Looking Ahead to 2011: Finding a New Manager

Today I am starting a series on the future of the Chicago Cubs, and will be focusing on various aspects of decisions that need to be made before the start of next year, as well as decisions that may need to be made. Obviously, the first and most demanding need is who will replace Cubs Manager Lou Piniella as we look to 2011. That is what I will be looking at today, focusing on three of the more talked about names to replace Piniella and why they should be looked at as a manager, and why they should not be given the job.

 

With Piniella making things official that he will retire at year’s end, something we all knew would happen anyway, there has been plenty of speculation as to who should replace him at the Cubs helm, and who will replace him. There are several names that have popped up and have been named as candidates already, but who would be the right fit? Who would be the manager most likely to finally give the Cubs and their fans their long overdue reward?

 

The first name on the list, who I believe to be the favorite, at least among fans, is Cubs legend and Hall of Fame player Ryne Sandberg. He first showed interest in managing the Cubs after the2006 season when they decided not to re-sign Dusty Baker. At the time, General Manager Jim Hendry felt that Sandberg was not qualified to do the job, and suggested that he work his way up the system to prove that he was not only capable to manage the big league club, but that he was willing do to what he needed to do in order to get the much needed experience. Whether or not Hendry thought making him earn his spot by managing in the bus leagues would make him change his mind, I am not sure. All I do know is that Sandberg did exactly what he was asked to do, and did so without complaint. Now, with Piniella acknowledging that he would not return, Sandberg has already been named as a legitimate candidate for the job.

 

Before I go any further, and get labeled a Sandberg hater I must admit that he is my all time favorite Cub player. I idolized him as a child, and he was one of the main reasons I became a Cub fan. That being said, I do not feel that he is the right man for the job, at least not at this point in time. Yes, he has done everything that has been asked of him and more. There is no doubt that he has earned an interview, but that does not mean that he should be the front runner for the job. However, there is a massive difference between managing in the minors and managing in the majors. In the minor leagues, while you always try to win, you put a bigger emphasis on developing the talent for the majors before you try to win. Once you get to the majors, the developing is all over and you need to win.

 

There are reasons why he should be looked at as a possible manager for the ball club. He knows what winning in Chicago would mean to the city and the fans. He is a player who knows how to play the game the right way, and would not put up with players lollygagging things around the field. He would hold every player accountable for their mistakes, and ensure that they learned from them, or they would sit out until they did. Those qualities would tend to make you think that someone has the mindset and the right attitude to manage the club. He is by far the popular choice among fans, but that doesn’t always mean that he is the right choice.

 

However, when you look back at his playing career, what do you remember about him? He was an all around great player who became a legend in Cubbie Blue. What people tend to forget, is that he was a very silent player who always led by example. He was never one to speak his mind during his playing career, and could be compared to Derrek Lee as being the silent leader in the club house. One thing I have noticed about Chicago fans (not just Cub fans) they want a manager who is filled with the “fire and the passion” leading their clubs. Sure, as the years have passed Sandberg has become more vocal and has shown more “fire” than anyone could ever have expected out of him based on his playing career. However, in an honest moment no one would have looked at him and thought of him as being a future manager. Take away the name Sandberg, would you look at him as being a great manager? Separating your feelings about someone as a player, and what you feel they can do as a manager is not easy.

 

In an honest moment, I do not think that he should be the manager of the Cubs for the 2011 season. I still think that he needs a little more seasoning before he is ready. Try and convince whoever you hire to make him the bench coach. Let him see the game in the big leagues at full speed. Yes, he has seen the game at full speed as a player, but as a manager, things are completely different. You have a completely different point of view of things. There is only one problem with having him be the bench coach for your new manager. That new manager, whoever he may be, may view the situation as training their own replacement. Not too many people would be too fond of doing that.

 

If Sandberg does not get the job, there are three outcomes which could come of the decision. He may decide to walk away, and give up the idea of managing in the big leagues, he may get hired by another team to become their manager, or he may stick to his guns and stay at Triple A.

 

Another popular choice is current Manager of the New York Yankees, Joe Girardi. With his contract running out at season’s end, there is plenty of speculation that he is on the Cubs radar. He very well may be on the radar, but that does not mean that they will even have a shot at signing him. He has had a lot of success with the Yankees, so why would the Yankees be so willing to just let him walk away? In my mind, they would be idiotic not to keep him around since he has proven himself to be a capable manager of the Yankees, as he has already won a World Series and may be well on his way to winning a second. I don’t believe we have a real shot of hiring him as the manager of the Cubs for 2011.

 

There are reasons why he should be given a look though, if he becomes available. He has the major league experience, which Sandberg lacks. He has managed in the big leagues for four seasons now. He has seen what the game looks like in the big leagues from the sidelines, and has also shown the baseball smarts that we all knew he had from watching him as a player. Everyone knew he would be a good manager at some point down the line; the only question was where and when. But is he the right choice for the Cubs? Like Sandberg, he knows what winning in Chicago would mean for everyone involved. He loved his time in Chicago and would love to have the job. However, how good of a manager is he?

 

In his one year managing the Florida Marlins, he showed that he has a temper when he yelled at their owner on the field. He almost got fired for that when the incident took place in August of that year. While he may have ultimately gotten fired for that, he only lasted one season with the Marlins. That isn’t exactly a qualification that most owners like to see in a future employee.

 

While he does have a World Series championship under his belt already, with a second seemingly well on the way, does winning with the Yankees even count? They have the largest payroll in baseball and have all stars at nearly every position. Of course he should have won that World Series, and should win this year’s championship as well. With the players the Yankees have, they should never lose a championship. How will he fare with a team that doesn’t have all stars all over the diamond? Perhaps eight games under the .500 mark as he did in his only year with the Marlins? People will point out though, that his team came roaring back from being 20 games under the .500 mark early in the season. Sure, he got his team to come roaring back, after the season for them had already been dead and buried. He got them to play when things didn’t matter anymore. Is that enough to make him worthy of being the next Cubs manager? I am not so sure.

 

The last name I will bring up is the Cubs very own television broadcaster, Bob Brenly. He would be my top choice out of the three, though that doesn’t necessarily mean I think he is the right man for the job either. But out of the three men that get mentioned the most, I think he is the better fit to manage this club for the next few years.

 

No one in baseball knows this team better than Brenly. He has been watching these guys play for the past few years, and always has something to say about what they did or did not do. Yes, that is his job, but he has also been pointing out why they should have done this, or should not have done that. He knows better than anyone what flaws each of these players have, and how he feels they can and should be correcting them. You will not be able to get immediate ideas on how to improve various players from Girardi or Sandberg, at least not like you will from Brenley. He also has years of managerial experience and has also won a World Series ring. He knows how to manage a club to a championship, without a massive payroll, or an all star at every position.

 

No, he did not have an all star stacked team when the Arizona Diamondbacks won the World Series; but he did have a damn good team. However, he just had two of the best pitchers in baseball that season, which could never hurt your chances of winning. Even with that team and those pitchers, he still needed a broken bat single in the ninth inning to win the World Series. Granted they got that win over an all star packed team of the Yankees, which is still an amazing accomplishment. While I was able to give various reasons why I felt that Girardi or Sandberg would not be right for the job, I cannot really do that for Brenly. But, there is one thing that gives me second thoughts about hiring him as the next Cubs manager. Ask yourself this, if he is such a good candidate to fill a managerial position, then why hasn’t he been given any serious consideration for an opening over the past five or six years? There has to be a reason why he hasn’t been invited to interview for any one of the numerous openings over the years. I believe his name was only brought up once during his tenure as the Cubs Analyst, and that was when the Milwaukee Brewers had an opening.

 

Perhaps he was over looked for those other openings, or perhaps the other teams did not see him as all that great of a managerial candidate. Don’t even say that maybe he did interview and we just didn’t hear the news. In today’s day and age, you hear everything. If he was invited to interview, there would have been something that was said. Perhaps he was asked to interview and he turned down the job because he wanted a mental break from the daily grind, and the stress that comes with managing in the big leagues. We may never know exactly why he is still broadcasting games and not managing somewhere, but this is a reason why you have to have second thoughts, as a fan, before you give him the job. Otherwise, he would be the perfect candidate to fill the opening going into the next season.

 

There are several other options to fill the opening, such as maybe Tony LaRussa or Joe Torre, or any number of other experienced managers out there, but the three I mentioned seem to be the three front runners to the job. At least they are the three top names mentioned in the fan base. If I were a betting man, I would say that Tom Ricketts will go with the fan favorite and name Sandberg manager of the Cubs. If he lets his heart over power his head that is exactly what will happen. That’s not to say that Sandberg won’t make an excellent manager, or that the other two wouldn’t either. However, I do not want to see one of these three men hired to replace Piniella, not unless there are not any other more qualified candidates. Out of the three, I would select Bob Brenly immediately, if I was limited to this group. The only way I would hire Sandberg to be anything more than my bench coach going into 2011, is if the Cubs went with a youth movement and got rid of most of their aging stars, which is a lot easier said than done.

 

All I know, is we have two and a half months left in the Piniella era, and then two months for General Manager Jim Hendry to find our Cubs a new manager. He said he wants one in place before the winter meetings, which are in December. Two months after the season ends, is plenty of time to find a new captain of the ship, though I would not be surprised if Hendry already has a man in mind.