Report: Chicago Cubs To Name Mike Quade Manager?

The Chicago Cubs may have made their final decision on who is going to be their next manager. According to Will Carrol, the Chicago Cubs have decided to remove the interim label from Mike Quade and name him the manager of the Chicago Cubs.

"Hearing that Mike Quade will be named Cubs manager, with Ryne Sandberg as bench coach. Could happen as soon as next week. Will Carrol on Twitter"

Since Quade replaced Lou Piniella and managed the Cubs to a 24-13 record to end the season, he has widely been considered the favorite to remain as Chicago Cubs manager. During that time, Quade gained the liking of General Manager Jim Hendry for the way he had handled the team. The biggest sticking point for what Quade is remaning the manager is probably because of the way he has treated veteran players. Under the Lou Piniella and even Dusty Baker regime, veteran player always seemed to receive a free pass to do whatever they wanted. But in the limited time that we have seen Quade as manager, it appears that he holds veterans accountable the same way he holds rookies accountable

Among the things that impressed me about Quade was also the way he handled the pitching staff while he was the manager. It seemed like the Chicago Cubs were finally getting consistently from each and everyone of their starters in the rotation. Most notably, Carlos Zambrano finished the season 8-0 in his last 10 starts. Quade also transformed the bullpen into one of the best in the league towards the end of the seasonThe only thing that I question about Quade, is did his success only come because the Chicago Cubs were playing meaningless games. I don’t really know if that is a fair assessment to give to Quade. While the Cubs were indeed out of contention once Quade took over control of the team, Quade still managed to outsmart Tony La Russa when the Cubs took two out of three against St Louis late in the season, adding the the likelihood that the Cardinals would not be making the playoffs. The Chicago Cubs essentially ended the San Diego Padres season too, when they took three of four against them the last week of the season. So, that just goes to show that while the Cubs were out of contention, they certainly were not playing meaningless games.

However, considering that Mike Quade is going to be named the Cubs manager was not a surprise, the biggest surprise may be that Ryne Sandberg is going to serve as Quade’s bench coach.In each of his four seasons as a manager in the Chicago Cubs farm system, Sandberg stated that his ultimate desire was to be manager of the Chicago Cubs. Going off of his desires, you would have to imagine that he can not be too pleased about serving as a bench coach to the Guy he lost out too.

But, I also wonder if that is the best thing to do for Mike Quade. Think about it, many of the Chicago Cubs fans wanted to see Ryne Sandberg as the next manager of the Chicago Cubs. If Quade does not meet the expectations that the Chicago Cubs set for him, you would have to imagine that there may be a public outcry for Sandberg to become the manager. For those reasons, that may create a friction between manager Mike Quade and bench coach Ryne Sandberg. So, Sandberg may not be the appropriate bench coach to serve under Quade.

Now, I should point out that no Chicago media, or other national media outlets have picked up on the story tweeted by Will Carroll. Take a look at Carroll’s latest tweet…

"Just talked to a guy who’s VERY wired into Cubs. Says I’m wrong, esp. on timing. We’ll see, but he’s seldom wrong"

I don’t think Carroll is wrong about Mike Quade going to remain the Cubs manager, but I think he may be wrong about Ryne Sandberg serving as his bench coach. We just are going to have to continue what we have been doing, and that is waiting.