Mike Quade a Sitting Duck

Mike Quade was just hired to be the Cubs manager before this by season by general manager Jim Hendry and chairmen of the board Tom Rickets. The Cubs GM at the time, Jim Hendry made a list of potential manager candidates including Eric Wedge who had previous experience, fan favorite and up and coming name Ryne Sandberg who only had managerial experience in the Cubs minor league system. Then there was Mike Quade who Jim Hendry gave his endorsement too without formally doing so by naming him the interim manager when Lou Piniella decided to leave before last season ended. Typically the bench coach Alan Trammel should have taken over for the remainder of the season. By Hendry naming Quade, the Cubs third base coach, and a baseball lifer the interim manager he gave his endorsement. He could have promoted Ryne Sandberg to help out on the bench (once the minor league season was over), instead he called up Bobby Denier which was a knock on Cubs legend Ryne Sandberg.

Then Tom Rickets met with all of the short candidates finalized by Jim Hendry including Ryne Sandberg and Mike Quade. After this interview the Cubs chairmen from input from his trusted GM choose the experienced Mike Quade over Sandberg. Quade was Rickets choice, but with that said, Quade probably isn’t even on the hot seat anymore, he is probably a goner………………..after his disappointing season on the field the next GM will push him out the door.

Mike Quade became the Manager of the Chicago Cubs because of two things he did. The first was of the way he managed the Cubs at the end of last season when he took over for the great Lou Piniella. He was a guy with nothing to lose with a short audition and he managed like it. The other was his interview with Tom Rickets which supposedly went really well. His interview obviously went better than fan favorite Ryne Sandberg because Quade was able to come across more personal and that got him the edge. They wanted a manager that seemed to be the opposite of outgoing manager Lou and Quade came across that way being more personable and able to relate to the players.

Last season when Quade had nothing to lose he managed the Cubs differently than he has this season. That is why I think Quade has been on the hot seat and when Hendry was fired his days got numbered quickly. Even though Rickets selected him, it was from a short list compiled from Jim Hendry. Now that Hendry is gone so will Quade. The new GM will come in and want to hire his manager that is qualified to manage this club and make good in game decisions, unlike Quade even though he Rickets had the final say. Rickets doesn’t have a baseball background. Now the baseball guy that Rickets hires to handle baseball operations will want to hire a competent manager as he should so the Cubs can win as many games as they can. Quade has costed the Cubs games this season by making rookie mistakes, even though he has managed for years in the minors. One such mistake is having Pena hold on a runner in the 9th inning of a game. I talked about this with TBO and we both noted how Len and Bob on the telecast commented about there was no reason to hold the runner on.

Quade signed a two year deal not worth much money for his first chance to manage in the big leagues. So if the Cubs fire him with one year left on the deal it won’t cost them much. I think Quade makes around the same amount as the Cubs hitting coach Rudy Jarmillio. With Quade making rookie mistakes after coaching for may years, not making much money, and a new regime change starting over in Chicago this offseason look for Quade and the entire coaching staff to be out of town, except the highest paid coach in the league of course, Rudy Jarmillio.

The next general manager will have his work cut out for him starting with finding the talent, but then finding a whole new coaching staff besides for a hitting coach. Once the Cubs hire a new GM then we will have to see the type of manager he will hire.