1) said this deal got done b/c of HENDRY--apparently going into the negotiations there were 6 teams soriano was interested in and the angels were #1 and the cubs last
however, after meeting w/hendry, he changed his mind, as long as he's guaranteed 3 things which were non-negotiable: (a) guranteed lead off spot.period..doesn't want to move from 7th to 2nd,e tc (b) NTC (c) a position--he wants the cubs before the season starts to pick a position and stick w/it--no moving from CF to LF, etc
and apparentely soriano and his people talked to current and former cub players and asked them about hendry, they supposedly spoke highly of him
2) looking at pitching: sees cubs going w/7 pitchers (prior being #7)
looks like gil meche is there target
maybe schmidt, not sure on lilly (he's had some issues)
might try to trade for westbrook or lee
and marquis might be the cubs #6 pitcher
That would be one deep and sick rotation we would be 7 deep, so Hendry made this all happen and everybody loved him I guess speaks volumes about the guy he is..
**Props to Ivychat for the information**