MLB Trade Deadline: Chicago Cubs Stand Pat, Time to Show Jim Hendry the Door

Okay, first off, I need to clarify my headline. The Cubs didn't actually stand pat as they did trade right fielder Kosuke Fukudome to the Cleveland Indians. While the trade originally seemed to be the first of what could have been many, it turned out to be the only move the team made. The first question that comes to mind when you look at the Cubs roster and see just one move being made is, "Why?"

The Cubs went from sellers to ... nothing in a matter of days, and what makes that all the more perplexing is the numerous reports that said that there were plenty of calls about players like Carlos Pena (free agent at the end of the year) and Marlon Byrd (no future on the club) as well as Carlos Marmol.  

The lack of moves was apparently not because the Cubs had no one to trade, it was because the players had no one they were WILLING to trade. That's disconcerting when you are talking about a team more than 20 games under .500 and sinking fast.

While Jim Hendry has made some truly questionable moves over the last few years, the complete lack of moves this trading deadline really takes the cake. This team is not merely one or two players away from being World Series contenders.  

This team needs an overhaul and one way that could have been carried out would have been to move pieces that had no place in the future of the franchise, and yet nothing was done.

While there has been wild speculation that Jim Hendry is a lame duck, the lack of moves will hopefully make him lamer than ever, maybe even lame enough to be moved out when the draft pick signing deadline has come and gone. There's no reason for the man to continue to gain entry to the Cubs front office at this point.

While the media may like Jim because he's always ready with a quote and many have said he's an affable guy, it has become pretty clear that he has no business heading up the operations of a major league ball club.

One look around the webosphere at the reaction of Cubs fans shows that if this man is brought back in 2012, there might actually be a mass mutiny. If Jim Hendry is brought back, there's little doubt that Wrigley certainly won't be known as the friendly confines anymore.