He Missed the Non-Moves

Paul Sullivan nicely summed up the best and worst moves of the Jim Hendry era, and he correctly categorizes them:

Best moves

1. Acquiring Ramirez and Lofton, July 2003
2. Acquiring Derrek Lee, Nov. 2003
3. Dumping Sosa, Feb. 2005
4. Signing Dempster, Jan. 2004
5. Dumping Hundley, Dec. 2002

Worst moves

1. Hollandsworth/Dubois platoon, April 2005
2. Signing Remlinger, Nov. 2002
3. Signing Estes, Dec. 2002
4. Revealing Sosa video, Oct. 2004
5. Signing Hawkins

Now, two of the worst moves weren't all Hendry's fault. The Holly/Dubois platoon is on Dusty Baker and the Sosa video is more on Andy MacPhail and Tribune management.

But this page would suggest that Hendry's worst moves have not been the bad moves he's made, rather his worst moves are the ones he failed to make at all. Those would be (in no particular order):

1) Failing to add a bullpen arm in 2003. That cost dearly.
2) Failing to find a replacement for Kenny Lofton for two years.
3) Failing to add a bullpen arm at the trading deadline in 2004. That also cost dearly.
4) Failing to add starting pitching depth for 2006.
5) Failing to trade some of his young pitchers when their value was highest. Guys like Bobby Brownlie, Angel Guzman, Andy Sisco. When you look at where the talent level in the Cubs minor league system was perceived and the actual value obtained from the system, that has to be a failure.
6) Failure to sign big name free agents. Not getting Miguel Tejada was a mistake the team is still trying to recover from. That they considered trading Mark Prior for Tejada this year is a clear acknowledgement of that. Not getting Jim Thome for 2003 was a massive mistake. Yes, you would not have had Derrek Lee in 2004 or 2005, but Hee Seop Choi could have been moved for bullpen help. And you wouldn't have had Eric Karros in 2003. Instead you would have had Thome at a home town discount and 47 HR, 131 RBI, .266/.385/.573 in 2003 and 42 HR, 105 RBI, .274/.396/.581 in 2004. You could have lived without Derrek Lee.

When you include these non-moves, it's clear Jim Hendry has been a sub-par GM for one of the top 10 revenue teams in baseball.