Jim Hendry Has A History Of Sucking

The Cubs farm system has been an embarrassment over the entire decade. It’s shocking how horrible Jim Hendry is at drafting players considering he was in charge of the draft/minor leagues for the Cubs before becoming the GM. His top draft picks have simply been horrible to say the least. Just look at Vitters and Tyler Colvin. Two players who have less plate discipline than Corey Patterson. What about the lefty power arms he drafted from high school like Mark Pawelek, Andy Sisco, Luke Hagerdy, and Carmen Pignatiello. Where are they now?

And the most egregious thing he ever did, which deserved him to get fired on the spot, was draft 2 high school hitters who could hit 500 foot homers in batting practice, but had zero baseball skills including the ability to hit a breaking ball. And here is the kicker, both of them were from Dunedin high school in Florida. I’ll give you guys one guess where Jim Hendry went to high school. Yup! You guessed it. For those of you who are confused as to whom i’m referring to. Brian Dopirak was a Cubs power hitting first basemen with crazy strength but flamed out after one good season, and the other is our former 3rd overall pick Ryan Harvey, who too flamed out after one good postseason run in the minors.

My favorite howere was when Hendry drafted Luis Montanez 3rd overall. Montanez was a high school shortstop from Miami. One would expect him to be compared to another Miami native Alex Rodriguez, but his projection coming out of the draft was that of Alex Gonzalez. Yep, that Alex Gonzalez who ruined the 6th game of the NLCS in 2003 against the Marlins. That’s who Hendry drafted as the 3rd overall pick. An Alex Gonzalez wannabe.

Even when the Cubs to draft a decent player, you would never know it because the minor league system hasnt developed a decent position player in 10 years. And dont tell me about Soto or Fox cause they dont even count. I’d like to see the Cubs bring up a good rookie player who is younger than 27 years old, cause thats when the Cubs prospects are finally ready for the big show.

Two Cubs on AFL All-Prospect Team

The Arizona Fall League released there 2009 All-Prospect Team and the Chicago Cubs had two prospects on the list, both infielders. Shortstop Starlin Castro dazzled the AFL batting .376 and tied for third in stolen bases at nine. Castro could fill a need for the Cubs being a good defensive shortstop, being able to hit, and steal some bases. Josh Vitters batted .353 and looked good at third. Both are on track to be with the Cubs in their future. Castro looks to be there sooner than later though, with the chance to be called up later into the 2010 season. Vitters is taking longer, but should be Ramirez's replacement in a few years.

Last year the Cubs lost left handed pitcher Donald veal in the Rule 5 draft to the Pirates because the Cubs protected Jeff Samardzija and put him on the 40 man roster over Donald Veal. Veal spent the season on the Pirates roster mostly on the DL, but now they get to keep him. I have always been a fan of Veal and was mad when he was drafted in the rule 5 draft. Veal had a very good season in the AFL with a 2.14 ERA, 22 strikeouts, 1.14 WHIP, and opponent batting average of only .221. Only a sign of more good things to come from him.