You probably already know that Jim Hendry was fired by the Chicago Cubs on Friday. Actually, that's not true - he was really fired almost a month ago, but in a baffling move he was allowed to stay on as GM through the July 31 trade deadline (when the Cubs twiddled their thumbs and did nothing). Which means that, technically, the Cubs allowed an ex-employee to make crucial decisions (or non-decisions) affecting the team's future. It figures that even when the Cubs do something right, they still do it wrong.
Looking back on Hendry's nearly ten-year tenure running the Cubs, one could make the argument that he's the most successful GM the team has ever had (granted, there's not much competition). After all, the Cubs won three division titles under his watch, and made back-to-back postseason appearances (in 2007 and 2008) for the first time since Tinker, Evers, and Chance (and Steinfeldt) patrolled the infield at West Side Grounds in the early 20th Century. But there was always a feeling that, given the Cubs decided financial advantage as the only major-market team in the NL Central, they could have done even better. For one thing, their three division titles included an 88-win season (2003) and an 85-win season (2007); both times, the Cubs didn't field dominant teams, but instead they barely were able to prevail over weak competitors to finish first. And Hendry's three division winners were counterbalanced by the last-place, 96-loss clunker of 2006 and the last two lackluster seasons, which left the Cubs' overall record during his time as GM at 749-748 - which is about as mediocre as you can get.
In my view, Hendry's greatest strength was making trades. Sure, there were a couple of stinkers (e.g. three prospects for one worthless year of Juan Pierre). But this was one area where Hendry was able to leverage the Cubs' financial advantage. He was able to acquire Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee, two All-Star players in their prime, for pennies on the dollar because their former clubs (the Pirates and Marlins) could no longer afford to pay their salaries. His ability to not only dump Todd Hundley's horrific contract on the Dodgers, but two acquire two useful players (Mark Grudzielanek and Eric Karros) in return was a masterstroke. And even if the Nomar Garciaparra and Rich Harden trades didn't work out as well as Cubs fans had hoped, Hendry was able to obtain both players for the baseball equivalent of a bag of oyster crackers.
But as for weaknesses, there were two in particular that bothered me. The bigger problem has been the lack of productivity from the Cubs' farm system, which is odd considering that Hendry's background is in scouting. Hendry blew first round draft picks on the likes of OF Ryan Harvey (the next player taken was Nick Markakis) and LHP Mark Pawalek, neither of whom came close to making the major leagues. Until Tyler Colvin reached the major leagues in 2009 - Hendry's seventh year as GM - not one of his first-round picks had appeared in a major league baseball game. Though the farm system has improved somewhat in the last few years and even produced a couple of All-Star position players (Soto and Castro), plus solid contributors like Carlos Marmol and Sean Marshall, it's revealing that the organization is so bereft of top-level pitching prospects that they have been forced to rely on dumpster-diving for washed-up starting pitchers to cover for injuries this year. In addition, the lack of talent within the organization, coupled with the Cubs constantly being in "win-now" mode, has driven Hendry to make several bad decisions while acquiring veteran help on the open market.
The other pronounced weakness of Hendry's tenure has been the organization's seeming disdain for modern statistical analysis. The Cubs were always at least one step behind other teams when it came to sabermetrics, and stand in stark contrast with their former brothers-in-misery, the Boston Red Sox. While the Cubs were handing the leadoff spot in the batting order to Juan Pierre so he could suck up 750 low-OBP plate appearances just because he looked like a "classic" leadoff hitter, the Red Sox were benefitting from the services of Bill James on their way to two world championships in a four-year span. It always surprised me that the Cubs didn't embrace statistics - why not try something new and radical, when nothing else they've tried over the last century has worked?
Jim Hendry was a classy guy right to the end today, and he might be remembered differently had the Cubs caught another break or two in the 2003 NLCS, or if they hadn't folded faster than Superman on laundry day in the 2008 NLDS. Unfortunately for him, and for Cubs fans, Hendry will be remembered for the poor personnel decisions (mostly involving giving star-money to non-star performers like Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Zambrano, and giving multiyear contracts to replacement level players like John Grabow and Aaron Miles) that have painted the team into a corner, and which will make it difficult for his successor to unwind the damage. It's time for everyone to move forward. Hendry will find another job in baseball, and in deciding who will be the Cubs' next GM, the Ricketts family will make one of the most important decisions in the history of the franchise.
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