Theo Epstein is moving into his third year as Cubs chief operating officer. In his first two seasons at the helm, the Cubs record has been 61-101 and 66-96, the worst two year stretch in franchise history. Epstein inherited a 71-91 2011 team.
Many fans remember the end of the Jim Hendry era, but what was his early years like? Surprisingly better than memory serves.
In mid-July of 2002, Andy MacPhail decided to give up his role as General Manager and promoted Hendry, his protege, in his place.
In 2002, Hendry oversaw the final months of a struggling team that would finish 67-95. One of his first decisions as GM was to allow Bruce Kimm, an interim manager with the club to finish the season. Kimm was roundly criticized for granting Fred McGriff significant amounts of playing time so that the aging first baseman could achieve the 30 homerun mark for his fifth team. The Crime Dog was seen as taking valuable at-bats away from Cubs rookie Hee Seop Choi.
Following the 2002 season, Hendry began his rebuilding of the team. He hired Dusty Baker as the new manager after Baker's run to the World Series with the San Francisco Giants. He traded unpopular catcher Todd Hundley to the Los Angeles Dodgers in return for Eric Karros and Mark Grudzielanek. The trade was seen as a salary swap at the time, but Karros and Grudzielanek played a major role in the success of the 2003 team.
In mid-season 2003, Hendry would make another big trade. Hendry traded infielders Bobby Hill and Jose Hernandez to the Pirates for third baseman Aramis Ramirez. He also brought in Kenny Lofton and Randall Simon to shore up the bench.
On the last weekend of the season, the Cubs clinched the 2003 NL Central Division title, their first division title in 14 years. And, as the Cubs entered game 5 of the NLCS with a 3-1 series lead over the Florida Marlins, it appeared that the Cubs were on the verge of their first World Series appearance in 58 years. However, the Cubs dropped three straight and were eliminated from the post-season.
Entering the 2004
season, most pundits believed the Cubs had the best roster in the
National League, and many fans believed Hendry was one of the premiere
general managers in baseball. However, Sammy Sosa, Kerry
Wood, Mark Prior, Alex Gonzalez, Mark Grudzielanek, Kent Mercker, Tom
Goodwin, and Todd Wellemeyer were all on the disabled list at the same
time.
Despite their early season struggles, many Cubs fans still felt
that a healthy squad would charge back in August and September to take
control of the central division race. And, on July 31, 2004 Jim Hendry
stepped up to the plate with another monstrous deal. Hendry sent away
Alex Gonzalez, Brendan Harris, and Francis Beltran to various teams in
exchange for Nomar Garciaparra, Matt Murton, and cash. Even with this infusion of new talent, the Cubs self destructed at the end of the season in a bizarre fashion. Broadcast
personalities Steve Stone and Chip Caray had public spats with players
including Kent Mercker and Moises Alou. The hostility included a phone call from Mercker (in the bullpen) to Stone and Caray
while they were on the air, and reported threats against the
broadcaster's on the Cubs plane. On the field, the team finished poorly,
losing key games down the stretch and finishing 89-73 in third place in
the NL Central.
After the disappointing end of the 2004 season, Hendry addressed his roster again. He traded disappointing prospect Hee Seop Choi to the Marlins in exchange for Derrek Lee, and later sent catcher Damian Miller to the Oakland Athletics for Michael Barrett. On the free agent market, Hendry signed veterans Todd Walker and Greg Maddux.
As a result, the first priority of the 2004–2005 offseason was unloading Sosa to the Orioles for getting utility player Jerry Hairston Jr. and 2B Mike Fontenot and pitcher David Crouthers. Hendry then signed veteran Jeromy Burnitz to replace Sosa in right field. He signed middle reliever Chad Fox and traded Kyle Farnsworth to the Tigers for Roberto Novoa and minor-leaguers Scott Moore and Bo Flowers.
Jim Henry's Cubs Record in the first three years of his GM tenure:
2002: 67-95 (half season)
2003: 88-74
2004: 89-73
2005: 79-83
One conclusion can be made from Hendry's first three years as GM was that he acquired good major league talent in his trades, including key long term starters like Ramirez, Lee, Barrett and Walker.
Hendry's focus was acquiring veteran players and major league ready prospects to field a competitive major league team year in and year out. Epstein has taken the opposite approach: acquiring low level prospects with large potential upside in exchange for veteran major league talent. At the major league level, the results between the two general managers is black and white.
