The Cubs announced that they have dismissed general manager Jim Hendry and named assistant GM Randy Bush interim GM. Hendry was promoted to the GM job in the summer of 2002 and was under contract through 2012. Owner Tom Ricketts praised Hendry for his years of work, but says he's now looking for new voices.
“It is time for a fresh approach in our baseball leadership and our search begins immediately for our next general manager,” Ricketts said.
The Cubs won three division titles under Hendry (2003, '07, '08), but they're currently 54-70, 19 games out of first place in the NL Central despite an Opening Day payroll of roughly $134MM. The 56-year-old departs as the third-longest tenured GM in the National League, behind Brian Sabean of the Giants and Dan O'Dowd of the Rockies. Over the course of Hendry's tenure, the Cubs were 749-748, one game above .500.
Bush has been the Cubs' assistant GM for the past five seasons and also has experience as a special assistant to Hendry and as the Cubs' minor league hitting coordinator. The 52-year-old was the head baseball coach at the University of New Orleans from 2000-04.
MLBTR's Transaction Tracker details Hendry's transactions, from the $91.5MM extension for Carlos Zambrano to his bargain signing of Kerry Wood last winter. MLBTR's list of GM candidates includes 20-plus names, including some who could end up on Chicago's shortlist.
Chicago sportscaster David Kaplan broke the news (on Twitter).
exactly my point Tom ricetts bought the Cubs for the sole reason his daddy is rich.. they are like a toy to him it took him 2 yrs to fire hendry. they still have the cancers soto, Soriano, Zambrano and Ramirez on the team.. they call up players for sept. call ups to ride the bench with a spot start once a week.. they have been out of contention since may 1st there’s no reason to keep playing scabs like ramirez and soriano