At this point, the future of Hendry comes first to me.

Yes and yes.
Until recently I would have preferred a new manager with big league experience. But Sandberg’s dues-paying education in the minors has convinced me that he’s ready.

Totally agree with you that someone who has lived the Cubs experience should take over. Either guy. I won’t complain. Honest.

Girardi would be a nice manager. He knows and understands what the Cubs have been going through. Girardi managed a championship team. He knows what it takes to get there. He should be hired if he leaves the Yanks.
Some people are saying they don’t want Ryno as a manager because they say he has no experience managing a big league club. My view is, everyone has to start somewhere. Why not have Ryno start his managing career has a Cub? He has managed successful teams in the Cubs minor leagues. Besides the Cubs are about to rid of these contracts and a lot of players may be brought up that have played for Ryno. Ryno also understands what makes those players tick. What I’m saying is Girardi, if available, then Ryno. Heck, get both if you can.

I believe he was in the Westin right off Michigan Avenue, IIRC. Unfortunate; he was a great guy.

The Girardi situation is either extremely complex or quite simple.

On one hand, he already has a championship under his belt in New York, the best team, the biggest bankroll, and respect. There’s simply no reason for him to leave.

On the other hand, of all possible candidates, whomever they may be, Girardi is one that probably believes heavily in tradition, loyalty, and "doing what’s right" for a team and most importantly, its fans. Think of him as the anti-LeBron James’ The Decision.

The closest I can come to making a parallel in this situation? Roy Williams, the coach of UNC. After 2003 and 15 seasons that included a handful of runner-ups, Final Fours, Elight 8s, etc., Roy left KU for his alma mater, UNC, where he has since won two championships. Roy was clearly at a winning program: He had every award possible (sans a championship) at KU, a storied program, etc. But in the end the connection to his home school was too strong. Perhaps this is the case with Joe.

Dan

Many of the things we like in Sandberg, Girardi also brings to the table. Plus he has some experience and also has won recently in a big market area where the pressure is always high. He has played for the Cubs and even played when they were in the playoffs, so he has seen Chicago all worked up as well.

If Sandberg would take a spot as bench coach that would be cool. But he may not want that, and I would not be surprised to see him leave.

who managed the team he was a Hall of Famer for? I’m sure there probably was, but, off the top of my head I can’t think of one. The reason I ask is, what if this Hall of Fame player turned coach flops…can he be fired by the team whose hat he wears in Cooperstown?

Lou has the third highest payroll in MLB and his last two years have shown a man with less and less ability to take the given talent to a higher level. Why do we have such a pathetic record in one run games? Those are the games that tell you a lot about your manager and his ability to inspire.

I have been a fan of Ryno stepping up after Lou (and why not have Greg Maddux as the pitching coach (Jessica shaking her head yes), since he is also on the Cubs payroll?). Why not “release” Lou NOW, have Trammell step in as Interim Manager and have Ryno come up from Iowa and replace Trammell as the bench coach?

In this low risk way, Ryno gets to learn from Trammell and the Ricketts get a feel for his ability to work with the major league team—see how the veterans relate to Ryno. It seems that Ryno has done a good job of winning at the A, AA & AAA levels and he seems to get plenty out of the ever-changing minor league rosters. With a little effort, the Ricketts can start the transition in team management NOW.

Lou’s kind of lost it, or so it looks from the outside. So a change is definitely in order. Sandberg or Girardi are both solid choices.

And some changes on the field. Say what you will, and most of you will, this team, even if they do manage to find their stride in the second half, is definitely aging at some positions.

Age is the one opponent no one beats.

perhaps we wouldn’t have seen some of these ridiculous contracts that Hendry doled out to free agents. When Piniella was hired it was expected by fans and certainly by him that the organization needed to purchase veteran talent to obtain a championship in the time of Piniella’s tenure.

Under Girardi, the organization could have taken it’s time to allow talent to develop and with a young, popular manager aboard the fanbase would have obliged.

…we chose Lou instead. In the here and now I think its Sandberg’s time. If we do it next season so be it, but the Cubs are destined to be managed by him.

He was when Lou was hired and still is. He now has the ability to deal with the difficult situations that managers find themselves in each day. To say Sandberg has “paid his dues” is akin to saying that the best person at work is the one who has been there the longest. Time spent does not translate into ability (all the time). Sandberg MAY be a passable manager but he is not the best if Girardi is in the equation. Girardi has been through the fire and proven himself.

when Lou was hired. Sandberg is on his way up, so I’d probably pass on Girardi this time around. Unless Ryno would accept the bench coach position some how.

I dunno. I’m sure he has a desire too, but when it comes to being a manager, he might feel he has plenty of time to make this this happen. How long could he possibly manage the Yanks? Even if he resigns, he won’t be with them forever. If i was Joe, i’d prolly stay with them for a few more years and build up more experience and get more wins under my belt. Odds are, that won’t hurt him. (Of course, all of these depends on if the yanks want him back… which i have a feeling they will)

About the Cubs… i dunno what to expect. I have a feeling Hendry will try everything he can to ditch salary and just go and sign some big free agents this off season. I have no idea if this plan will work, etc… I really don’t know what the Cubs will look like next year.

… being a Yankee manager probably won’t hurt his credentials. He’ll be managing a long time and will probably get another chance to manage the Cubs in the future. The only major thing weighing on his mind will how bad he wants to be the Cubs manager that leads them to their first world title in over a 100 years. That is probably the only thing that MIGHT lead him away from NY anytime soon. But I doubt it will be enough.

But I probably prefer Girardi, but only because I feel he might be better at failing, or his failing might be easier to handle. Meaning, does anyone want to hear Sandberg ripped at BCB consistantly? Hear him booed at Wrigley? Ripped in the media? The Cubs seem to be earning a reputation for chewing up and turning on previously beloved managers/baseball men. Without knowing Sandberg or Girardi, it seems like Girardi might be thicker skinned if something like this should happen again.

What does that even mean, “Cubs family”? Also, there is hardly anyone alive in the Cubs’ family who remembers the last WS appearance, let alone a WS championship. The family has not shown it knows what it is doing.

One thing that really intrigues me about having Girardi or Sandberg managing the Cubs is that they played for the Cubs. They know the pressures of not winning a WS for so many years. I believe they can bring a calming mindset to the team, a different perspective to playing for the Lovable Losers. Yes, we have Ernie, Billy and Ron, but they played 40 years ago. Each year, of not winning, brings more pressure. The Cubs have brought in some pretty good managers who haven’t got the job done. To name just a few in recent years: Dusty won in SF and is winning in Cincinnati and Lou was a winning manager/player, but they never played for the Cubs.

You look at D Lee, who has been with the Cubs since 04. Some say he is just going through the motions, I can’t disagree. I think the losing persona, year after year, takes it’s toll. Yes, I know we had two pretty good season, but this year is such a drop-off from the previous two.

Big Z’s tantrum was a result of frustration from losing.

Soriano has been known not to hustle on every play, losing takes a toll

You look at Big Z, I believe his tantrum was l

“This is like choosing between hickory smoked bacon and thick cut bacon. Either way, it’s gonna be good.”

There should only be two options for the job: (1) Girardi or (2) Sandberg. That’s about it. I don’t think Joe G will be available, so it should be Sandberg. If Joe G is available, then you’ve gotta make a tough call.

Personally, I think Girardi would be great in our dugout. He made young players overachieve in Florida (en rounte Manager of the Year) and earned the respect of high-priced veterans in New York. He called out ownership in Florida five years ago for doing the same thing MLB investigated them for this off-season. Along with the fire he displays and the respect he commands, he knows when it’s time to let the clubhouse culture take over. A couple years ago, the Yankees broke out of a slump on a Giambi walk-off and Girardi conducted the postgame interview in a fake Giambi mustache. Trivial? Sure. But managers who know how to be a part of the clubhouse culture have had a lot of recent success. Charlie Manuel in Philly takes part in player pranks. Joe Maddon got a mohawk when the rest of the Rays did. Add Joe G and those are the managers for the three team that played in the last two World Series. Joe G has everything you look for in a good manager. (As for game decisions, each of these guys has made a couple of mistakes to cost games, sure. But that’s bound to happen over 162 games. They’ve also made some great decisions.)

Sandberg has paid his dues. He’s familiar with the young players because he managed a bunch of them. He’s been in Arizona the past couple years for Spring Training, too, IIRC. He’s a risk because he’d be new to big league management. But that’s what the organization has been grooming him to do: manage in the big leagues. If you don’t give him a shot, what’d you do that for? Furthermore, I think he’s a good risk. He’s got a reputation for bringing some fire to the dugout. He’s respected. He’s a popular guy (which doesn’t necessarily make him a great manager, but it does help ease some of the worry that accompanies any new hire). I think he could be great.

The debate probably won’t add up to anything because there’s very little chance Girardi isn’t in NY’s dugout next year. But I’m not worried. Ryno looks to be ready for his shot.

No need repeating all the interesting points raised and debated so far in this thread. But here is one more thing that Sandberg brings to the table. As a Cub for his entire career, he is a guy who truly, for a lack of a better way to say it, bleeds Cubbie Blue. Ryno is big into being a Cub, and promoting the idea of being proud to wear the uniform, having the uniform mean something to you. He understands the Cub fans, and would be able to communicate this understanding to newcomers to the Cubs, and what it means to be a Cub. He understands the rivalries. To him, beating the Cardinals is a big deal. Beating the White Sox would be a big deal. I think it’s little things like this that a Cub outsider cannot do. I know these are intangibles, and there is no way at all to measure how much this stuff would contribute to winning the World Series, if it does at all. But to me, these are important intangibles. Sure, Girardi would understand this stuff as well. What Sandberg has done in the minors have proven his passion for managing the Cubs to me. I’m ready to back him for the job.