I think much of that is Quade's own fault. There are managers that show more confidence in his team than is actually there, and then there's the delusional Quade. Even when the Cubs were well under .500 and about the be swept by the first-place Brewers, Quade declared that the Cubs were still in the race in July. The Cubs hadn't been in the race since April. He refused to examine his team for what it was and never seemed to understand how lost his team looked on the field for most of the season. Maybe he thought remarkable optimism would help him frame a case to keep his job for 2012. It seems to have done the opposite in addition to making him look like an idiot.
Too many times I found myself wondering what Jeff Baker was doing in the cleanup spot (regardless of lefty-righty matchups) or why Quade barely made an effort to get minor leaguers on the field in September on a team well out of the race. Isn't that the idea behind September roster expansion? Not for Quade anyway, who still started Carlos Pena most of the way so he could have a chance at hitting 30 homers on the season. Really? We're playing for stats now? If Starlin Castro was in pursuit of .300, I would understand. But 30 homers isn't a huge deal.
Thankfully, relief is coming. The highly-publicized candidates include Phillies bench coach Pete Mackanin, Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux, Brewers bench coach Dale Sveum, former catcher Sandy Alomar Jr., and a few write-ins. Maddux and Sveum have been the favorites for the past week or so, but Mackinan and Alomar Jr. have both worked their way into the conversation.
It's really hard to project manager performance. They don't come with statistics (which can be broken down into sabermetrics). Their main judgment? Wins and losses. Sometimes, however, managers rally the team to more wins and sometimes teams win despite their manager. It's hard for the public to tell because we only hear what the media or player twitter pages report. So therefore I will infer my preferred choice for Cubs manager but won't pretend I know what he'll do for the players.
I want to see Maddux as manager. He most definitely had a role in turning around a decade of pitching futility in Texas and that's exactly what we want; a role-player. If Maddux can get his pitchers to make adjustments and be successful, he can do it for the rest of the team in their own ways. Plus, Maddux just pulled out of the Red Sox candidacy which nearly doubles the Cubs' odds of landing him. This would create a unique possibility. What if Mike Maddux were manager and Greg Maddux were pitching coach? There has been some buzz that Greg might eventually want to take a coaching role with the Cubs, but it won't be for 2012. Greg needs some family time first.
I see Sveum going to the Red Sox and Terry Francona to the Cardinals. Francona would be a bad hire for the Cubs. I don't see him turning things around in the same way he did for the Red Sox curse. Theo Epstein and Francona would have one of the most awkward relationships ever, and Epstein played a role in Francona's firing only to jump ship himself for the Cubs. Having to work over a man who just endured the Boston smear campaign (including the beer-and-fried-chicken-in-the-clubhouse controversies) would not be a good move for a Cubs team trying to rebuild a mainstay manager here for the full cycle of rebuilding.
The Cubs will most definitely name their new manager within two weeks, if not one. Hopefully it'll be Maddux, but who knows. Getting a manager is just the first on the long to-do list for the offseason. More importantly, Theo & Co. need a team to put on the field.
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