The Cubs Hired A New GM To Scapegoat If Things Keep Going South
I may sound like I'm being dramatic but it's actually a genius move for Jed Hoyer as he continues working on the rebuild. This is like a performance lifeline that buys you some extra time if the next couple years are really shitty. You can just put it on GM Carter Hawkins. That's exactly what I would do and there's no shame in that at all. That's just good hard career strategy.
Notwithstanding my blatant cynicism, I like the move for a couple reasons. But first I'm confused if we had a GM this year? Like was Jed doing both jobs of being president and GM and now we're bringing in another guy? My instinct says that job was supposed to go to Scott Harris, but he left to be the #2 at the Giants this offseason when everyone else was skipping town. So maybe Jed just rode it out instead of rushing a new hire in that window? I understand the Harris move caught everyone by surprise. Maybe more than Theo leaving. Which brings me back to the fact we just didn't have a regular GM this year. Spin zone: imagine how good we'll be now that we have a full front office.
Things we like about Carter Hawkins: very smart and accomplished. Catcher for 4 years at Vanderbilt under Tim Corbin is no joke. He also did all that time with the Indians who are always on the front end of player development. So you've got good genes and very thorough, practical big league experience. He's got a great feel for where the game is headed, which to me is all about pitching. I think you see a wave the next 5-6 years where pitching dominates. Logan Webb's coming out party this October is a good example. The focus in development is going to shift away from controlling a bunch of position players to stacking arms. That's my prediction and Carter Hawkins is the perfect guy for the job, allegedly.
End of the day you need to be good at scouting and developing the non-obvious stars. They're all over the place and the Cubs have struggled mightily to find these players. That was never the sweetspot of the Theo regime and now what Jed has built. Flipping guys at the deadline? No club has better a track record. But free agency and finding value in the offseason has never been a strength, and I think Carter is going to have an immediate opportunity to make a huge impact there. Hopefully he does better than giving Jason Heyward a key to the city.
PS - I like the way this guy talks. Sounds like such a classic baseball executive: