Former Chicago Cubs General Manager, Jim Hendry, is headed to the New York Yankees.
A Major League source tells Bruce Levine that Hendry will be joining the Yankees’ front office as a Special Assistant to GM Brian Cashman. Hendry’s deal is for more than one season. Hendry, 56, previously said he was offered a number of opportunities after being dismissed by the Cubs last Summer, but chose to take his time before wading back into baseball. Being a special assistant with the Yankees is about as good as re-entry into the workforce gets.
Hendry was with the Cubs’ organization in various roles for 17 years, and was GM for his final nine before being fired with one year left on his contract in July (Hendry stayed on until late August). Whatever the Cubs owe Hendry will now be reduced by the value of his contract with the Yankees for 2012, which is a side bonus for the Cubs.
But the main bonus is seeing a good guy like Hendry land on his feet. Hendry lost my support as GM many years ago, but I never thought ill of Hendry as a man, and as a scout. Whatever kind of executive Jim Hendry is, the Yankees are certainly getting a great guy and friend.
Best of luck to Jim, and a hearty thanks for not taking any inside knowledge to another team in the NL Central.
Jim Hendry’s record as a scout was poor wasn’t it?
Not when he was actually scouting, I don’t think.
I think he would be more suited for a small market team like the Pirates. He was really good at finding diamonds in the rough like Dempster, Neifi, Edmonds, Martinez, Walker, Rusch, and a couple others. It’s when he got too big for his britches and gave massive deals to Soriano, Z, Fukudome and the Garciaparra trade that did him in.
Don’t forget Aramis. Best trade he made was Ramirez and Lofton for I can’t even remember. I still don’t know why they didn’t resign Lofton. Only legit leadoff hitter they’ve had in the 21st century.
Isnt that the trade where we also got Randall Simon and only gave up Brant Brown and…Jose Hernandez? Been a while but it was definately a steal.
I am a believer that the Aramis Ramirez era was all hype and still is. His numbers were accrued when nothing was on the line, thus hyper-inflated. He did absolutely NOTHING in post-season for the Cubs. He was lazy, which is the reason the Pirates said goodbye to him.
This theory has been debunked time and again – Ramirez’s numbers were not appreciably different in high leverage situations. He was the same hitter whether the game was on the line, or it was 10-1. He’s picked up that rep because the last two years, he started slow, and the Cubs sucked thereafter – once he heated up.
Brett-Turn your graph the other way. Now we see Ramirez only heated up after the Cubs were out of contention, which has always been his “trademark” so to speak. Again, he did NOTHING for the Cubs post season, and I don’t think he will ever produce in his limited time left in MLB. My point is there is a correlation between improved stats while the Cubs were losing and, that is, clubs could care less how you pitched to Ramirez. It did’t matter because the opponent believed the Cubs were going to lose. When things got serious in the playoffs, pitchers got serious, we know the outcome of that.
Can’t say he did absolutely nothing because he had a pretty good series in 2003 against the Marlins.
No one on the Cubs did well in ’07 & ’08 so don’t lay all the blame on A-Ram.
Best 3B we had since Santo and people crap all over him; sometimes I think our fans don’t deserve a winner.
If Ramirez didn’t get lucky in 2003 his post season average would have been under .100! I think Campana could do better than that.
Mixing quite a few trades there. Randall Simon was traded for a minor league OF, Ray Sadler if I remember right. Brant Brown was traded four years earlier for Jon Lieber, and that move was made by Ed Lynch.
Neifi Perez was only a diamond to Dusty. And Dusty insisted on shoving him down our throats over and over and over. I still have nightmares. Some good points on those other guys, mostly lasted one season…but often important ones.
How did a trade in which the Cubs got Garciaparra and Matt Murton for essentially no one, “do him in”?
Hendry should be required to take Soriano’s bad contract with him!
Good luck, Jim! Thanks for finally helping save some money with the payroll.
I just thought of something. Since the Yanks are the arch-rivals of the Sox – can we consider Hendry going to the Yankees as compensation for Epstein? LOL!
I like where you’re going with this.
I’ve often wondered how Hendry’s record as GM would have been different had Tribune sold the franchise in, say, 2004, rather than 2009. It seems like there was probably a lot of pressure to open a window (hence the desperate contracts) once bankruptcy and the sale seemed likely. That’s not to say that I think his firing wasn’t called for, but just wondering what his skills would have offered in a slightly different situation. Also, I always thought that he was a widely respected scout?
He was a good scout and has a pretty good eye for talent. The Yankees are getting a good baseball mind.
If he had a good eye for talent, then why didn’t the Cubs draft any all star players while he was running the team?
See distinction Brett makes in article between his support for Hendry as a GM and his respect for him as a scout. I’m guessing that the fact that the Cubs farm system suffered during his tenure had more to do with his abilities as GM than with his abilities as a scout.
That is, indeed, my position.
I’m curious about this, as I’ve been reading other sites that mention that Hendry was known as a good scout. If that is true then why did the Cubs best and brightest draft picks always seem to be busts? I liked Hendry as a person, but it’s hard to believe in retrospect that he was known as having a good eye for prospects.
He’s going to be working on the draft for the Yankees, apparently, so the general belief that Hendry is a good scout seems to be shared by the Yanks. “Proving” a guy is a good scout is always a tough exercise given that 95% of draft picks “bust.” If you can get that to 94%, you’re doing great. I suspect the Yankees must know what they’re doing.
It seem like in his first eight years Hendry should have been able to draft someone besides Castro (I’m assuming he gets credit for Castro, I don’t know the draft history) who could play at near all star level.
Wood, Prior, Zambrano, Soto, Dontrelle Willis, Marshall, Marmol have all played lights out at some point in their career and been All-Stars
lets not forget that soto was a ROY and an all-star.
Good points regarding those players. I had thought they predated Hendry but I see from Wiki that Hendry worked for the Cubs since 1995 (becoming GM in 2002).
It could be that he is a fantastic scout, as these highly touted prospects were highly touted by non-Cub folks as well, but he just doesn’t know the best way to develop a system to develop the talent into what it could be.
I think that his abilities as a scout would be better analyzed in a position like this, where scouting is essentially the only thing he is asked to do, and there are other people working on developing that talent once drafted. As opposed to a GM role, where he has his hand in many pots (especially in his situation with the Cubs, who had a small front office at the time).
That’s an excellent comment!
Good for Jim.
Isn’t that George Costanza’s old job?
mark my words, the Yankees will trade him for a fermented chicken drink
and a calzone to be named later…
Jim: Make sure you check under the desk before you sit down.
Well written. Hendry rarely gets the respect he deserves.
I’m pretty sure he was a scout for Dave Dombrowski and the Marlins, and his tenure produced some pretty good prospects. I wouldn’t mind having Hendry as a scout at all.
I think his strength lies in his ability to build relationships and trust, great for an assistant bad for a GM.
I hope they have sufficient capital dedicated to their doughnut budget.
Hendry is a great man, sad his tenure ended so badly. Glad to see him back in baseball… with another team in another league.
I think Hendry will be quite good as an assistant GM. Just someone to give their insight into players and prospects. I think Hendry is very valuable in the scouting sense of GMing.
Off topic, but Lmao: Anyone see the report of the Red Sox offer to Edwin jackson? one year 5-6 million? Bahaha, Boras has to be about to have a coronary.
last i heard his asking price was twice that, and he wanted like 5-6 years. well, let the market reflect how things will end up going down. no tears shed for boras, i think hes done alright for himself this offseason.
No wonder the Cubs can’t get a decent offer for Garza (whose arb request looks more and more unreasonable)…
the garza camp seems to be priming the pump for a huge deal when he hits free agency. not to surprised that his arb request is where it is. i mean you cant blame the guy for his absolutely spot on come high stratagy. i dont believe he has any hope to win but it does give you a window to how he views his market value. another good year on the mound and staying healthy will only help his stock, and for the cubs his potential trade value. it really sucks the way the arb thing is effecting the interest in him as we speak, but all to predictable in my opinion. could be a blessing in disguise in the long term dealing of garza, its hard to say. i know alot of fans would like to see him dealt right away. not sure i share that idea anymore. i tend to lean towards the notion that his trade value isnt at its peak right now, or after arb. even. trade deadline maybe? health and performance willing.
Good for Jim, what a swell guy.
I will say this, Hendry had to work for three owners. Only GM in Cubs history to do so. He was under three different sets of marching orders and it showed.
Why is there this love fest for Hendry? Who cares if he was a good guy?? He was horrible at his job, and one of the main reasons the Cubs are a trainwreck right now. All this talk about Hendry being a “good scout” and other b.s. is making me sick. What is wrong with you people? Even if he was under pressure to sign some of those turd contracts, it was under his watch. That man has f’d the Cubs royally for years to come, and if you can’t see that your blind….
its because this is a fan site, and there obviously some love for the guy, and at least a little understanding. im not a big fan of his cub results good with the bad. more than anything else hes gone so we dont have to hate him for being the wrong guy for us anymore. he does leave us in a messy situation as the result of his zeal if thats what you wanna call it. but, hes gone. hes not furthering our suffering anymore so adios amigo, and cub fans will reflect on his time here with mixed opinions. i dont think anyone isnt happy that hes gone though.
Listen man… I am big as Cubs fan as anyone. And I am excited about what Theo and Co. are doing. They get the big picture thing. And we need that. But it enrages me to have people compliment a man that was clearly bad at his job, and did a lot of harm to the thing we all love, THE CUBS. We all have to wait, for who knows how long, for a chance to win it all because of his non-sense.
i get that your a fan… a big fan given your passion. in that regard we are brothers. i love the cubs probably a bit more than is healthy. hendry is gone. dont hate on anyone for they’re reflection on the man, no matter how misguided you may see they’re opinion. we are all on the same current page, which is something to be excited about , and more importantly something thats gonna require the support and faith of all the die hards out there. the new vision is a better one. forget about the old one. but remember some of us fans do have some fond memories of the close but no cigar vision that is now over.
Yeah, trust me I am not trying to bring up Hendry. And I am going to leave it alone now. I was just shocked so many Cubs fans were talking so highly of him and his “scouting ability” and “nice guy” ways. It caught me off guard. I thought most Cubs fans thought Hendry was terrible like I do. I guess I was wrong. But your point is taken. Hopefully The new front office can make this work.
im with you brother 100%!!
I think there is a difference between saying he was bad as a general manager and saying that he is terrible. Hendry’s refusal to use anything but scouting and other outdated philosophies have indeed hurt this organization. But the fact that an organization like the Yankees were willing to offer him a position should indicate that some pretty smart baseball people value that scouting ability that was mentioned in the article.
“…and if you can’t see that your blind….”
Your blind what?
meemaw? Catepillar? Squash? If it’s squash, then are you talking about the game or the edible thing? If it is the edible thing, then are we talking raw or cooked? If cooked, how do you prepare it? Their are many questions but youre not providing enough answers.
i think it was actually a typo….
…..he meant ‘your blind(s)’.
Which leads me to ask, what kind? French? Persian? Venetian? Vertical? Horizontal? Artisan? Wood? Faux wood? Plastic? Inquiring minds must know.
opinions aside, hes gone now. you dont have to get sick
I don’t think any of the sane people on this thread have said that Hendry was a good GM, just a good scout. Prince Fielder-sized difference there.
Let the Hendry hate go. His suckitude got us Theo Epstein and a brighter future.
that is a great point
and a great word “suckitude” you should patent that sniglett!
i think a little trolling is okay when the hendry tenure is reflected on.
Yep, I’ll troll big time when I see Hendry getting praise on a Cubs fan site..
I’m with you, Hendry sucks. He is the one responsible for the crap we’ve endured the last two years and will deal with again this year. Who gives a crap if he’s a nice dude. Sure he tried hard, but he made some dumbass mistakes that set us back. Yeah 07 and 08 were nice, but he spent nearly $800M to win 2 NL central division titles..mission failed.
How many moments of relevance did the Cubs have in years leading up to Hendry?
How many after?
Hendry helped make the Cubs relevant. He raised the bar…he convinced management to spend. He got us closer more often than any other GM in our history. He actually built a core.
He deserves our thanks and praise.
The core is relatively empty!
Yeah, what core are you talking about?
What are you…kidding me? The core got old, was traded away, or left to free agency. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t there.
Were we making the playoffs…or even in contention before he got here? Were we a contender virtually every year he was in the job?
Short memories.
I’m VERY glad Theo and Jed are here…they’re superstars. Still…just because they’re great, it doesn’t mean that Hendry was an abject failure.
No, Hendry wasn’t an abject failure, in fact he made some nice moves early in his tenure. But no Cubs GM every had the resources Hendry was given. We should have higher expectations as Cubs fans.
“Hendry is the most successful Cubs GM of our lifetimes” and “Hendry was a subpar GM” are not mutually exclusive statements.
Sadly, this.
I’d go so far as to say that Hendry is best GM in Cubs history (through the end of his tenure… can’t judge Theo and Jed yet), but still ranks well below average in terms of baseball history.
Oooh, I finally get your username! For some reason, I always pronounced it “eto ther” in my head, haha.
It’s a lousy name. I gotta figure out something better…
I’m thinking “IrvingJKaplanCPA”…
How about E-to-the-R?
That’s actually better…
While it does deprive me of a chance to pretend to be an accountant, it also drives home the point with greater clarity.
Also considering “Evolution”.
I thought it was supposed to be “Et other,” you know like the latin et al. meaning and others?
I am now the former “EtotheR”…may the fire in his soul go yonder and dance nekkidly.
Jim Hendry was a great GM, IMHO. He won three divisional titles in 9 years. Who else can say that in Chicago. He was unfairly bashed. I’m not saying it wasn’t his time to go, but he caught the scapegoat label. The same poeple bashing the Soriano deal, were the same ones cheering when it happen, and when he was crushing homeruns down the stretch his first year. I even think he has a better FA track record then Theo. Good luck Jim.
Up the middle, the Cubs have Soto, Castro, Barney, and Byrd. All of those are Hendry guys. Jackson will replace Byrd, and eventually Szczur will likely replace Jackson. Those are also Hendry guys. That group is expected to be the core of the team into the foreseeable future.
Nearly the entire bullpen are Hendry guys, and the bullpen is still one of the team’s strengths and should be for several more seasons.
Dempster, Wells, and Garza are all Hendry guys. Garza at least could be a key part of the team for many more years.
In the minors, every single prospect we are excited about and can’t wait to see reach the majors are Hendry guys, with the exceptions of Rizzo, Cates, Sappelt, and Torreyes (and they were acquired by dealing Hendry guys).
That sounds an awful lot like a core to me, and a pretty decent core at that.
The foundation for whatever success the Cubs are going to have in the next few years was laid by Jim Hendry. He made a lot of mistakes in his last few years and I completely agree it was time for him to go, but let’s not pretend he has nothing to do with the current team or with the players we expect to be key parts of the future. There is absolutely a core in place, one that will only get larger and stronger as more talent emerges from the minors, and the bulk of that core was brought into the organization by Hendry. Yes, he saddled the team with Soriano… but he also drafted Jackson, Szczur, Baez, Vogelbach and most of the rest of the Cubs top tier talent. I see no reason to ignore the good in a mad rush to condemn the bad.
He deserves a lot of criticism, but the give man credit where credit is due. We aren’t the Red Sox. There is no need to trash the guy now that he is out of town.
Well said, but I’m sure this means the Yankees win the WS. The Horror, the horror will be back.
You are counting guys who haven’t played above high-A as the “core”? good grief, the ML core of Soto, Byrd, and Barney is pretty sad. Dempster and Wells? GTFOH. Based on your logic, 90% of the teams in baseball have a better core than the Cubs. The core is Castro, that’s all we got now.
So you’re saying that 27 of the 30 teams in baseball are in a worse position moving forward that the Cubs? That’s 90%.
In addition to Castro, the Cubs are stacked three deep with good young catchers, three deep in center, have one of the best bullpens in the game, and have Garza. Including Barney was a bit of a stretch. However, the core of a franchise extends far beyond the 25 guys who happen to be on the major league roster. The Cubs aren’t building just for 2012, they’re building for the next decade. That’s the core I’m talking about, and yes, it includes the entire farm system including the highly regarded prospects who have not yet played above Daytona.
The Cubs core includes: one of the deepest farm systems in baseball, including (according to some analysts) up to 4 of the top 60 prospects in the game, and
A large amount of payroll flexibility over the next few seasons, and
One of the best domestic scouting operations in baseball, and
The best Far East scouting operation in baseball, and
Caribbean scouting and player development operations that will be second to none once the new facility in the Dominican is finished.
And you are trying to tell me that 27 other teams have a better core than the Cubs. I don’t buy it.
Again, Hendry made plenty of mistakes later in his term and it was time for him to go. But he left the Cubs in pretty good shape moving forward. The teams needs another year to let some bad contracts expire and for some of the younger talent to develop, but heading into the future the Cubs are in very good shape.
Look, I’m not trying to get the guy into the Hall of Fame, have the team renamed the Chicago Hendry’s, or insist that he cured cancer. I’m saying that he put in place the foundation that Theo and Jed will build on into the future, and that there is no reason to ignore the good things he did while criticizing the bad.
Well, yeah, 90% of the organization is still from the previous regime.
You can’t judge Hendry’s drafts on the prospects who are still in the very, very low minors. It’s fun to fantasize about Szczur, Vogelbach and Baez, but historically, at the level they are at, you would be lucky to have two of the three ever reach the majors.
Look at the drafts under Hendry that have had time to filter through the low minors all the way up to the big leagues. We have virtually nothing to show for those drafts from the early 2000s to, say, 2008.
The Cubs drafts were basically terrible until Wilken took over, when they were limited by budgets until 2011. But I see no reason to ignore those later drafts when evaluating Hendry. Like anyone, he deserves credit for the good as well as blame for the bad.
I’m scared that you include Barney in our core..
Yeah, Barney was a stretch. He’s a great bench piece, but he shouldn’t be a starting second baseman.
Luke-I didn’t research this but going by what I saw of Barney last year, he had to have been one of our best hitters with RISP probably only next to Castro. His glove wasn’t bad at all. Please explain your position on Barney.
Barney is a bad offensive player. No pop, no walks. His OBP will not be high enough to make up for his weaknesses.
Norm-Don’t you think you’re being a little harsh on Barney. Yes he did have a bad 2nd half last year, but given what he did in the minors and the first half of last year you could project him to be a player that hits for average(.285-.300) with decent OBP(.330 ish) and some base speed. He’s never going to be a power hitter. His strikeout rate is better than the MLB average. He does need to work on BB average, I agree. For now though, I think Barney is the best we have at 2nd.
darwin barney= the second coming of ryan theriot
Except Barney doesn’t shave his arms.
Could be. But I think he plays all of this year and , yes, it will be the defining year in his tenure as a Cub if he doesn’t show much.
hes a quick little guy with soft hands and a big heart. he does alot of things well but does nothing great…hes a great guy to have on the team though. utility guy extrodinare.
BetterNews: Barney wasnt good in the minors either and he’s 26 next season. There isn’t much improvement coming.
It blows my mind that people still recognize Hendry as a solid GM. The only thing he did was out spend everyone for stupid contracts, that gave us a couple years of success. Anyone could have done that. He did land Garza, but gave up an ass load. I still would rather have the prospects he gave up for Garza than Garza. I’m sure Theo would too.. Hendry gave out so many historically bad contracts in a short period of time it is mind boggling.
I wouldn’t read too much into Hendry going to the Yanks. As a “special assistant”, he is just a high priced doughnut gofer.
I could care less about Hendry going to the Yanks. All he cares about is offering the highest amount of money, they are a perfect match.. Actually, I can’t believe they didn’t fire Cashman and hire Hendry. No one knows how to spend stupid money like J.H.
Good for Jim Hendry. He did some great things for the Cubs and Cub fans everywhere. A NLCS appearance and a couple division titles. Not to mention the best record in the NL one year. It’s sad fans are so on board with this rebuilding process when we are just a few pitchers and position players away from taking this division that has taken a hit this offseason especially if Braun is on the shelf for 50 games.
Winning the division in 2012 is not what we are building for. We are building for a sustainable, annual WS contender. Hendry was a fine guy, but his moves crippled this organization and the current FO is trying to shed and repair those reactionary moves. Sure we could win the Central but I want a champion!
Ya Michigan goat I understand what your saying but whe the division is wide open you have to go for it. If anything has been proven by WS victories by the Cardinals and the Giants or even in the past the Marlins if you get into the playoffs anything can happen. The Cubs should be looking to get into the playoffs every year because once your in it’s all about which team is hot.
And which team has the better pitching.
Do you think we can get Hendry to get the Yankees to bail us out on Soriano? Come on boys, the Cubs will chip a bunch of dough in. No offense Jim, but you made the mess, you should at least try and help clean it up.
I like were your heads at… Anything is possible with J.H. in the mix.
Saying “Hendry Sucks” is like hating on “red”, because “black” came up. One could make a legit argument that he should have increased his odds, but the difference between genius and flop is an injury here or a needle there. Revisionist history is too easy and it’s where “dumb” rears it’s ugly (and amusing) face.
On principle, you aren’t wrong, but be fair: many folks had a number of legitimate beefs with Hendry long before he was booted.
Of course, I was one of those folks, but it’s too easy for me to imagine how smart I am. If Theo doesn’t win in five years, there will be ten guys named “Theo Sucks”.
Lol! So true.
Yeah. I hear that. Let me take the opportunity to say, you aren’t imagining: you’re a smart dude.
Maybe average at blog rhetoric. Couldn’t run a team, or even a web site devoted to team. You should strive for the guy who someday buys “Bleacher Nation” from you to have a hundred members with the name “Brett Sucks”.
It would be an honor (I now give it 15 minutes before the first one shows up…).
Brett SUCKS… What did I win
Brett sucks… he… sometimes makes typos that he then catches and corrects…
I mean… he makes fun of people who… overuse ellipses…
Or (and I’m reaching here (do you like the parentheses (nobody else uses multiple layers of parentheses))) he uses lots of parentheses.
I don’t know. Maybe somebody who actually thinks you suck will come up with something better. And sorry… it was less than 15 minutes.
Quintz-What were you trying to communicate with that comment?
Trying to communicate how I’m no different than everyone else when it comes to my criticism of GM’s and personnel people, but I also try and look at the the other side of how hard jobs like that are and much of sports (as hard as it is for us to swallow) is luck. So while I was never a big fan of Hendry, I have respect for him and the place he put himself in life to be able to do it. I don’t always agree with Brett (mostly I do), but the more eyeballs he gets, the more criticism he’ll get and that only signifies success. So the more “Brett Sucks” tag lines show up, the better off he is…..Now I’ll get back to more of my ignorant baseball comments.
Sorry I’m late, so not sure if it’s been said- but does this mean the Yankees are now giving to give us Betances/Banuelos for Darwin Barney?
Either that or they’re going to sign Manny Ramirez for 3/30.
Right?