![]() 199/.285/.398, with a total of 28 HR, 66 RBI, and 169 strikeouts, before being dealt back to Los Angeles for Mark Grudzielanek and Eric Karros on December 4, 2002. In his two seasons with the Cubbies, Hundley had a line of. ![]() Regretfully for the Cubs, they again signed a once-accomplished player on the way out. ![]() He set a league record for home runs by a catcher with 41 in 1996, followed that with 30 in 1997 (both seasons with the Mets) and hit 24 HR in both seasons with the Dodgers before signing with Chicago. When the Cubs decided to sign Todd, he was already a two-time All-Star. So why shouldn’t the Cubs give him a contract that paid almost $6 million per year? His son was just as good, if not better with more power. Randy has been labeled as possibly the greatest Cubs catcher of all time. Randy Hundley, Todd’s father, was one of the most beloved Cubs in the 1960s and 1970s. Randy Hundley earned Todd this horrible contract with the Cubs. Signing Todd Hundley to such a bad contract was a blessing in disguise. One of the best decisions in the Jim Hendry era was to clean up one of the worst. LaTroy earned his pay in 2004, going 5-4 with a 2.63 ERA along with 25 saves in 77 appearances, though he did have nine blown saves.īut in 2005 the Cubs needed to see him amass four converted-and many blown-saves in only 21 appearances before they knew it was time to cut their losses. Then after minutes of stunned silence while all Cubs fans held their breath as if oxygen levels were in low supply, the young pitcher was helped off of the field.Įven though the Cubs responded by scoring four runs in their half of the fourth and later five more, my prayers were still sent up to the heavens asking the Almighty to bless Mark Prior with a speedy recovery and to keep LaTroy Hawkins out of the game.Ĭubs fans still remember the torment of seeing Dusty Baker continue to trot LaTroy Hawkins to seemingly blow save after save…after save…after save in 2005. Sitting in field box 12, aisle 131, row 5, seat 5, I can still hear the crack of a ball from a line drive off the bat of Brad Hawpe crashing against the elbow of Mark Prior in the fourth inning, louder than when the ball initially hit the bat. ![]() I can still see it now, or rather, hear it. (Watch for a future article profiling the top ten best roster moves in club history.) This list is a review of the top ten worst roster moves in Chicago Cubs history. Then there are decisions to let a player pursue free agency when the organization believes he's past his prime- Boston Red Sox/Roger Clemens, 1996. There are trades that leave you wondering if the owner or general manager was liquored up when they made the move. Then there are some contracts that are for only one or two years and also shoot an organization in the foot.īut bad contracts are not the only way a club can get in the way of their own future. Some are for six, seven, or eight years or both long and no-trade. Not all team-detrimental contracts have a no-trade clause, however. The reason for not offering no-trade clauses is to avoid having player contracts hinder the club’s plans at any future point. Ryan Dempster and Alfonso Soriano would be relevant examples why, but they both were 5/10 players. One of the many proclamations Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer have made since coming to the North Side is their intention to not offer any more contracts with a no-trade clause. There have been mind-boggling trades and head-scratching free agent signings to go along with decisions to not re-sign talented players. The Chicago Cubs organization has made its fair share of questionable roster decisions in the past.
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