It was a typical wine-'em and dine-'em event Saturday night when Cubs GM Jim Hendry took free agent Alfonso Soriano out for dinner.

"Have some more wine, Mr. Soriano," Hendry said on numerous occasions, forcing nearly two bottles of $125 pinot noir on the former Nationals outfielder. "Let me tell you what it means to be a Chicago Cub."

Hendry went on to describe the team’s long history as "proud and storied" and that if Soriano joined the club, he’d be following in a "long line of 40-40 Cubs outfielders." Obviously neither of these is true, but Hendry had gotten Soriano so inebriated that by the end of dinner Soriano would agree with most anything Hendry had to say.

When the check came, not only did Hendry convince Soriano to pick up the tab, but he also got him to sign an eight-year, $136 million contract, which Hendry fashioned out of a cocktail napkin.

"It's completely binding. It’s how I lock up most my trades and free agent signings," Henry said. "I just hope that when Alfonso sobers up, he's happy he’ll be a Cub until 2014. Hell, that’s five or six more years than I'll be with the club. Probably."

By Brad Zibung