Bleacher Bums Forum

It's really bad that I trust Theo so little to hire a new manager that I want him to keep Joe, who I think is a bad manager.

F'n hilarious.

Some changes yes but all together broken?

You surely werent a Cub fan before Maddon then.

Nothing official, but every reporter thinks he is gone.

I get some hesitancy about Girardi, but the general tone of derision towards him here puzzles me some.  He's not as anti-sabermetrics as he's made out to be - NY writers will attest to that - and his track record under often difficult circumstances has generally been very good.  538 rated him as one of the top 3 managers in the game at bullpen management.  In short - he's good.

Now, if Theo wants a guy who won't bring too much of his own set ways to the job, obviously someone like Ross or DeRosa - or even Loretta, though I don't see that happening - makes more sense, as they'd all be rookies.  We assume that's what Theo wants, but maybe what he wants isn't a manager with no ideas, but one with different ideas than Maddon.

It’s absurd that an extra million or two in manager salary - which counts nothing towards any cap or tax penalties - should even be a remote consideration.  It’s an insult to every fan, if true.

I don’t know if Theo believes Girardi is the right guy to turn around what’s clearly a dysfunctional team.  I don’t know if I believe it.  But if he does and he doesn’t hire him because of salary, that would be a travesty.

I'm shocked.

Jon Lester gets it right on Joe Maddon (before today's announcement):

“I can’t say enough positives about what Joe’s done, just flat out for this organization,” said pitcher Jon Lester, who signed his six-year, $155 million deal a month after the Cubs landed Maddon. “Up until here recently this year, we led MLB in wins, and that’s a testament to him. We broke a 108-year curse or whatever you want to call it.

"He should be revered as a legend in this town for a long, long time for what he did for this organization. When you talk about a rebuild, when you talk about signings, he was the first guy to write his name on that paper. He believed. Him believing made other people believe. What he’s done, not only for this organization, but for this city, was huge.”

I tell my wife all the time that I dont know what its like until I go through it but Ive never been through a situation where people who were happy decide to part ways.

There was a reason why they decided to part ways but they're handling it with class and deciding not to admit why.

If they both agree that its time then who am I as a fan to say different?

Im a Cub fan.

Im not a fan of any individual player and I tell my wife never to fall in love with a coach because they'll leave you.

Ive been through all of this before and know how it works but it still doesnt feel right.

God bless the man who succeeds Joe because Im certain he wont be as successful as he was.