Goodbye, Dale or Here We GO Again!
September 30, 2013
Dale Sveum was fired today as manager of the Cubs.after 2 of the worst seasons in Cubs history, even though he was expected to lose, being saddled with a team of journeyman players. The reason for his firing appears to be the regression of Starlin Castro and a disappointing year from Anthony Rizzo(I refuse to characterize him as regressing, how do you regress after one full season in the major leagues?) I admit Sveum was not an especially good manager, but he wasnt supposed to be and the offense did struggle a lot in the 2nd half. But the starting pitching took a huge step forward under Sveum and pitching coach Chris Bosio, with Travis Wood, Chris Rusin, Scott Baker and Jake Arrieta all showing great potential this season. Even the bullpen, which struggled with Carlos Marmol early on, showed signs of getting its act together. But, alas, that doesnt matter, Sveum is out and now the search is on for the Cubs next manager.
Almost immediately the name of Joe Girardi has come up as a candidate. Girardi went to school in Evanston and had 2 different stints as a player with the Cubs. With the Yankees he has won a championship and has established himself as one of the best managers in baseball. Which brings me to why it would be a mistake for the Cubs to hire him as the next manager. First of all, I was under the impression that Theo had a plan and that plan was to let a manager be the sacrificial to lose games while him and Jed built up the farm system, then when the team was good enough, then they would hire a Girardi to manage. I see a lot of Cub fans getting on the Girardi bandwagon, but it feels like Sandberg all over again.
Im going to be honest and I know a lot of Cub fan wont like this, but they are thinking too much with their hearts, rather than their heads. I suppose I cant completely blame them, thats what makes us Cubs fans, but I have a failing in that I live in the real world and in the real world a manager isnt going to magically come in, sprinkle fairy dust on the players and automatically make them contenders. The Cubs are probaly not going to be contenders next year, no matter who the manager is. There is a thin free agent market and it would serve no purpose for them to sign any of the few impact free agents that are out there. They could possibly trade a couple of their young prospects, but unless its for 2 or 3 big sluggers, that wouldnt make sense either. So why bring in Girardi just to have him suffer with a lousy team?
I do love the Cubs and want to see them wn, but I want to see them win every year. That wont happen with a big name manager or a bunch of big name free agents. Theyve already tried both and neither was a permanent solution. So please, Theo, do not give in to the same sentiment that too many Cubs fans are suffering from. And Joe, stay in New York, at least for now!
Almost immediately the name of Joe Girardi has come up as a candidate. Girardi went to school in Evanston and had 2 different stints as a player with the Cubs. With the Yankees he has won a championship and has established himself as one of the best managers in baseball. Which brings me to why it would be a mistake for the Cubs to hire him as the next manager. First of all, I was under the impression that Theo had a plan and that plan was to let a manager be the sacrificial to lose games while him and Jed built up the farm system, then when the team was good enough, then they would hire a Girardi to manage. I see a lot of Cub fans getting on the Girardi bandwagon, but it feels like Sandberg all over again.
Im going to be honest and I know a lot of Cub fan wont like this, but they are thinking too much with their hearts, rather than their heads. I suppose I cant completely blame them, thats what makes us Cubs fans, but I have a failing in that I live in the real world and in the real world a manager isnt going to magically come in, sprinkle fairy dust on the players and automatically make them contenders. The Cubs are probaly not going to be contenders next year, no matter who the manager is. There is a thin free agent market and it would serve no purpose for them to sign any of the few impact free agents that are out there. They could possibly trade a couple of their young prospects, but unless its for 2 or 3 big sluggers, that wouldnt make sense either. So why bring in Girardi just to have him suffer with a lousy team?
I do love the Cubs and want to see them wn, but I want to see them win every year. That wont happen with a big name manager or a bunch of big name free agents. Theyve already tried both and neither was a permanent solution. So please, Theo, do not give in to the same sentiment that too many Cubs fans are suffering from. And Joe, stay in New York, at least for now!
Posted by Michael Hanns.