Jim Hendry
Chicago Cubs General Manager

Jim Hendry is the current Vice President and General Manager for the Chicago Cubs.
He has served in that capacity for a number of seasons, and prior to taking over that role, was with the organization for many years.
His tenure has been marked by ups and downs, both good moves and regrettable ones, and as with every other member of the Cubs organization for the past hundred years, he has thus far been unable to deliver a World Series title to the team and its fans.

Jim Hendry

Hendry became the GM for the Chicago Cubs on July 5, 2002, but he had been with the Cubs since 1995.
He was the Director of Player Development, in charge of scouting and minor league operations, because being named the Assistant GM and finally the GM.
He took over for Andy MacPhail, who spent only two years as the GM of the team. Before that, Ed Lynch served in the capacity for a handful of seasons.

Jim Hendry

Since his time taking over the club, there have been many moves that have worked out and many others which have failed.
Some of his moves were blasted right when he made them, but others were originally praised, before turning sour.
Currently, there are a number of aging and/or underperforming players who are being paid way above market value thanks to generous deals that Jim Hendry handed out to them.
But, as mentioned, not all of those signings were recognized as bad moves when they were made.

Here's an overview of the seasons that he has been in charge of with the Chicago Cubs, as well as some of the major moves he's made:

• 2003: Hired Dusty Baker as manager before the start of the season, was just 5 outs away from reaching the World Series before eventually losing in the NLCS to the Florida Marlins
• 2004: This year was a very big disappointment for the team, especially after their strong 2003, and at the end of the year they messily parted ways with slugger Sammy Sosa.
• 2005: Lots of injuries this year, as well as a bit of an organizational transition between different players kept the Cubs from doing much.
• 2006: This was another disappointing, injury-plagued and under-performing year for the Chicago Cubs, more of the same unfortunately.
• 2007: Before the start of the season, Lou Piniella was hired as manager in place of Dusty Baker, garnering much fanfare. They also drafted Josh Hamilton with the Rule 5 pick, now starring with the Texas Rangers, and traded him for cash to the Cincinnati Reds. The team also spent over $300 million on players, including a huge deal for Alphonso Soriano, which has come back to haunt them, and big deals for Ted Lilly, Mark DeRosa and Jason Marquis. The team made another large commitment that is poor in hindsight, to Carlos Zambrano for over $90 million during the year The season itself saw a division-winning effort, but a sweeping loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLDS..
• 2008: Won 97 games in the regular season, but lost in the NLDS via another sweep, this time to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
• 2009: Finished with a winning record but failed to make the postseason, looking like a team that missed its window.
• 2010: A hugely disappointing year that saw Lou Piniella retire midway through, stars like Zambrano causing havoc with the team, and much more. Preparing for 2011, Jim Hendry hires Mike Quade as new manager for the Chicago Cubs, passing up popular choice and former star player Ryne Sandberg. Highlights for the year was the play of young players like Starlin Castro and Tyler Colvin. The addition of Marlon Byrd was a joy for all. The departure of Derrek Lee and Ted Lilly were sad moments.

If Jim Hendry wants his reign with the Chicago Cubs to be looked at fondly, then the team needs to start seeing improved results, and immediately, or he could be out of a job. He needs some of the young talent that has started to come up through the system to continue to develop, and he needs new manager Quade to steer the team in the right direction

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