Was there really any other choice?

Many people have expressed some disappointment in the fact the Mike Quade was named manager.

Honestly, what did you expect?

This was, in the end, the only choice.

I'm not exactly thrilled with this choice, but I honestly believe the manager doesn't make that big of a difference.

But let's get a few things straight here....

First, Joe Girardi, as much as any of us really wanted him to come here, isn't leaving the Yankees. Sorry. The press can say all they want. You can hope and pray all you want. You can list all the reasons and logic you want...but in the end, the Yankees will want him back, and it's probably the best managerial job in baseball. He wasn't coming.

Second, Sandberg was the least experienced candidate being considered. You can say all you want about "paying his dues" and all that crap, be in the end, he still isn't ready. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, he needs to coach in the big leagues before he gets a job. Quade did that after a long stint as a minor league manager. Another candidate, Pat Listach, is probably more prepared for the big chair now since he did some coaching in Washington. Sorry folks, Sandberg isn't ready yet.

Third, Joe Torre is old.

Fourth, while 37 games isn't enough to justify getting the job, it is enough to disqualify someone from the job. I actually wanted Sandberg to get the interim job just to see if he would mess it up. That was all you wanted from those last 37 games...to see if the guy doesn't mess it up. Bruce Kimm had his chance, and he sucked. We all saw it. He didn't have the knack for the job.

Fifth, can anyone honestly say that the other candidates brought anything more to the table? Eric Wedge had a Manager of the Year trophy but was pretty much run out of town in Cleveland and appears to have some baggage. Bob Melvin beat the Cubs in the NLDS in 2007...big deal. Pat Listach was Mike Quade lite.

***********************

We heard all these different rumors coming from other blogs and from the press, but in the end, when you take sentiment out if the equation, and you look at it all logically, Quade was the only choice.

You can say whatever you want about Sandberg's time in the minor league...I'm sorry, but he's not ready yet. And it's the Cubs fault for leading him on like that. Don't worry about Ryno, though. He's worked hard his whole life, and if he wants to be a manager, he's going to continue to do what he needs to do to get that job...and right now, he needs to be a 3rd base/bench coach. I'd love for him to do that with the Cubs...but I don't think he's up for that now.

Mike Quade: The man and the legend

So the Cubs have decided to take the ‘interim’ tag off of Mike Quade’s title as manager and give him a two year contract.

But who is this guy that the Cubs have named as manager? What do we know about him?

Well, first he was born in Evanston, Illinois and went to Prospect High School. He led a troubled childhood that landed him in a juvenile corrections facility.

When he was 18, he left the control of the state and he moved to New York (or as he like to call it, Metropolis) where he created a great crime organization. He was driven out of New York by a freelance law enforcement officer named Kal-El.

Quade was good in the movie "The French Connection" as well.

From there he moved to France and founded a new, even bigger crime organization. This organization led him to live in various exotic areas around the world including the Alps, Las Vegas, and Japan.

He looked more menacing when he was in the Alps.

After being tracked down by the British secret service (and having his beautiful volcanic home destroyed by them), Quade spent 5 years studying witchcraft in Bulgaria. While there, he learned many secrets of dark magic that we good witches and wizard would never have dreamed of.

Spoiler...Potter kicks his ass.

Yet, once again, his quest to control the world was snatched away by some little dorky kid.

That’s when the Cubs hired him to manage one of their minor league teams. This was the beginning of the Cubs taking in troubled people (ultimately ending with Milton Bradley) and the change in Quade was amazing.

Quade was very successful in the minor leagues, but his stint down there wasn’t without incident. Many people still recall the day when Quade disintegrated Bobby Brownlie after Brownlie made some smart-ass comment about Quade’s tie at dinner one night in 2006. No one has seen this former first round draft pick since.

Have you seen this boy?

In 2007, after failing to scare the crap out of Jim Hendry to hire him as manager, Quade took the position of 3rd base coach, where he handled the job with the grace of a swan.

This past season, after Lou Piniella retired, Quade took over and did a good job with the pile of crap he was handed. His strategy of making a pre-game trip to the opponent’s dugout and threatening them (and bringing up the Bobby Brownlie disappearance) helped lead the team to a 23-14 record to close out the 2010 season.

So we all bow to our new Dark Lord, and hope that he can lead us to the ultimate victory….or at the very least, bring down the do-gooders who bring safety and security to the world.

This team better win 105 games next year, my lord.

Is this really it? Quade's the man?

CubsInsider, who I believe is Carrie Muskat's secondary Twitter feed, is reporting the Mike Quade and the Cubs have reached an agreement for a two year deal to manage the club, with an option for the 2013 season.

update:

This is now also being reported by ESPN and a few other outlets.

The question now is, does Sandberg stay with the organization as AAA manager or bench coach, or does he try to work his way up with another team?

A Cubs fan's nightmare? Hoping LaRussa stays in St. Louis.

Here is the scenario...

Tony LaRussa, who has been sitting on a one year contract extension which was offered to him 2 weeks ago by the Cardinals, decides next week to retire.

The Cubs, who have been waiting to see if Joe Girardi will become available, refuse to name a new manager.

The Yankees are eliminated by the Rangers.

Joe Girardi decides he's had a good 3 year run in New York and tell that team he isn't coming back.

The Cardinals come in and hire Joe Girardi.

DOH!!!!

Is this plausible? I've hinted a few times that this could very well happen. At this point, Cubs fans should probably be at least a little concerned that events could play out exactly like this.

We've seen this act by LaRussa before. He'll sit on a contract extension, and then when the Cardinals press him about it, he re-signs. The thing is, for the first time, LaRussa looked worn out at the end of this season. He might very well be done in St. Louis.

So we go to Joe Girardi. Is it a slam dunk that if he left the Yankees he would come to the Cubs? The Cardinal job has many of the attractions that the Cubs job does for Girardi. It's the Midwest, near where he grew up. The team has tons of loyal, knowledgeable fans.

But the St. Louis job has these other positives that the Cubs job doesn't. First, the media in St. Louis is much more sane than the bone heads in Chicago. Second, the pressure isn't nearly as high. Third, the Cardinals have a tradition of winning (most WS titles in the National League, 2nd in all of baseball). Fourth, they have a beautiful new stadium.

The only things that the Cubs have that St. Louis doesn't are the facts that Girardi cheered for the Cubs growing up, and played for the Cubs. Big deal! In reality, the Cubs job has all the shortcomings of the Yankee job except it's in Chicago instead of the Bronx. (Where would you rather live?)

I've said it before, I believe Girardi is the best manager potentially available. It would be devastating for him to go to St. Louis, and the truth is, I'd find it hard, if I was him, to turn down that job if I was offered it. The Cardinals have talent, superstars, great facilities and are not saddled with 102 years of failure.

I've thought about this a number of times. It's a deep, deep fear but I was able to sleep knowing that this whole stupid thing was just in my head. I couldn't happen. No one else was really mentioning this...until I saw Phil Rogers bring it up today. (Go look it up yourself, I'm not putting a link to a Phil Rogers story on my site.) Then I read one other place (I forgot where and couldn't find it again) this exact same scenario. People are starting to outline this exactly as I've been fearing. Oh Crap.

As we have seen by the media reports the past couple days, no one really knows what is going on with the Cubs managerial search or when it will be over. It appears they are going to wait at least a little while. That suggests only one thing...Girardi is on the top of their list. If Girardi's season ends soon and he decides to stay with the Yankees, we will all know that the next manager of the Cubs will be their second (or third) choice. But if he does become available, and he takes the Cardinal job...(insert Krusty the Clown grunt here)...we Cubs fans will get to witness 15 to 18 games a season against the guy we wanted to be our manager but were rejected.

And the Cubs are stuck taking the ugly chick to the prom (and, yes, Quade is the ugly chick).

As a Cubs fan, it is my job to expect this nightmare scenario to come true. All I can do is pray that Tony LaRussa returns to the Cardinals.

Via Twitter (take with a grain of salt): Quade to be manager and Sandberg is bench coach

Will Carroll of SI is tweeting that Mike Quade will be named manager and that Ryne Sandberg will be named bench coach. 

Carroll is a somewhat reputable source...so I suppose this could all be true.

Anyway, Carroll has posted that the announcment could come some time next week.

This goes against what much of the Chicago media has been reporting the last few days.

Paul Sullivan and Gordon Wittenmyer have reported that the Cubs were to wait a little while before making a discision on this as long as Quade and Sandberg are not being persued by any other teams.  The wait would be, persumably, to see if Joe Girardi would become available after the Yankees are finished with their season. 

If true, I'm sure a number of other sources will soon be moving on this story.


Update:

Carroll has posted another quip on Twitter saying that a source he has close to the Cubs has told him he is wrong.

For Hendry, this time it’s different

We pretty much know who is on the sort list of managerial candidates right now.

Pat Listach was stiffed the rose from the Cubs front office thus leaving three candidates. Three candidates…yep. And we know that all three have now all met with Tom Ricketts.

Ryne Sandberg, Mike Quade and Eric Wedge.

I know...you are as surprised as I am that I didn't make the cut. I guess my resume just wasn't as impressive as Eric Wedge's.


Anyway, this is Jim Hendry’s third managerial pick.

Not many GMs get the chance to hire 3 managers. At the same time, Hendry hasn’t really had to fire any managers. He was brought in at the same time Don Baylor was fired, and I don’t think dismissing Bruce Kimm really counts. Both of Hendry’s previous managers finished out their contracts and left on there own terms.

Wedge just looks like a jerk.  I like it!

Hendry’s two previous choices, Baker and Piniella, were superstar managers. They were hot commodities. They had proven track records of success.

Mike Quade, Ryne Sandberg and Eric Wedge are neither superstar managers, or have a proven track record of winning at the major league level. This is a departure for Hendry. Now, with that being said, unless you count the joke that is Bobby Valentine, there are no superstar managers available out there unless Whitey Herzog comes out of retirement. Jim Hendry doesn't have much of a choice but to hire a lesser name this time around unless he waits to see if Joe Girardi becomes available.

Of the three finalists, Wedge is the one with the most experience, and believe it or not, has a resume that isn't all that bad include three seasons in Cleveland with a record of .500 or better, and a Manager of the Year award in 2007 (and has won the award more recently than Joe Girardi).

"I will destroy the enemy just by looking at them! Let me demonstrate on Paul Sullivan!"

Jim Hendry, in choosing managers, has been much different than any of his predecessors since John Holland was GM in 1966 when Leo Durocher was hired...and even that was probably more of an ownership decision. With the exception of the Jim Frey hiring, which was a somewhat impressive selection (Frey won the ALCS in 1980), the Cubs have, for 30 years, hired no-name managers who, at best, showed potential. That changed with Dusty Baker.

In 2002, the Cubs waited for Dusty Baker. It was actually quite an impressive coup. Baker, coming off a World Series appearance, was alienated by the owner of the Giants, and decided to part ways with that organization. Hendry popped in and got him to come to the Cubs. I didn't particularly like the hiring, but he was immediately popular and "In Dusty we Trusty" was born.

Sandberg has the name, but not the resume. Quade has, well, the support of the players, but might not be able to handle the "thing" that is being the Cubs manager. Wedge has a little bit of a resume, a bit of an attitude, and youth, but might not be able to stay around longer than 2 or 3 years before getting fired.

What a pansy.

None of these guys brings any bit of a boost of confidence that this team is moving in the right direction. Dusty was a consistent winner in San Francisco. Piniella was a legend. Sandberg brings a 16 year career of failure as a player. Quade brings baldness. Wedge failed to turn around a franchise that currently owns the biggest World Series championship drought in the American League.

In the end, who is manager of this team isn't going to make much of a difference; it will be the other moves made by Jim Hendry. The sooner he gets this manager distraction out of the way, the sooner he'll be able to start fixing this joke of a roster.

And that might be a good thing...because the last two guys Hendry brought in may have done more in distracting people from the bone-headed signings he made (Soriano anyone?). No more gimmicks. No more "winning attitude". We've all heard that crap before. Now it's time to get good players who are winners. Good players who can play ball the right way and who don't choke under pressure.

But 2002 could repeat itself. Hendry could decide to wait for Joe Girardi. He's the superstar manager and has the respect and much of the same fan love as Sandberg.

Hendry isn't likely to take that risk this time for two reasons.

First, in 2002 when he hired Baker, there wasn't an immediate 2nd choice out there. If Baker decided to do something different, the selection process would have continued and the Cubs would have hired some no name. But Hendry wanted to make a big splash. There was little risk in waiting for Baker. This time around, waiting for Girardi runs the risk of losing out on Sandberg, Quade and Wedge. All three of these guys have been mentioned as candidates for jobs in Pittsburgh, Seattle, Toronto and Milwaukee.

Second, Baker was Hendry's first ever pick for a manager as a GM. Very few GMs ever get the chance to make 3 selections. This time, Hendry's job is on the line. He won't get a fourth selection. If the Cubs flounder the next two seasons, Hendry and possibility his manager will be shown the door.

This is your last chance, fatso, so make it a good one.

It's different this time. And for the first time since 2002, we are going to have a manager with a limited resume. That's ok. Let's just hope that the organization can fix the real problems that exist with the team after that guy is hired.

update:

Carrie the Muskrat is reporting that Bob Melvin has also been interviewed by Tom Ricketts and is on the final list of candidates.

Melvin was the manager of the D-Backs after Bob Brenly was fired. He led the Snakes to a playoff sweep over the Cubs in 2007.

I personally don't like Melvin very much and hope the Brewers hire him instead.

The arguments for and against Mike Quade

Two months ago, Mike Quade was supposed to be one of the people who was to be granted an interview for the Cubs managerial job more as a courtesy.

Not anymore.

Many fans want him back next year. The players seem to want him back next year. And the press seems to have turned into his favor.

So what are the arguments on both sides of this issue?

*********************

Pro:
He has an extensive minor league managing record.
Con:
This is the only time he has ever managed in the big leagues.

"This job is easy!"

Pro:
He communicates well with players.
Con:
He hasn’t had to talk to them while in the middle of a bad losing streak.

Pro:
He loves Kosuke Fukudome.
Con:
Kosuke will likely be traded after the season.

"Stay with me just one more night."

Pro:The team has played very well under him.
Con:
September is a bad time to really judge anything about a team.

Pro:
He has seemed to have done much better than the last Interim Manager for the Cubs, Bruce Kimm.
Con:
Bruce Kimm isn’t much of a standard to live up to.

Pro:
He appears to enjoy working with the younger players and helping them to develop.
Con:
We’ll probably trade all those players away so we can get overpriced, under-performing veterans.

A couple more dropped fly balls from Soriano...no more smile.

Pro:
Since he isn’t a former Cubs Hall-of-Famer, if he sucks, it won’t be so painful to fire him.
Con:
Ryno was my favorite Cub when I was a kid.

Pro:
Bobby Diernier will likely be retained as a coach.
Con:
So will Larry Rothschild and Rudy Jaramillo. 

Pro:
Ryan Dempster wants Quade back.
Con:
Koyie Hill wants Quade back.

Pro:
He had no problem benching Starlin Castro after he made a mental error during a game.
Con:
He benched our best player.

"There was only one out, dammit!"

Pro:
He loves chatting with the fans before the game.
Con:
He hasn’t had the chance to chat with them during a 5 game losing streak.

Pro:
He still throws batting practice.
Con:
Aren’t there bat-boys who could do that instead?

Pro:
The Cubs have played great on the road while Quade has managed them.
Con:
They haven’t lost enough at home to convince everyone to knock down Wrigley Field.

Pro:
He’s bald.
Con:
The sun reflects off his head and he blinds the outfielders when he takes his cap off to wipe off sweat.

It's blinding!

Pro:
He was the best third base coach we’ve had in years.
Con:
Now we are stuck with Ivan DeJesus as third base coach.

Pro:
His last name starts with Q…and that worked for the Blackhawks.
Con:
The Cubs don’t play hockey.

Pro:
He has really good interactions with the press.
Con:
They just are being nice to the new guy.

This won't be enjoyable after next May.

Pro:
Without the big name, expectations won’t be so high.
Con:
I’m sick of losing, and so are most of the true fans…empty seats at Wrigley will likely continue

Pro:
Empty seats at Wrigley means more room for me to stretch out and enjoy the games.
Con:
Empty seats mean reduction in ticket revenues, and (more importantly) concession revenues.

Pro:
He looks like Lord Voldemort…which will scare the crap out of other teams.
Con:
Harry Potter kicks his butt in the last book. (I just finished reading the series…sorry for the spoiler.)

"Make me the manager!!!"

Happy Friday!

Greatest manager ever.

The Cubs went out last night and destroyed a pitcher who had given them fits for years.

It can mean only one thing…Mike Quade is the greatest manager ever.

 Mike Quade's magic leads to a Cubs victory.

In reality, even though the Cubs approach at the plate was greatly improved last night, they team still showed some poor behavior including a failed hit-and-run (or, if that was a straight steal by Castro…bad move against Pudge!), Soriano dogging it out of the box resulting in a lost chance at an easy inside-the-park homerun, and some poor defense from Blake DeWitt.

But the Cubs won easily, and both Casey Coleman and Mike Quade earned their first big league wins.

But, back to the Soriano thing…I’m getting absolutely fed up with this crap. The Cubs are going to try to trade him this offseason and right now they really need him to be playing some great baseball to help increase his potential value. He’s not helping, though. We’ve seen the Cubs playing Kosuke more frequently hopes that his production improves and thus his trade value increases (which he has done slightly). But Soriano has been a joke this year. He’s has a couple of weeks where he pounded the crap out of the ball, but for the most part, this has been a most disappointing season. He might reach 25 homers, and is look at 75 to 80 RBI…so what are we to do with him?

I thought his production would increase this season, being his first full season as a Cub where he hit outside of the lead-off spot. That has proved to not be the case. Tyler Colvin’s production has been just as good (if not better). Colvin has one less homer and 13 fewer RBI than Soriano while batting in non-run producing spots in the lineup. Also, Colvin has 100 fewer plate appearances than Soriano.

So how will the Cubs use Soriano from here on out? It seems the more he plays, the less his trade value becomes. He’s like the anti-Kosuke.

But it has become apparent that Mike Quade is going to do things his own way. He stopped (at least temporarily) the foolish move of playing Tyler Colvin at first base, and I suspect he’ll bring some other saneness to the line up in an attempt to convince Jim Hendry to give him the permanent job next season.

And as for first base, the Cubs need to keep Nady there for the rest of the season. What he needs are ABs, and if gets to play on a consistent basis, he will show you how good of a hitter he actually is. I truly believe that the Cubs could have their first base solution already on the team with Nady. Nady is a player that needs to play every day. If you look at his splits for this season, his worst months have been the ones where he had the least at-bats. In fact, his OPS-per-month is almost directly correlated to how many plate appearances he has had.

With that being said, I’d love to see Adam Dunn in a Cubs uniform next year.

 I loved Dunn when he was on SNL.

Lou understandably gives up...cue Mike Quade

Once it became apparent that Lou wasn't coming back this year, I felt he should go away. Then he officially announced he was retiring, and I felt he should just go away. Now he is just going away.

Before you go and dismiss everything here believing that I hate Lou Piniella, remember, as I've stated a few times, I believe that Lou Piniella has been the best Cubs manager in my lifetime. For me, it doesn't even come close.

(via: Tom Cruze, Chicago-Sun-Times)

The Cubs announced this morning that, because of continuing family concerns, that Lou was going to retire immediately.

This is good for him, it is good for the Cubs, and it is potentially good for a couple of the candidates who want to take over this God-forsaken job.

I'm going to miss Lou. If ownership would have wanted him to stay for next year and if his heart was still in it, I would have been all for him coming back next season. But I got the feeling that both of those conditions were just not going to happen.

So Jim Hendry made a couple of surprising comments during his press conference before the game. First, Alan Trammell was not going to take over as interim manager...and (much more surprisingly to me), he said that Trammell was NOT going to be considered for the position after the season is over.

Well, it goes to show what I know. I stated, almost immediately after Piniella announced he was retiring, that Trammell was probably the favorite to take over next season.

So much for that.

This speaks volumes about the front office's attitude going into the off-season, though. With Derrek Lee gone, it does indeed appear that the franchise is going to do a substantial purging of all the on-field personnel...players and coaches. If Trammell is not going to be manager next year, he isn't going to remain as coach...and he probably won't be the only other one to leave.

So, Mike Quade is going to take over as interim manager. He has been on the list of potential candidates for the job next season, and it makes a lot of sense to take advantage of the opportunity to give the guy a try-out. Earlier in the year, I wanted the Cubs to do the same with Ryne Sandberg. At this point of the season, that probably isn't the best thing, as the Iowa Cubs are in playoff contention right now.

What do we know about Mike Quade besides the fact he looks a lot like Lord Voldemort? Well, he has spent almost 8 seasons in the Cubs organization, managed the Iowa Cubs a for a couple of years and has served as third base coach during Piniella's 4 years as manager.

Many of you might forget that he was actually up for consideration for manager after the 2006 season. He has a long history of managing in the minor leagues, dating back to 1985.

He also wears Andre Dawson's #8...so that means he probably will go in the Hall-of-fame some day...right?

Quade is a Chicagoland native, which I didn't know until I looked up how old he was. He is 53 years old, so if the Cubs do hire him for the full time gig after the season we will have someone that isn't going to retire on us after a couple years (Joe Torre?)

Quade also really likes Kosuke Fukudome.

 "It's ok to be nervous...it's my first time too."

So, with Trammell off the list of potential managers, this is who I see as the current candidates for manager in 2011:

• Ryne Sandberg
• Fredi Gonzalez
• Mike Quade
• Joe Girardi
• Joe Torre (hell no!)
• Pat Listach
• Jody Davis
• Bill Dancy
• Buddy Bailey
• Ted Simmons
• Bobby Valentine (please, just shoot me!)
• Ken Macha
• Bud Black
• Tony LaRussa
• Greg Maddux (The Dick Cheney pick...I'll explain on some later date)
• Bob Brenly

So, even though the play on the field has been, well, pathetic...the Cubs are giving us quite a bit to talk about.

But, today was Lou's day...a big salute to the first Cubs manager in my lifetime to truly leave on his own terms.  He's going to be a tough one to replace, and in 35 years of my life, the Cubs haven't been able to find anyone better.