The Cubs today announced that they fired General Manager Jim Hendry about 3 weeks ago. Yup, just like the Cubs to fire someone on July 22 for not doing a good job and then let them stay on and keep not doing a good job until August 19. But that time is over, it’s a new era in Chi Town! Jim Hendry is gone and the Cubs can finally move in a new direction.
The poor Cubbies never had a chance with ol’ Jim at the helm. Yes, they won their division 3 times in Hendry’s 9 years as GM but that is so beside the point. 2003 was his first year and he didn’t acquire many of the players on that team anyway. The reason the Cubs are so bad this year and were so bad last year is that Hendry had them playing with one hand tied behind their backs. He handicapped this franchise by saddling it with vastly overpaid mediocre players whose contracts are so large they prevent the organization from fielding a well-rounded team. Case in point, Alfonso Soriano. In 2007, Hendry signed the then 31 year old to an 8 year-$136 million deal. Granted, Soriano was coming off of a 40-40 season with the Washington Nationals but their were red flags aplenty. Like the fact that he was 31 and that players generally peak between 28-32 meaning the absolutely outrageous $130-plus million deal would get exactly 1 peak season, if the Cubs were lucky. Turns out, Soriano is a big burden. He hasn’t played in more than 147 games in a season as a Cub and had 2 in which he played less than 120 games. He hasn’t stolen more than 19 bases in a season as a Cub and has exactly 1 this season. His batting average hasn’t been above .260 since 2008 and he is a liability in left field. Basically, Soriano would have been a great 3 year-$30 million signing in 2007 when Hendry made him a $100 million man.
If Soriano doesn’t do it for you, how about Aramis Ramirez? Hendry gave Aramis almost $20 million over two years before signing him to a 5 year-$75 million deal prior to the 2007 season. Since 2007, Ramirez hasn’t played over 149 games in a season and played less than 125 twice, including 82 in 2009. The problem with Ramirez is not that he’s been entirely unproductive, he’s batted over .300 twice since the contract began and his power numbers haven’t declined any and are still above league average. The problem is, Ramirez likes it in Chicago. He has a no-trade clause built into his contract and has said publicly that he has no intention of waiving it at all. Most players have a no-trade claus so that they can control to some extent where they play, most guys don’t use it not to get traded at all. Ramirez has been a productive player but he has not helped the Cubs win anything. Yes he’s overpaid but he would still net the Cubs a good haul in the trade market, a lot of teams could use his services (I’m looking at you Angels). But instead, the Cubs are stuck with him and treading water. But there’s even more. Check this out. The link leads to an article in which former Cub Todd Hollandsworth rips Ramirez for not giving max effort. He says that Aramis is not a good role model for the younger players on the team. Hollandsworth is not the first person to levy this accusation which makes it all the more frustrating that Ramirez won’t waive his no-trade clause. It seems like Aramis wants to stay in Chicago because he knows he can just go about his business, play at his level and collect his checks. He doesn’t have to worry about winning or competing for a job or pennant races or anything else that might inconvenience him. He keeps citing really strange reasons for not wanting to get traded, reasons that honestly sound fabricated. And the Cubs have to put up with all this because Jim Hendry gave him that giant contract with that no-trade clause.
And if that’s not enough, how about Carlos Zambrano? Hendry gave him, a pitcher with no history of being The Guy, only The Third Guy, a 5 year-$91.5 million deal to be an Ace and instead he’s sitting on the disqualified list for the next month.
The bottom line is, the Cubs have 3 players eating up almost $50.5 million this year alone. None of the players is even the best on the team (Starlin Castro). 6 teams this season have lower payrolls than the $50.5 million those guys make and of them, 1 is currently in 1st place (Arizona), 3 have spent time in first (Arizona, Cleveland, Pittsburgh), and another is really good (Tampa). Under Jim Hendry, the Cubs spent a ton of money, spent it unwisely and have a terrible team to show for it. Good luck to the next guy because he’s got a lot of work to do. The good news is, he can’t do much worse.
-Max Frankel
