The question of what the Cubs should do with GM Jim Hendry has been asked for a long time now. I said previously that he should be fired.
I was wrong.
He should be promoted.
What?
Yes…the Cubs should fire Crane Kenney and promote Jim Hendry to president of the Cubs.
Here is why.
First off, while Jim Hendry has been widely accused of overspending on players, many sources have reported that this wasn’t entirely his fault. Near the end of their time as owners, the Tribune Company pretty much gave the directive to Hendry to “win at all costs” which pushed him to over pay for players that, while may have been the best available, were probably not the best fit for this team. Dave Kaplan supposedly has even said that the Soriano signing wasn’t even Hendry’s doing.
Second, if you blame Hendry for the current mess that the 25 man roster is right now, well, you also have to give him credit for the state of the farm system which has started to produce some nice players. Tim Wilken, the Cubs scouting director, is a Hendry guy. He has done a very good job at rebuilding a farm system that was pretty much garbage. And there are a number of other front office people that Hendry has brought in that are doing a very good job as well. If Jim Hendry were to get fired, most of those people, including Tim Wilken, would probably leave out of loyalty.
Finally, despite what you think about Jim Hendry, the truth is, they Cubs had their most successful stretch under Hendry since the early 1970’s….and in-fact, have achieved more during that stretch than the Cubs have during any other stretch of time in almost a century. He should be rewarded for that.
Let Jim Hendry stick around and give him some different responsibilities. We all know that Crane Kenney doesn’t do anything as president, so let Jim take that position…that way we keep all the other good people that are currently in the organization and we still get what we want, a new GM.
This all sounds fine and easy…and, I know things aren’t this simple…but I think this idea of promoting Hendry instead of firing him is something worth considering.
