Per Ken Rosenthal, the Cubs fired Dale Sveum today. Honestly, I would have been okay with this whichever way it went. I was never super enamored with Sveum, but I don't think he's awful either. The best guess is that Sveum was fired due to some combination of:
- Starlin Castro regressed big time this year
- Anthony Rizzo did not improve as much as expected, though I don't think the Superfriends were expecting an All-Star year or anything
- Joe Girardi is available
Unlike the previous front office, I do feel fairly confident that Sveum was NOT fired as some sort of scapegoat for the team's record, to placate the fans. The rest of the coaching staff is probably on the way out too, which is kind of a bummer. I thought Bosio did a decent job as pitching coach, and Dave McKay seemed to have a big impact on Alfonso Soriano in particular.
The Cubs will make a push for Girardi, but my gut tells me they'll end up with someone else. But at the same time, if they hire another relatively inexperienced guy like Gammons favorite Brad Ausmus, firing Sveum feels kind of pointless. At least they don't have to worry too much about the Yankees wanting to hang onto Girardi, since they likely need a rebuild of their own in the near future.
Comments
EnricoPallazzo wrote:
The team with the worse record from the previous season gets the pick.
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
cool, thanks.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
I feel fairly confident that the last front office never did that. Who did they fire? No one that I’m aware of. They didn’t renew Baker’s contract when it was up and it was a no-brainer to let him walk. They let Lou leave near the end of his contract and then re-hired Quade. It was the current front office that didn’t re-sign him.
dmick89Quote Reply
I think Girardi is a pipe dream and I doubt the Cubs are even interested. I’d also guess that Girardi isn’t too interested because the Cubs will not pay him the amount he’ll require.
That was from yesterday. Basically, the man’s only ties to the region are that he once lived there and grew up there. It’s been a long time since he even lived there and he has kids to think about. I don’t see it.
I think a guy like Ausmus is more in line with what type of manager the Cubs will be seeking (cheap).
dmick89Quote Reply
wow
GWQuote Reply
GWQuote Reply
@ dmick89:
It’s also the FO who made the Matt Garza trade in a futile attempt to save themselves. Firing a manager to deflect criticism has always been part of the ass-covering FO playbook.
BerseliusQuote Reply
GWQuote Reply
@ dmick89:
I don’t think the money matters that much to the Cubs. I think the bigger thing blocking this is that one of the reason Girardi might be leaving the Yankees is that they’re going to kinda suck next year. Why jump ship to an even shittier team, at least for 2014?
BerseliusQuote Reply
GWQuote Reply
Who did the Yankees develop under Girardi anyway? All I can remember is disappointments like Phil Hughes and Joba.
BerseliusQuote Reply
so “clear and cohesive communication” with players about “the most important parts of the game.”
GWQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
not a whole lot to go by. brett gardner has been good when healthy. ivan nova is better than i thought he would be. their setup men have been pretty stout
GWQuote Reply
jesus montero was the big name a few years ago, but they swapped him for pineda, who promptly destroyed his shoulder
GWQuote Reply
GWQuote Reply
GWQuote Reply
@ GW:
which moves do you think he’s referring to that they regret?
GWQuote Reply
@ GW:
I’m guessing Ian Stewart. Maybe signing Hairston? I also wonder if they’d go back and undo the Mahalm deal since the dude they got back has yet to throw a baseball in the 14 months since that trade.
NateQuote Reply
@ Nate:
good calls. although i don’t know that anything they gave up in the stewart deal is currently bothersome. lemahieu is meh. colvin cleared waivers.
maybe villanueva over liriano in FA last year (which dmick was all over at the time).
GWQuote Reply
I don’t understand the move. I think the only way it really makes sense is if the rift between Sveum and Jackson/Castro/whomever else is much greater than it has been imagined. Sveum was a perfectly mediocre manager, so spending the additional couple million next year on a new manager seems foolish to me unless you expect to seriously contend next year (I don’t and Theo probably doesn’t either) or there was some other thing we aren’t fully aware of that made the current situation untenable (which is reasonable to assume I think at this point).
My least favorite thing about the firing is that while 2014 is probably an 80 win team, 2015 could be very, very good. At that point, you’ll want the “hotshot” manager to manage a very talented team. In 2014, you still want a “player development” guy, so unless they are the same guy, I’m not sure what this accomplishes.
What’s interesting to me is also what this means for Derek Johnson, the minor league pitching coordinator. I imagine the new coach will have his own staff, but would you surprised if whoever the new manager is to name him the pitching coach at the MLB level? It wouldn’t shock me at all, honestly.
MylesQuote Reply
@ GW:
Don’t buy it.
@ Berselius:
I just don’t think the Cubs are going to pay that much when they could hire another manager for much less.
dmick89Quote Reply
GW wrote:
Made more sense for this organization to go after a guy with Liriano’s talent. In hindsight my nitpick is really Baker/Liriano. If I’m signing one of them and hoping for the best, it’s without a doubt Liriano.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
initally liriano and villanueva were pretty close to the same price (villanueva was 2/10, liriano 2/13). then liriano hurt himself around the house, and they negotiated down. baker was only 1/5 or so.
GWQuote Reply
@ GW:
I was thinking more of the annual value of the contract. I’d rather have had Liriano than the other two combined for the same price as Liriano. I was surprised the Cubs didn’t go after him this past offseason. He made a lot of sense and they’d have looked brilliant if they did.
As for what they regret, I’m guessing one of them is Scott Baker. The others? I don’t have any idea, but that would be at the top of my list.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89 wrote:
At the top of my list would be deciding to leave Boston to be GM for the Cubs.
WaLiQuote Reply
dmick89 wrote:
True, but if the reasons they’re getting rid of Sveum are player development issues, it seems pretty deck-rearrangey to hire another cheap inexperienced manager. Wasn’t Sveum supposed to be good with young players? I can’t remember. We heard that same line with Cuey too. I don’t see how Brad Ausmus would be expected to deal with Castro’s struggles any better than Sveum.
BerseliusQuote Reply
Berselius wrote:
This isn’t too hard to figure out. Those managers that win with younger players are “good at developing them”, whether that is true or not.
I think what hurt Sveum was this: The Cubs signed some fringe offense guys to fill out a roster and kept one fringe guy who they might have traded. Those guys (Schierholtz, Navarro, Soriano) ended up being the best hitters on the team. Not Rizzo, not Castro, and no useful contribution offensively from Barney or Watkins. By June, it was clear that the biggest hole in the roster was in the bullpen. The FO made a few moves that improved the bullpen a little (Strop, Parker, Gregg) but the offensive contributions from those expected to carry it never developed. So back when dmick and Myles were being optimists and saying the Cubs might reach .500, so was the FO. But the offense never delivered and Sveum’s experiments never paid off in consistent improvement, better K rates, more selectivity, etc. etc. that might have shown progress, even without winning. So, he’s gone.
I think the pitching coaches did a decent job. Also Dave McKay based on Soriano….
SVBQuote Reply
http://miami.marlins.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130930&content_id=62230650&vkey=pr_mia&c_id=mia
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ SVB:
It feels strange to be feeling okay about next year’s bullpen. Strop and Parker looked good, and Rondon seemed to develop as the season went on.
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
Amen
SVBQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
Bet they’ll sell me a ticket to Don Larsen’s perfect game in the World Series too, if I pay them enough.
SVBQuote Reply
Rondon’s average velocity on his fastball went up by about 5mph from the first half to the second
BerseliusQuote Reply
Berselius doesn’t lie.
4-seam:
3/13: 92.57
4/13: 91.35
5/13: 93.37
6/13: 94.11
7/13: 93.66
8/13: 95.46
9/13: 97.31
Same story with his other pitches. I like Rondon, though you’d expect more swing-and-miss with his repertoire then you get
MylesQuote Reply
Myles wrote:
Don’t tell me what to expect.
WenningtonsGorillaCockQuote Reply
[img]http://24.media.tumblr.com/6e5be2efa976e9244ad5dac169d3384a/tumblr_mljohhSxLv1qb0u5go1_500.gif[/img]
Aisle424Quote Reply
I’ve tried very hard to have an opinion on this and I just don’t. This could have gone wither way and my reaction would have been exactly the same.
I don’t care if they hire Girardi or Ausmus or Brenly (OK, I would care if they hired Brenly) or any of the other candidates out there. None of them impress me to the point of NEEDING to fire Sveum, and I’m not convinced that the “regression” we saw from the core wasn’t something that would have happened anyway.
If this is something Theo felt was best, then that’s fine. It changes very little as far as I’m concerned.
Aisle424Quote Reply
@ Aisle424:
Agreed 100%.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
Me too.
Here is where a +1 button would be nice…
SVBQuote Reply
new shit: http://obstructedview.net/minor-leagues/2013-cubs-prospects-in-review-jorge-soler.html
sitrickQuote Reply