A Changing of the Guard in the Windy City

Well, that didn't take long, Theo Epstein has wasted no time in making his first move as President of Baseball Operations by firing manager Mike Quade today. Epstein told Quade that he would not be retained as manager of the Cubs and wished him well with his future endeavors. The move is not exactly surprising, given that Quade and the Cubs finished 21 games under .500 this season in their first full campaign under his watch. However, some of that can be attributed to the roster being largely the same as it was during the sometimes tumultuous era of Lou Piniella. Nonetheless, Epstein said that a "clean slate" was necessary for a team that is seemingly stuck in neutral in the rebuilding process.

Face it, the team has not contended for a playoff spot in 2 years and needs to get rid of underperforming veterans such as Carlos Zambrano and Alfonso Soriano. Cubs fans have longed for the days of old when the team contended on a yearly basis. As we know, they have not won a World Series in 103 years and their best chance in recent years was wrecked by Steve Bartman, who instinctively reached over the left field wall for a foul ball that he did not think Moises Alou had a chance to catch. Since then, the team did manage to win back-to-back Central Division titles, but has never been mentioned as a serious threat to win the World Series. Whoever the new manager may be, he will certainly have his work cut out for him. The Cubs need to pretty much start from scratch and build around their young stars, Starlin Castro and Darwin Barney.

However, while most fans agree with the idea of firing Mike Quade, Epstein may have made himself unpopular just as quickly by ruling out the possibility of hiring Ryne Sandberg, the former Cubs hero who has so desperately wanted a chance at his dream job for 4 or 5 years now. That's where I don't agree with Theo, why would you ever rule out the possibility of hiring one of the most popular players in franchise history who is interested in the job? Beats me, but Attention Theo Epstein: the vacant managerial position of the Chicago Cubs is not exactly the sexiest job in baseball right now. I can understand that he wants to hire someone with previous major league managerial experience, but don't completely pass on Sandberg. He has been a manager for a few years now in the Minors and understands what it would take to win with the Cubs. The decision to not even give Sandberg an interview is surprising to those who pulled for the former Cub hero to get a chance to turn around his old team. The decision may also resonate with fans more than Epstein thinks, he has created more of an uphill battle for himself by leaving a voicemail for a guy who was the face of the Cubs for so many years   and simply saying that they were not interested in hiring him for his dream job. Not exactly the way Cubs fans envisioned Theo Epstein spending his first week in the Windy City.