Who Will Be Named Cubs Manager?

I think it will be Quade.

And I am okay with that.

Wonder how much of this decision involves management’s approval/disapproval of the current coaches. Would management prefer to retain the current coaches, dump them, or not care? My sense, based on not much, is that Quade would retain the current coaches at least for the first year, but the others, including Sandberg, would turnover a majority of the coaching staff.

but Sandberg is the much more high profile, household name. All things being equal, Ryno has that advantage. You can market Ryno, you can’t really do that with Quade.

I picked Ryno. Many reasons that I believe the Cubs will cite, not necessarily me:

He’s been cutting his teeth as the only HOFer in the minors.
He’s a great teacher and has the respect of all his players.
He’s one of the most famous and recognizable Cubs players of all time.
He “gets it” on what it means to manage the Chicago Cubs.

IMO this will end up being a big marketing campaign. I still want BB in there but have a hunch he’s heading up the road about 100 miles.

With Ryno and Quade having little to no MLB managing experience, do we only offer a 1 year deal or are going all in with a 4-5 year deal with whomever takes over? I worry about the other candidates signing elsewhere while the Cubs sit back and wait to see what happens with Girardi. I don’t see Joe leaving NY.

but I would not be surprised by Ryne Sandberg or a MTBN.

I don’t have a favorite in the race but I am hoping that Girardi does not get the gig. The more I hear about him (particularly on XM’s national shows), the less I like. The opinion on him seems to be that he over manages. He was notorious during his year managing the Marlins for his poor handling of pitchers and was blamed by some for Josh Johnson landing on the DL. I’m hoping that he stays in NY.

than the one we had last year going into the off season.

A gut feeling of what they’re going to do. Only this and nothing more.

for what Quade did to be ignored by other teams. He will at least get consideration for other managerial positions if Ryne gets the Cubs job. If Ryne doesn’t get it, he’s as good as gone to another team.

Either way, I see enough other opportunities out there that neither of them will be a bench coach for the Cubs next year.

Though I am hoping for Ryno. One scenario I see playing out is Ricketts insisting on Ryno, and Hendry wanting Quade. The owner usually wins that battle.

Whoever is named better be a patient man. I don’t see this team improving enough to be competitive in 2011. Hope I’m wrong …

Who would want to manage the Cubs? There’s going to be the usual merry go round for managers, hell, the Brewers and Mets are two right off the bat. Then we’ll see who goes to Atlanta, LA, Toronto, Florida, among others. I really like Mike Quade, I don’t see this team being an instant contender and he can get the most out of his guys. Ryno would be a good choice also, might as well. So Ryno as skipper and Quade as bench manager, with Jaramillo and Rothschild returning. So we need a first and third base coach and how can we get Greg Maddux to help with pitching?

Anyone acknowledging what the players want. Didn’t Dempster say he wanted Quade to stay? I would bet that in order for him to publicly make that statement, that probably the other players mostly agree. While I tend to think Sandberg is still going to get it, management is going to take the players’ opinions seriously as well, not to mention the fact that Quade has a decent record as manager. It might just be 50/50 right now, who knows?

Since he’ll be staying awhile, why not ask Carlos? Would he prefer the Blizzard of OZ?

At the end of the day, no matter what else has happened, he’s the best choice. Now I can firmly live with Quade, no problem at all. I also believe there is an outside chance a 3rd party is named manager so neither Q or Ryno is offended. Unlikely but I could see it happening.

Here is my final thought on Sandberg. If you are a free agent, do you want to go to a club that is managed by a HOF player. Yes, you do.

I voted Sandberg even though I’d prefer someone else.

And, just one thought:
Remember the last time a player publicly supported someone in the organization to keep his job? Yeah, he was unceremoniously sent to the Dodgers…

but I hope it’s Sandberg. I just don’t think Quade will be very good. And I don’t think it’s best he sticks around as bench coach either, if Sandberg gets the job. It might cause some issues with some players listening to Sandberg and others listening to Quade. It just wouldn’t be good for the clubhouse.

1) BETTER TEAM ATTITUDE: I don’t put much weight in the improved attitude of the players. No matter who the new manager was, we would have seen a better attitude and improved play. We saw this same thing happen with Baltimore when Buck (courtesy of ESPN) came to town.

2) PLAYERS DID BETTER: By the time Lou left, the Cubs were so deeply out of any contention that I don’t think this means much. In the end, the Cubs stunk at getting RISP home and made tons of mental errors on the field under Lou and they vastly improved when “nothing mattered.” There is no doubt that for whatever reason, the Cubs were “tightly wound” when Lou was managing. Again, I believe Cub play would have improved no mater who replaced Lou because Lou kept everyone too up tight.

3) GOOD AT UTILIZING PLAYERS: Once the rosters expanded beyond 25, I think there is little to be gained in understanding how an interim manager utilized players. With a 25 player limit, there are always questions of “11 or 12 pitchers” and when to use pinch hitters, pinch runners, the bullpen etc… No matter who managed the Cubs in September, it would give Cub management no sense of how they might manage with the limits and pressures of 25 players AND a pennant race.

So as much as Quade has “made his case,” I think we would have seen some level of similar improvement no matter who took over the post-Lou Cubs.

however naming Quade would not get me to set my house on fire.
 I just hope they don’t wait for Girardi to finish the playoffs to see what his status is.
 Get this done, name the manager, and lets move forward to 2011.

…I’m good with either Quade or Sandberg, tho.
I have to wonder something tho…all throughout this year, people on BCB (I’m no exception) would sit back and “arm-chair” manage and critique Lou on most of his bonehead calls/lineups…for instance “Is Lou even awake?” or “Lou is pathetic” or “Lou sucks” or “Lou is a POS”. Lou took the full blunt of this season while he was here…and even at times while he wasn’t. Would it be the same with Sandberg? I wonder if that would play into Hendry’s/Rickett’s decision? My meaning being this…I’m not sure it would be the fans saying “That Ryno can’t manage” or “Ryno sucks” or “Sandberg was a mistake”…but more along the lines of “If Hendry would get better players, Sandberg would be a great manager” or “Poor Ryno…he really isn’t being given a fair chance with this team”? Can the fans separate their feelings for Sandberg, the Hall of Fame 2B and Sandberg, the Manager? Or is he just an “icon” no matter what?

I thought Sandberg was a lock. Not anymore; I think Quade has a good chance and I would actualy prefer him over Sandberg at this point.

Fair, not fair, correct, not correct, experience and dues, etc etc. Doesn’t mean a lick.

There is no way in hell that the Cubs organization is NOT going to hire Ryne Sandberg as its new manager. They absolutely cannot have him go to another organization to manage – it will be a PR disaster, and he clearly wants to manage.

I’m not saying it is correct, I’m just saying that it is what it will be…. unless they somehow convince him to take a bench coach job. That might really be the best for everyone, but Ryno has the upper hand in any negotiations.

According to Twitter reports from David Kaplan of the Tribune and WGN Radio, eyewitnesses reported that Zambrano damaged his car Monday morning in his haste to leave Wrigley Field after he and his teammates cleaned out their lockers.
The accident was said to be minor, but Zambrano’s car reportedly sustained significant damage.

-While it is a two horse race between Sandberg and Quade, it does not appear that Sandberg ever had a true chance at getting the Chicago Cubs managerial spot. Barry Rozner, Baseball insider for the Daily Herald and co-host of "Hit and Run" on 670 the score AM, reported today on Hit and Run that he has been told by his Cubs sources that Quade is the guy. Rozner went on to say that the Chicago Cubs could hire Quade within the next ten days to two weeks.

While things could change between now and then, it appears that the Chicago Cubs played Sandberg, much like they did when they originally interviewed him for the managerial opening after the 2006 season. The biggest reason the Cubs are turned off by Sandberg is that he does not have major league managing experience. Meaning if they truly wanted Sandberg to be their manager, they probably would have named him as the interim manager after Piniella left instead of Quade. Which probably pushed Quade past Sandberg as the top candidate to fill the vacancy.

Actually it’s probably more like 220-230 lbs or so and he’s not a gorilla. I’m talking about Hendry and his status as GM.

Obviously Ricketts did not house-clean in Year 1 and get rid of Hendry – he’s on record as saying Hendry’s his GM when the 2011 season starts (or words to that effect). And conventional wisdom seems to indicate that even if Ricketts is not happy with the job Hendry has done, he’d be reluctant to get rid of Hendry before his contract expires, i.e. Ricketts doesn’t want to pay two people to do the same job.

Hendry’s contract runs through 2012, two more years. Do you give your new manager a longer contract than two years? If so, does that send a message to Hendry? And assuming the chances of Hendry being renewed are slim, wouldn’t a new GM want his own manager?

Unless somehow it’s Girardi, I think the new manager gets a 2 yr deal with maybe a 3rd year club option (if they do that for managers). And I’m also thinking this new manager is most definitely tied to Hendry at the hip, waist and most of all, neck.

maybe we should have a Manager “Free Agent” Contest this year as well. ;-)

He has done the job and has shown that he knows how to manage a bunch of ego-driven, highly-paid ballplayers.

He has turned the bullpen and pitching staff around, and gotten a little better production out of the offense.

I personally like his managerial style, and think it will work well with the team going forward.

He may be on the outs on the South Side, he’s won a ring, he loves the city, and he does a great job of keeping media focus off the team so they don’t stress out.

Don’t get me wrong, I voted for Quade, but if Ozzie is available, how do you not take a look?

But Sandberg is my preference. If it is Quade, I wouldn’t be upset. I’d be disappointed for Ryno because he’s done everything the organization has asked him to do and been successful. And Sandberg clearly wants the job as manager of the Cubs. However, Quade wants it, too. I would rather see Mike Quade get the job over Bob Melvin, Eric Wedge or Don Wakamatsu. No disrespect to those guys, but they don’t understand the Cubs tradition. And, honestly, I wasn’t crazy about any of them when they managed their old teams. I think Wedge would be a good fit with the Pirates, though. Melvin might go to the Brewers if they don’t hire Willie Randolph. And I think Wakamatsu will wind up as a coach on the Baltimore Orioles next year.

IF Sandberg is hired, I’d like to see Larry Bowa come back to the Cubs as third-base coach. Bowa was Ryno’s mentor when they both came to the Cubs in ‘82. And, if Don Mattingly doesn’t have Bowa as his bench coach next year, I’d like to see him back in a Cubs uniform.

Some of Ryno’s value to Clan Ricketts undoubtedly rests on his ability to attract more fan interest. If he’s hired even partially for that reason, ownership will be more likely to get him the players he needs to succeed and remain an effective part of the Cubs marketing strategy. On the other hand, hiring Quade will show their willingness to use Q’s nice cleanup job as cover for going cheap.

The opportunity to have one of the most loved former players come back and manage the Cubs is just too good to pass up. Not to mention he has shown the ability to successfully manage in the minors. It is a shame that Quade won’t get a chance at a full season with the Cubs because he did a good job this year. But, I do think Quade will turn up as the manager for another team.

I’d be happy with either Quade, Ryno or Girardi. My first choice is Girardi.

I don’t think we’ll know until Joe’s situation is resolved in New York.

My only concern with Quade is he has been in the minors managing for a zillion years and nobody has given him the chance.

My first choice actually has already announced he wont be it. Brenly.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see all 3 managing in the majors in 2011.

How about this for a nightmare. There is no guarantee Tony LaRussa returns in 2011. How about Ryno in St. Louis?

As I just typed I’d be happy with any of the 3 headed monster.

But does anyone else have any other ideas?

Please not Ken Macha.

Gotta go Quade! The Blackhawks have Quinneville, that seems to be working out. How many other major league cities have 2 managers/head coaches with their last name starting in Q! It is quintessential that we make a quantum leap to Quade!!

Johnson & Schilling made Brenly look good. I like him better as a broadcaster than a manager.

Girardi is probably the best manager, if he is available

Quade earned it, he did some miracle with a team that was DOA when he took over

Ryno will be a marketing bonanza and he is familiar with a lot of the young roster.

In the modern baseball era, marketing bonanza wins, welcome back Ryno. I just don’t want to see some old ass out touch, Pinella/Torre/Cox type manager.

1) girardi – hes won a championship
2) quade – he has done a nice job so far
3) ryno – cuz hes ryno!

Sign Adam Dunn, shore up pitching. Call it an offseason.

The next manager is sort of set up to be a sacrificial victim. The current roster is overaged and undertalented, and that is unlikely to be seriously fixed for 2011 – especially give the recent statement from Ricketts that payroll wil fall next year.

And a bad 2011 may lead to an even lower payroll in 2012, as the family scrounges for $$$$ to meet short-term debt repayment requirements. If that happens, the 2011-2012 offseason will not be the promised land, and the team will still need a 1B, a 3B, and a #1 quality starter.

Beyond Hendry’s praise of Quade, there doesn’t seem to be movement in that direction. Granted it is still early, but I wonder if Hendry is really serious about Quade as a manager.