goingon
New Cubs GM looks to raise bar even higher
By: Mike Stiles - Wednesday, October 20, 2021

Jed Hoyer (left) and Carter Hawkins (photo courtesy of Chicago Tribune)

(CHICAGO) - Carter Hawkins was part of Cleveland's front office when the Indians lost to the Chicago Cubs in the 2016 World Series. He vividly remembers being on the team bus for the trip to the airport after Game 5. He said as the bus inched along all he heard was the crowds cheering for the Cubs. Now he wants to sing along with those same fans in October. The 37 year old Hawkins was formally introduced as the Cubs' new general manager on Monday, stepping into a position that had been open since Jed Hoyer was promoted to president of baseball operations almost a year ago. Hoyer, who took over the top job after Theo Epstein stepped down, put off the GM search because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He also wanted to empower the rest of his front office. When he started to begin his search in earnest, he said Hawkins' name came up repeatedly as he made calls around the league. The conversations between Hoyer and Hawkins included a dinner that lasted approximately five hours and watching this year's AL Wild Card game, an experience Hawkins compared to the Manning brothers' broadcast for Monday Night Football: very comfortable. Hawkins comes to Chicago after 14 seasons with Cleveland, including the last five as an assistant general manager. He also supervised the team's player development department. Hawkins played college baseball at Vanderbilt and started working for Cleveland in 2008 as an advance scouting intern. As he worked his way up with the Indians, general manager Mike Chernoff said Hawkins had a "huge impact" on their player development process.



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