Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry Part 2: The Bad

(Photo by Chris Chambers/Getty Images)

The reason this trade falls into the bad category is because Matt Clement was thrust upon the Cubs because the Marlins didn’t want to pay his salary. They were told if you want Alfonseca, you have to take Clement.

I don’t give credit for getting lucky, and that’s what Hendry did. Hendry wasn’t the official GM at the time, but he made the trade.

After the 2003 season and looking for a little more offense, Hendry traded catcher Damian Miller to the A’s for Michael Barrett, a player he coveted for awhile.

While Barrett was an upgrade at the position offensively, he was a failure at handling the pitching staff. He continued to get worse as the years went by until Hendry got rid of him at Lou Piniella’s request shortly after Carlos Zambrano used him as a punching bag.

Meanwhile the Marlins signed backstop Ivan (Pudge) Rodriguez as a free agent before the 2003 season. He ended up killing the Cubs in the NLCS and helping the fish win the World Series in 2003.

Can Hendry get an Executive of the Year award for the Marlins for giving them Willis and not signing Rodriguez? They wouldn’t have been there if not for those two players.

Rodriguez became a free agent again in 2004, but Hendry passed for a second time on bringing in a perennial All-Star catcher who in fact did make the All-Star team that year.

While Rodriguez could throw, call a game, and hit, the Cubs were stuck with a guy who caught punches better than pitches.

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