You might have missed this announcement Friday as the Cubs were busy signing and waiver-claiming catchers, but I thought it would be of interest to Cubs fans.
Mike Quade was Cubs manager for 37 games in 2010 after Lou Piniella's midseason retirement (man. Lou Piniella. Doesn't that seem like a very long time ago?) and for all of 2011. He was under contract for 2012 but was fired by Theo & Co. when they took over. His latest baseball job was as a roving instructor for the Yankees in 2014.
Now, he's got gainful employment again:
Former Cubs skipper Mike Quade was named the manager at Triple-A Rochester to replace Gene Glynn, who was promoted to be the Twins' third-base coach under new manager Paul Molitor. "After a few years away from managing, I was fortunate enough to have an organization that I have the utmost respect for offer me an opportunity to get back to doing what I've done for so many years," Quade said. "I am truly looking forward to making Rochester another chapter in my baseball life. My thanks to the Twins for bringing me on board."
Really, this seems like the perfect job for Quade, who was successful as manager at Triple-A Iowa in the Cubs' system from 2003-06. He also made various other minor-league managerial stops at Macon, Rockford, Harrisburg, Ottawa, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, West Michigan, Huntsville, Edmonton Trappers and Vancouver from 1985 to 1999. (Those stops and his big-league jobs are shown on this map.)
Never well suited for a big-league managing job by either temperament or ability, he was generally well-liked as a coach and minor-league manager. I wish him well in his new position, in which he'll likely have one of baseball's top prospects, Byron Buxton, on his roster.