The most successful General Manager in the recent history of the Chicago Cubs is joining the rest of us on the unemployment line.
The Cubs fired Jim Hendry this morning after a rollercoaster nine-year run, putting him out of his misery after his $100 million plus roster compiled a 54-70 record this season. Hendry says he knew he was going to be fired on July 22nd, but the move didn’t become official until today. He will be replaced by interim GM Randy Bush for the remainder of the season. Perhaps the most surprising part of this announcement is that while the team is dumping Hendry, they will be retaining Crane Kenney as their president.
The move is yet another embarrassment for the organization in a season full of them. The underperforming roster full of players who don’t want to leave because they’re having so much fun, Carlos Zambrano’s non-retirement retirement, and a rapid rise in fan apathy have plagued the corner of Clark and Addison this season. Fan reaction on Twitter to the move has varied between elated and orgasmic, despite the fact that Hendry had more success than any GM on the North side over the better part of the past half century.
So what’s his legacy?
For all of his faults, Hendry was a winner, finishing a game above .500 (749-748) for his career.
He built the 2003 squad that came to within five outs of the World Series. In the process of doing so though, he gave up the man that would help do them in in those very playoffs, Dontrelle Willis, prior to that season in exchange for Antonio Alfonseca. Hendry’s squads also earned back to back playoff berths in 2007 and 2008, something the Cubs hadn’t done in 100 years.
But while Hendry did help reinvigorate fan interest on the North side, he made a number of costly bad investments.
In addition to the $18 million that he gave Carlos Zambrano, he also gave Milton Bradley a 3 year, $30 million contract prior to the 2009 season. Bradley of course lived down to his reputation as a clubhouse cancer, throwing a number of temper tantrums before being shipped off to the Mariners before the 2010 season in exchange for Carlos Silva. There was also Alfonso Soriano’s eight year, $136 million contract, which has generated good but not spectacular results that would justify the amount of money. Hendry also gave Jeff Samardzija a five year, $10 million contract to give up football, an investment that hasn’t produced nearly the kinds of rewards the Cubs were hoping for when the ink was drying.
None of his big draft picks panned out either. The Cubs farm system is currently barren. Of the eight drafts that Hendry has helmed, only two first round picks (Tyler Colvin and Andrew Cashner) have made the Major Leagues. Others such as Ryan Harvey (released) and Josh Vitters haven’t produced the kinds of results that the team expected of them.
So where does this leave the organization?
Whoever steps into Hendry’s role on a permanent basis is going to be facing a number of issues. There’s the barren farm system that needs to be rebuilt through smarter drafting. There’s the Zambrano situation that remains unresolved. There’s the bloated payroll with the albatross contracts of Soriano, Matt Garza and others. The roster as it stands needs to be overhauled and realistically this team isn’t going to be a contender until 2014 at the absolute earliest. Simply put, changing the culture of losing at the corner of Clark and Addison is a tall order that’s going to take a lot of hard work and long hours to fix.
Hendry himself will find another GM position. He wasn’t a bad general manager despite what many of his critics are saying. At the end of the day, he’ll be remembered for the three playoff appearances, more than any GM in Cubs history. But he’ll also be remembered as a guy who, while his heart was in the right place, his money was far too often invested in the wrong players for the organization.
