A Look at Hendry's Worst Moves with the Cubs

On Saturday we counted down the five best moves made by Jim Hendry during his tenure as the general manager of the Chicago Cubs. Click here to read that post. As you know, not all of the moves he made were good. Now it's time to take a look at the five worst moves!

5. Signing Kosuke Fukudome... November 2007
At the time, I'll admit that I was excited about the Japanese import coming to Chicago. However, his offense sputter throughout his four season stay in Chicago. Hendry overpaid for Kosuke, giving him four years and $48 million.

4. Waiving Casey McGehee... October 2008
This move does not get that much attention, but it was the only one on this list that I knew was completely terrible the second it happened. McGehee was a promising prospect who saw some time with the Cubs during the 2008 season. He could have been Ramirez's successor at third base and learned a new spot while waiting for Rami's contract to expire. However, the rival Brewers snatched him off waivers. He had been very productive in the middle of the Milwaukee lineup.

3. Trading Nolasco, Mitre & Pinto for Juan Pierre... December 2005
The Cubs shipped three young arms to Florida to try to add a lead-off man. Pierre was lousy in his only season on the North Side, while Nolasco went on to become a quality starter.

2. Giving Alfonso Soriano 8 years... November 2006
At the time I was very excited about the Cubs picking up one of the top free agent on the market. However, this contract was way too long for an already ageing player like Soriano. The $136 million spent on Alfonso just about single handily led to the miserable 2010 and 2011 seasons. However, Soriano was a key piece to the team during the playoff runs of 2007 and 2008. Had the Cubs won a World Series it would have been worth it, so I don't blame Jim for going "all in." Note: John McDonough was the one who actually closed this deal, not Hendry.

1. Signing Milton Bradley... January 2009
While the winter between '06 and '07 was probably Hendry's best despite the Soriano contract, the 2008-2009 offseason was by far his worst. The biggest and worst move of that stretch was inking Milton Bradley to a $30 million deal. Bradley did not produce and was a distraction with his off the field antics. Bradley was the one big money signing that the Cubs literally got no production out of. During that same winter the Cubs also picked up Aaron Miles, Joey Gathright and Kevin Gregg.

That's it for now, but I'll keep you posted on Everything Cubs as always!