Holy Hendry!

Holy Cow, what is going on with Hendry and the Cubs!?  The guy is having a heart attack and he’s still wheeling and dealing!?  Yes, the Cubs landed left hander Ted Lilly, to a four-year, $40 million deal.

"Ted Lilly is a Cub," Lilly’s agent Larry O’Brien announced Wednesday night in the lobby of the Dolphin Hotel.

The Cubs were able to sign Lilly even though he was persued by the Blue Jays and the Yankees.  What made Lilly want to sign with the Cubs?  (Besides the big pile of money?  O’Brien explained that

"He was intrigued by the opportunity to maybe be involved in something special and get Chicago back to the postseason and a world championship. At the end of the day, Ted thinks they have a great opportunity to go from last to first.  Detroit did it, so why not Chicago?" 

Lou Pinella and Jim Hendry are like a couple of high pressure salesman, and players are buying what they are selling.  They want people to know that the Cubs are serious about winning. Pinella is in the middle of all of this.  He is making calls to all the free agents on the Cubs radar.  "I’ve talked to a few of them, and the ones I haven’t, I leave nice messages," Piniella said.  Pinella and Hendry convinced Lilly that Chicago was the right choice, and continue to work on Seattle pitcher Gil Meche.
"I had a nice conversation with Gil and told him we thought Chicago would be a really nice place for him to pitch," Piniella said.
Lilly is the seventh free agent to sign with the Cubs this offseason, joining Alfonso Soriano, Aramis Ramirez, Mark DeRosa, Kerry Wood, Henry Blanco and Wade Miller.  There is still a lot of work to be done, but this is another victory for the Cubs.  Who would have thought that the Cubs could keep a guy from signing with the Yankees? 

I got a feeling that Hendry will be out of that hospital bed soon and will continue to add pieces to the 2007 Cubs.  The NL Central is so bad that it is there for the taking. There will be people complaining about this signing just as they did when the Cubs signed Soriano.  Me personally, I’m enjoy this off season more than any that I can remember.

Go get ‘em Jim!