jim Hendry told Dusty Baker why they believe he's the right man to manage the Cubs.
To hear Baker tell it, MacPhail and Hendry had no trouble getting their points across during a three-plus-hour interview Monday afternoon at the Ritz-Carlton in Phoenix.
"It went well," Baker said. "It went very well. I know they've had their problems, but they're committed to winning. I really believe that, and I think they believe I can help them win."
The courtship continued into the night as MacPhail and Hendry joined Baker and his agent, Jeff Moorad, for dinner.
Negotiations were set to start late Monday or Tuesday. Baker is expected to seek a four-year deal worth between $14 million and $16 million.
"Chicago is as attractive an opportunity as Dusty could have at this stage," Moorad said. "We believe that the Cubs' upside is greater than others, and that excites Dusty."
Baker seemed excited by the Cubs' farm system, which is widely considered among the best in the game.
"We talked philosophy, organization, prospects," Baker said. "I think they've got some good young players coming along."
Baker said he planned to return to his Bay Area home Tuesday, so the Cubs probably can't introduce him as their manager until late in the week.
"We'll spend the week sorting through everything," Moorad said. "I think the Cubs are a very credible option."
Hendry, who waited until after dinner to speak with reporters, is hoping for more of a whirlwind romance than a lengthy courtship.
Tuesday is the first day free agents can negotiate with all 30 teams. The Cubs want Baker to play a substantial role in determining who will take the field in 2003.
While most view the Cubs' hiring of Baker as a foregone conclusion, industry sources say there's at least one other team pursuing Baker. That team has kept its interest private to avoid offending its current manager.
One source said that even if the other situation were more attractive than that of the Cubs, Baker would be reluctant to take someone else's job.
Baker has some concerns about the Cubs' preponderance of day games. But that apparently won't preclude him from taking the job.
"There's nothing you can do about it," he said of the 63 day games at Wrigley Field. "I've dealt with it before. You adjust to it as a player and you adjust to it as a manager. As a player, you have to take care of yourself. And as a manager, you have to recognize when a guy needs a day off.
"That's one of reasons I've always believed in using the whole roster ... so you [always] have another guy ready to go."
Copyright © 2002, The Chicago Tribune
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Baker talks down to dollars
BY MIKE KILEY
STAFF REPORTER
The Chicago Sun-Times
November 12, 2002
Jim Hendry's voice sounded tired late Monday night. But his weariness couldn't mask an overriding tone of optimism, a clear tipoff the Cubs general manager will be naming Dusty Baker as his new manager before long.
"It was a good day,'' Hendry said from Phoenix. "It was very upbeat and positive. It went well.''
But after an encouraging exchange of ideas among Baker, Hendry and Cubs president Andy MacPhail in a three-hour meeting about the baseball side, today brings a different facet of the business. The Cubs and Baker's agent, Jeff Moorad, will start talking money for the first time.
"Andy and I are going to get a cup of coffee this morning before Andy heads back to Chicago, and we're going to share specifics at that time,'' Moorad said. "After their meeting, I joined them at dinner for another 2-1/2 hours, but there was little substance there. There was a lot of storytelling, a lot of laughs. It was more about philosophy. I know Dusty had a positive session with them.''
The Cubs are expected to offer Baker a four-year deal worth between $13 million and $14 million. Will that be enough?
"Dusty and I have a fairly strong point of view of what his next contract should look like,'' Moorad said. "Dusty has never been about money, but it's the inevitable next stage. But we are open because it seems like a good fit and it makes a lot of sense.''
Moorad was asked if it is almost inevitable that Baker and the Cubs will end up with each other.
"I don't know if I would go that far,'' he said.
Baker won't come marching into Chicago without being able to lean on a Cubs icon already steeped in team tradition. Gary "Sarge'' Matthews is believed to be his first choice as hitting coach. Matthews is one of the behind-the-scenes voices who strongly encouraged Baker to pursue the Cubs job.
But Baker also seemed to caution that coming to an agreement with the Cubs might take time. He told a San Francisco reporter earlier Monday that he didn't expect an overnight deal.
"Oh, no,'' Baker replied when asked if the Cubs would announce his hiring Wednesday or Thursday.
It still seems virtually certain that Baker and the Cubs will come to terms. The only other team with a vacancy is Seattle, and Mariners general manager Pat Gillick has said he isn't interested in Baker.
Now that the unfounded speculation that a team with a manager would suddenly try to steal Baker away from the Cubs has been shot down, Baker can either go home or come to Chicago. He has had his focus on the Cubs for quite a while, according to some Giants officials.
San Francisco executives attending the general managers meetings this week in Tucson are confiding that they believe Baker made up his mind weeks ago to take the Cubs job. They insist he never seriously considered returning to the Giants.
If that's true, Baker had to be influenced by friends such as Matthews that the Cubs are a diamond in the rough and only require the right man to unlock their hidden strengths. Even though the Cubs' history is a lamentable record of one disaster after another, pitchers Mark Prior and Kerry Wood are appealing to potential managers.
"Dusty was very aware of our players and our system and the progress we have made,'' Hendry said.
Rumors persist at the GM meetings that Baker wants Dick Pole as his pitching coach. Pole is available, but Larry Rothschild has completed only one year of his three-year contract with the Cubs, and Hendry has said privately he has no plans to replace Rothschild. Sources added that Baker is fine with Rothschild as his pitching coach. |
