As most of you know, Rod Beck passed away at the age of 38 today. He left behind many good baseball memories. His 51 save, 144 ERA+ performance in the fun 1998 season stands out, of course. Though his 1999 season was a disappointment, Beck made a memorable comeback attempt in 2003 following Tommy John surgery the year before. He pitched lights out at Iowa for two months. Last year, I called Jim Hendry's failure to find a bullpen spot for Beck that season one of his worst moves as a GM. Beck ultimately caught on with the Padres and pitched very well.

Other Rod Beck coverage:
Rod Beck and His Trailer (5/16/2003)
"Looking at the Iowa pitching stats, Rod Beck appears to have been the best option if the Cubs wanted an extra reliever . . ." (5/11/2003)
"Adding further intrigue to the bullpen story, Rod Beck’s line at Iowa looks mighty impressive . . ." (5/5/2003)

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.