Tagged: Mike Quade















Finally, the Misery of 2011 Comes to an End







Wait Till the Year After Next










Embrace the wait, and wait till the year after next!

The Perfect Lineup For the 2011 Chicago Cubs

Today, because you are finished with my look at the individual positions and who should be starting for the Chicago Cubs, I will give you my thoughts on what I feel would be the perfect line up to run out everyday. Thankfully this is made much easier because Cubs Manager Mike Quade and I are in full agreement on who should be playing everyday. The one thing we do not agree on, is how they should be lined up. So far in Spring Training, based on the line up that has been run out most often, Quade is looking  at running out this line up.

Kosuke Fukudome
Starlin Castro
Marlon Byrd
Aramis Ramirez
Carlos Pena
Alfonso Soriano
Geovany Soto
Blake Dewitt
Pitcher of  the day,

While I agree with three of the nine spots in the line up, I feel that the others should be shuffled around for reasons that I am about to explain. In my mind, the line up should look like this.

Kosuke Fukudome: This one Quade has right. With his precise at the plate, there is no one better to  hit lead off. What he lacks in batting average, which tends to be his main down fall with the fans, he makes up for in drawing walks. That is the main objective for any lead off hitter. Get on base for the big boppers behind you.

Geovany Soto: Cuttently, Quade has him batting seventh in the lineup. In my honest opinion, this is a big mistake. He is the teams best on base percentage guy and should be at the top of the line up batting second. Much like with Fukudome should be batting lead off, getting on base is the most important thing  for your first and second hitters. The reason Soto should be hitting second, is because he does just that. Because he has a keen eye at the plate, and has a fair amount of power, pitchers will need to pitch to him very carefully if he is hitting second. They do not want to walk him, and give you best run producers a chance to drive him in, so they will have to throw him pitches to hit. Doing so could cost them dearly.

Aramis Ramirez: The Cubs need a power hitter in the three hole, and  that just is not Marlon Byrd.  These two men should be flipped in the order. History has shown that if there are men on base for Ramirez, that chances are he is going to drive them in. He is the Cubs best run producer, and has been for the past few years, and needs to bat in the first inning. With Fukudome and Soto hitting in front of him, he will typically always have someone on base for him to drive in.

Marlon Byrd: I know what you are thinking, if Byrd isn’t powerful enough  to hit in the three spot, why hit him clean up? I think he should hit clean up for those exact reasons. He is a good line drive hitter and can move guys over and drive them in without the use of a home run. In some instances that is a better weapon than a home run hitter. He gives you a different aspect to think about. If Ramirez is unable to drive the previous guys in, Byrd almost certainly will. Besides, I feel that having power back to back is a waste and kind of is easier on the pitcher who does not need to chance his thought process when the batters change. You typically pitch all power hitters the same way.

Carlos Pena: He should be hitting fifth, exactly where Quade has him. Left handed power in this spot is very nice. A line drive hitter right in front of him could mean that there is typically someone on base for him to try and drive in. While his average has not been very good the past few years, he still has the power numbers to make him a big threat with men on base.

Alfonso Soriano: Once again, Quade gets the decision right to bat him here. While he is no longer the big 40 home run threat that he once was, he is still very capable of hitting at least 20 home runs. He will never have another good year of stealing bases either, which is why he is not batting higher in the line up. Because he still has some decent power, he still has to be considered a threat at the plate.

Blake Dewitt: He is not a strong hitter, and can occasionally draw a walk. I will not tiptoe around this guy at all, he is our weakest hitter. The reason I have him hitting seventh instead of eighth is because you do not want two easy outs back to back. Perhaps with another year of professional baseball under his belt he will be able to surprise us with something. Either way, I am not expecting much out of him. Only good thing I can say about him, is that he is better than Ryan Theriot because he can occasionally draw a walk.

Starlin Castro: The very reason Quade likes him hitting second is why he should be hitting eighth in the order. Someone who can hit at a high average at the bottom of the order is a good way to help turn the line up over and get back to the top of the order. If you have three low average guys at the bottom of the order (no Soto is not a low average hitter, but his power says he should be hitting higher) you will have three easy outs all in a row. That is something pitchers dream of, you are basically handing them an easy inning. Throwing a .300 hitter here helps keep the offense rolling. Add to the mix that he can draw a walk, which is a very important aspect for anyone who is going to hit in the eight hole. Pitchers will tend to pitch around this hitter in order to get to the easiest out in the line up, the pitcher. Yes, the pitcher is the easiest out even if we are talking about Carlos Zambrano. This guy needs to get on base for the pitcher to move over with a sacrifice bunt and to reset the line up.

A line up like this would give the Cubs the best chance to win on a daily basis. Granted, that is assuming everything works the way they should. While we may not have the most talented line up in baseball, I believe that you can still make noise if you put things in the proper order. Perhaps Quade’s line up is better than my purposed one.

Cubs Manager Search Down to Three

With news coming out this morning that Eric Wedge being named the manager of the Seattle Mariners, the Chicago Cubs have one less option to fill their void.

Honestly, I never really felt that he was ever a real option to be the new manager of the Cubs. In my mind, there have always been only three true options to take over the job. On the list of people who I feel will take the helm are Mike Quade, Ryne Sandberg and Joe Girardi. At the moment, two of the three are available and looking for managerial work, while the other is currently leading the New York Yankees to what could possibly be their 28 World Series title. In some peoples minds, that could put a potential kink in any plans of hiring him. Not in mine though.

I fully believe that the plan to interview him is clear. Earlier in the off season, General Manager said that he wanted to have a new Manager named by October 15, which was yesterday and obviously didn’t happen. The owner of the Cubs though, Tom Ricketts, quickly followed up Hendry’s October 15 suggestion with a date of his own. The date he suggested was November 15, which would give Hendry and Ricketts a chance to interview a manager who was unavailable because he was still working. Someone like Girardi. Some fans would question though, as to why Girardi would even consider leaving a job as prized as the Yankees for the Cubs. In my mind, and yes I have nothing to go off of other than my own thoughts, Girardi will be the new Manager of the Chicago Cubs.

Before I start in on why I think Girardi will be the new manager, we need to make clear his contract situation. He and the Yankees have a mutual option for 2011. What this means, and sorry if it sounds as though I am talking down to you, is both sides must want to be back in order for this to kick in. One would have to assume that if the Yankees win the World Series, their ownership will want him back and exercise their option, but if Girardi does not want to come back, he will not be there. Same with if the Yankees do not win the World Series and Girardi wants to come back. If the Yankees don’t want him, he will not be.

Back to why I fully believe Girardi will be the new manager. Ricketts is not a stupid man, you don’t become a billionaire by making stupid decisions. He would not be waiting as long as he says he is willing to, if he did not have a good hunch that he will get what he wants. But why would Girardi be so willing to leave the Yankees for the Cubs job?

Go back four years ago when both the Cubs and Yankee jobs were open. Girardi openly stated that the only two jobs he would covet the most were the Cubs and the Yankees. We all know how that ended, the Cubs signed Lou Piniella and Girardi headed to the Yankees. He now had one of the two jobs he wanted about all others, and he was very successful. In his third year with the Yankees, he won the World Series and still had a year left on his deal. He proved that he could lead a team, no matter how loaded with talent, to a championship. This year, he looks to be leading another strong favorite to yet another title. After winning back to back titles, Girardi would have nothing left to prove in New York. He could very well be up for another challenge. A much harder challenge of leading the Cubs to their first World Series in 65 years, and their first championship in 102. A daunting task no matter who you are.

I know that this is just speculation, but the thinking surrounding the situation makes sense the more you think about things. This is no sure thing, even though one report has Girardi’s agent saying Girardi would take the Cubs job. One thing that may stop Girardi from taking the job, is already being saddled with a hitting coach and a pitching coach. He may not like the idea that his coaches are already chosen for him. He may demand they get fired so he can bring in his own guys. That may very well be what keeps Girardi from being the Cubs new manager.

According to one report earlier in the week, Will Carroll started a rumor where Quade would be named the Manager with Sandberg being his bench coach. While this idea would have been fine with several people, according to Mike Mulligan and Brian Hanley on 670 The Score, a friend of Sandberg basically said that if Sandberg was not named the manager, then he wouldn’t be with the Cubs. Now, this is just third or fourth hand news, much like the game of telephone, so you don’t know how reliable the friend of Sandberg is. However, Carroll retracted his thoughts of what might be the following day.

This would be a bad idea, because the moment the Cubs started a long slump the fans would start demanding Sandberg take over. You would have a split fan base and a split club house. That is no way to win. You have to have a manager who the fans and players know are the boss. If Girardi was named manager with Sandberg as the bench coach, that would be different. There would be no question that Girardi was the man in charge.

Quade though, should be considered a very serious candidate. He took over a team, granted when there was no pressure, and put together a fantastic record. He took a team that apparently had no idea how to win, and actually made them win. He has the backing of several players who have already given their support to him, and said they would fully support him as the manager going into 2011. He may very well be the right man for the job.

Taking out the record he put up as manager of the Cubs, the greatest qualification he might have is the current roster. He knows the players who will be on the team better than either Girardi or Sandberg. While Sandberg may know the kids better, Quade knows the veterans and already has their support. one thing you need if you are going to succeed as a manager, is the respect and support of your players. That is likely one thing Piniella lost as the season went on last year. Despite the complete lack of managerial experience, only a month and a half, that alone might very well make him the favorite for the job.

One reason he might also be the man to take over, is the Cubs can have more power over him than they would Girardi. They can tell him that if he wants the job, he must keep both Larry Rothschild and Rudy Jaramillo as his pitching coach and hitting coach. You can easily force that on someone who is looking for their first real job. Much more than someone who has already cut his teeth in the majors.

The final candidate for the Cub job is Sandberg. He is the obvious fan favorite for a majority of Cub fans, though not all of them. From the very beginning, he was the man most fans wanted to succeed Piniella and lead the Cubs into the future. He fits each and every qualification that Ricketts said he wanted in the next Cubs manager, and would seem to be the favorite. If the Cubs are going to go on the cheap and bring in a bunch of rookies, than I would agree that Sandberg would be the man to hire, mainly because he knows the kids that will be up here and what they can do. He knows exactly what he can expect out of them, and how hard to push them. Much like Quade has the support of the veterans on the team, the kids in the minors are all pulling for Sandberg, likely out of being familiar with him and the feeling that they have a better chance to make the club if he is the manager. Who knows for sure though.

Like Quade, the Cubs can also have control over him and tell him who his coaches are going to be if he wants the job. Both Rothschild and Jaramillo have contracts and are not likely to be fired. Sandberg would have to keep them on board if he wants the job. That wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world though, as he could use all the help he can get with the current roster. They know the players better than he does, and could help him along the way. That is a much better scenario than a rookie manager starting with a team where he barely knows any of the players, with a pitching coach who needs to learn the pitchers and a hitting coach who needs to learn the hitters.

Quade and Sandberg, while being stuck with both Jaramillo and Rothschild would still be able to name their own bench coach.

Out of the three, I still have to believe that Girardi will be the man to take over. While Ricketts and Girardi can not officially talk until the end of the season, we all know that conversations take place through back channels. A “friend” of Girardi’s talks to a “business partner” of Ricketts or something like that. The rule that blocks conversations is the easiest rule to get around, because of all the back channels. I just can not believe that Ricketts would risk ruining relationships with the other two candidates just to talk to Girardi if he did not have something to give him the idea that he would in fact take the job. By giving the impression that you don’t want to hire anyone until you talk to Girardi, you are basically saying that he is your top choice for the job. How would you feel if you were Quade or Sandberg then? Yeah, we want you as our manager, but only because he turned us down. You were not our first choice.

One reason they are waiting, is because they can. Apparently, despite reports, no one is banging on Sandberg’s door to be their manager. Reports were that he was in the running for the Toronto Blue Jays, but how real are those reports? He doesn’t have the power to tell them to wait on his answer. Being a rookie manager, if he were to tell them to wait, they would laugh him off and go in another direction. Plus, he would be stupid to turn down a chance at a job because he wants another one.

No matter what happens this next month, nothing is certain. All we know, is there will be a new manager. Who that is, no one can be certain.