The Cubs have finally come to their senses and have fired GM Jim Hendry who has been with the organization since 1994 and was under contract through 2o12.
“We just didn’t win enough games,” Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts said during a press conference Friday. “Nothing should diminish Jim’s tenure here. We won three division titles while he was here. … Jim is truly a first-class individual and we’ll all miss seeing him here in the office.”
Despite the poor play of the Cubs this season and the general sense of the Cubs going absolutely no where Hendry’s dismissal comes as somewhat of a surprise since he was told he would be retained on July 22nd. He added that was a reason why the team wasn’t active before the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline.
“We’re here to win games, and in the last couple of years, we didn’t win enough. … I will leave here with nothing but gratefulness for being part of this organization for 17 years. Not many people get a chance to do that,” Hendry told reporters Friday, according to the Chicago Tribune.
In addition to the Cubs’ 54-70 record so far this season, Hendry has had to deal with the ongoing embarrassment that is Carlos Zambrano as well as second-guessing his decision to hire first year manager Mike Quade.
Since taking over the Cubs as GM in July of 2002 Hendry has been unable to end the teams over one-hundred year World Series drought. They last won the title back in 1908. Hendry has also been heavily criticized for signing overpriced players in the past such as Alfonso Soriano, Milton Bradley and Kosuke Fukudome.
Assistant GM Randy Bush has taken over the team on an interim basis with the club immediately starting the search for a full-time general manager.
Source: SportingNews, Chicago Tribune