On the cusp of a possible contract extension for general manager Jim Hendry, the Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan lists his five best and worst moves made by Hendry (clearly done looking in the rear-view mirror). In the best list, Sullivan rightly lists three trades that ended up being steals: 1) Aramis Ramirez and Kenny Lofton for Bobby Hill, Jose Hernandez, and Matt Bruback in July 2003; 2) Derrek Lee for Hee Seop Choi in November 2003; and 3) Mark Grudzielanek and Eric Karros for Todd Hundley in December 2002.

Sullivan also includes the Ryan Dempster signing and the trade of Sammy Sosa, but I think you still have to include the Nomar Garciaparra trade in July 2004 as one of Hendry's best moves, even though Garciaparra ended up too injured in his tenure in Chicago to really contribute. In addition to Garciaparra, Hendry also received Matt Murton, and did so without giving up Matt Clement. In exchange, Hendry gave up just Alex Gonzalez, Francis Beltran, Brendan Harris, and Justin Jones.

On the worst list, Sullivan makes one small error. In listing the Shawn Estes signing in December 2002, Sullivan writes: "He went 8-11 with a 5.73 ERA and Glendon Rusch replaced him in the rotation down the stretch." Actually, Juan Cruz replaced Estes. In any event, the Estes signing truly was bad, though not as bad as allowing him to stay in the rotation essentially the entire year once it became evident that he was the worst regular starting pitcher in the National League.

Sullivan also lists the signing of LaTroy Hawkins on his worst list. I don't think that qualifies. Hawkins was good pitcher and pitched well for the Cubs, except when pitching with a one run lead in the ninth. Plus, Hendry turned Hawkins into Jerome Williams and David Aardsma.

Another questionable listing on the worst list (though one I agree was a poor decision) is the allowing of the publication of the video showing Sammy Sosa leaving the last game of the 2004 season early. Petty, yes, but too inconsequential.

I can think of a couple of other poor decisions that should have made the list (excepting the recent overpayments for Jacque Jones and Neifi Perez):

• The signing of Lenny Harris. Harris gave Dusty Baker an excuse not to play Mark Bellhorn at third base. Bellhorn struggled in 2003, but he did not receive consistent play and was, in any event, still better than Harris.

• The failure to find Rod Beck a job in the bullpen on the 2003 team, most notably in place of one of Antonio Alfonseca, Dave Veres, or Todd Wellemeyer. Beck ultimately landed with the Padres after dominating at triple-A Iowa, and pitched well.

• An unfortunate loss from a performance standpoint was the decision not to protect Andy Sisco in the Rule 5 draft. But the Cubs apparently had their off-the-field reasons that we are not privy to.