Gary Hughes, the Chicago Cubs’ top talent evaluator, was a close friend and colleague of now-departed Chicago Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry, and now he, too, is departing.
“I really enjoyed my time working for the Chicago Cubs,” Hughes said. “I especially enjoyed the first six years where we had more success.
“The last three have kind of been tough for everybody. I think the Ricketts family are going to be great owners. But at this point in time, I felt it was time for me to leave. I wish everyone there nothing but success.”
Hughes, who has had a long and illustrious career in baseball, was hired by former general manager Jim Hendry as a special assistant on Oct. 30, 2002 ….
While with the Florida Marlins, Hughes was instrumental in hiring Hendry out of college baseball. Hendry had been the head baseball coach at Creighton.
Hughes has been in baseball for 44 years with nine organizations. He was a scouting director for the Montreal Expos, and he was general manager and scouting director for the Marlins when they began in 1991. He stayed with the Marlins through the 1997 world championship.
Undoubtedly, Hughes is a great “baseball guy,” who has dutifully served the Cubs for many years. He’s also an “old school” baseball guy, and a close Jim Hendry ally. That he is “leaving” is unsurprising.
If I had to guess – and that’s all I’m doing – Hughes was informed that he wouldn’t be invited back to the front office next year, regardless of the next GM. Hughes said he’s not looking to retire, so those dots aren’t too difficult to connect.
Tom Ricketts continues to move the Chicago Cubs into the future (or the present), and legacy scouts like Hughes, while respected and valuable in their own way, are less and less likely to be a prominent part of that future.