I was thinking about the lack of position player depth in the Hendry years and something hit me. Other than Geovany Soto in 2008 and Starlin Castro this year, I couldn't think of a homegrown position player who made the All-Star team since Hendry became GM. Sure enough, I was right.

I did a little bit more digging, and, sure enough, the Cubs' last homegrown position player to make the All-Star before Soto in 2008 was the injury-replacement choice of Joe Girardi in 2000 (Girardi was on his second tour with the Cubs at that point). The link is from a Tribune story three years ago showing the Cubs All-Stars through the years.

Prior to that, it was Mark Grace in 1997. Grace made the team three times ('93, '95, '97). Oh, and Shawon Dunston made it in 1990. This is, again, among homegrown position players.

In other words, the Cubs have had five homegrown position players make the All-Star team in the past 21 seasons, and one of them was essentially a meaningless pick in Girardi! To be sure, the Cubs have had homegrown pitchers make the team. Oh, and I know that All-Star selections aren't exactly the best measures for success.

The point is, I doubt there is a single team in baseball with this lousy mark against it over the past 20 years. This problem existed well before Jim Hendry took over. But it's a problem that the Cubs really need to fix. When you look at the homegrown position player core of the Yankees (Jeter, Posada, Cano), the Phillies (Rollins, Utley, Howard) or even a team like Milwaukee (Braun, Fielder, Hart) ... well, it's kind of troubling.