Read the opposing arguments from Loyal Homer and Babe Ruthless.
Okay, so this must be obvious to you loyal readers. “Of course Sports Geek wants to fire Jim Hendry,” you may be thinking. “He thinks the worst contract in baseball belongs to Alfonso Soriano, therefore the worst GM must be Chicago Cubs GM Jim Hendry.”
If you are thinking that, quit patting yourself on the back – you’re only partly right. While Soriano’s contract is DEFINITELY the worst in baseball, it is just one of the few gems Hendry has cobbled together during his tenure as general manager for the Cubs. But, before diving into another vitriolic catharsis for Sports Geek, allow me to first compliment Jim Hendry.
Part of the reason Hendry is most deserving of a pink slip is because he set expectations very high for himself when he first was named GM with the Cubs.
July 5, 2002. Cubs fans everywhere have assumed their normal levels of frustration as the season is already over. After that season Hendry made a few valuable, shrewd moves that made many fans into believers. First, he signed Dusty Baker as Cubs manager. At the time that seemed like a good move, given that Baker was coming off of a season where he managed the Giants to the World Series. Then he traded away rightfully unpopular Cubs catcher Todd Hundley in return for two players that would help the Cubs get to within a fistful of outs of the 2003 World Series – Eric Karros and Mark Grudzielanek. After a couple of seemingly solid moves Hendry upped the anty again by trading flamed out prospects Bobby Hill and Jose Hernandez to the Pirates for Aramis Ramirez. Signing bench players Kenny Lofton and Randal Simon made a good season of moves a great one.
At this point, the first-time GM is riding an incredible high of success, even after the bitter loss to the Marlins in the Bartman-dominated NLCS. Then he traded for the one player that killed the Cubs in the NLCS – first baseman Derrek Lee. Now it seemed as though the Cubs would be unstoppable thanks to the savvy leadership of a strong GM.
Though the team failed to make the World Series, it appeared as though they were set up to win for a long time. Strong pitching, plenty of pop in the lineup, and enough relief pitchers to make the game manageable.
I think Hendry’s star began to fade with the Sammy Sosa trade in 2005, two years removed from his peak. Hendry waited too long to pull the trigger on that move, and got only Jerry Hairston, Jr., Mike Fontenot, and a dude named Dave Crouthers in return. More was on the table for Sosa if Hendry had the guts to jettison him sooner, knowing the type of negative clubhouse presence Sosa had established himself as.
After a series of small, meaningless moves Hendry agreed with Dusty Baker that the team needed a strong leadoff hitter. For some reason Hendry believed that hitter was Juan Pierre. To this day I do not understand how he could have traded for Juan Pierre, let alone let three talented young pitchers slip through the system. Hendry was never big on on-base percentage, either – which is odd since baseball leaders began being down with OBP long ago. Hendry should have realized that Pierre’s career .347 OBP was not going to help the club much. Not to mention the fact that Pierre was coming off a career worst OBP of .326. Better was needed.
After the Pierre head-scratcher, and a few more meaningless moves, Hendry traded away Greg Maddux for Cesar Izturis. It’s true that Maddux had an expiring contract and was unsure of his status at season’s end, but the Cubs always needed strong starting pitching, especially when the playoffs rolled around. Hendry traded a viable, albeit aging, Hall-of-Famer for a one-time gold glover with a .259 career batting average. Look out, Neifi Perez, here comes your position battle.
Then came the under-the-radar but important decision to give up Josh Hamilton for cash after drafting him in the Rule 5 draft. Hendry admitted liking Hamilton but did not have the guts to stick to his guns about him.
The big free agent offseason, when Hendry signed Ted Lilly and Alfonso Soriano, again proved that Hendry’s nose for talent was stuffy. Lilly has been solid, not great, and Soriano has been a shell of his former self. Hendry cannot argue money was limiting his own ability, since he had a lot of money to work with that offseason and wasted it on yet another player in Soriano that would not know consistency if it hit him in the face over and over and over… well, you get the drift.
Some Cubs fans felt that Hendry had recaptured the magic when trading a handful of teetering prospects for A’s pitcher Rich Harden. Harden’s injury history, however, precluded him from having the type of dependable spot in the rotation any playoff team needs – and that was a known issue with Harden. While talented, Harden made the management process more complicated after eliminating the babying needs from the staff in Mark Prior and Kerry Wood.
Some Cubs fans also liked bringing in Lou Piniella as the new manager of the Cubs after finally firing Dusty Baker – at least one year too late. And, though Piniella is not immune to mistakes, a roster chalked full of bloated contracts and empty uniforms like the Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Zambrano, Kosuke Fukudome, and Geovany Soto create a very difficult situation. It is evident that Piniella still understands how to manage a team. But the talent he has to work with – which Hendry is responsible for – is preventing success.
The problems with Jim Hendry, other than questionable trades and managerial hirings, come down to philosophy. Hendry believes the Cubs should be built around pitchers who can get strike outs and hitters who can hit home runs. This is an unrealistic approach to GMing at Wrigley. Those homers seem great when the wind is blowing out. But it blows in a lot, too. The Cubs have never been able to create runs under Hendry with a lineup full of professional hitters who can hit and run or simply bunt a run over. The Cubs, under Hendry, have never been a team able to put constant pressure on opposing hitters. It is all or nothing with the Cubs’ lineup… with the latter usually winning out.
Constructing a team around strike outs and home runs is not the way to build consistent production that is necessary to win October. The Cubs no longer have the luxury of lovably losing. They must win a World Series, or else the only consistency Hendry has given the Cubs is a commitment to losing.
Maybe Sports Geek could get Izzo as GM!!
Please don’t get him started!!!
There is zero doubt in my mind that Izzo would be an improvement over Jim Hendry. Zero.
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