Yesterday in this space, it was written that the Cubs did the correct thing in giving Mike Quade the chance to show that the Cubs' record during his interim period was not a fluke. Now there are rumblings that Ryne Sandberg may be given a coaching assignment for the big league team. That would be a huge mistake and completely unfair to Quade. Naturally, Quade was lukewarm to the idea and who could blame him. The absolute last thing a new boss needs is to have the guy he beat out for the job sitting in his own dugout.
This is Business 101 folks. It's called the Glass Ceiling. When a prospect in your business organization rises to his highest possible ceiling and then tries and fails to go to the next level, the only option is to dismiss that candidate. If you don't, you have unhappiness all around.
Sandberg could be a saint about the whole thing and handle it with class and elan. That's been Sandberg's MO for most of his career. But why risk it? Why give Quade that level of discomfort? Why give the fans of Chicago a reason to chant if things don't go well? No, you can't do that to Quade. It would undo all the positives you created with the decision in the first place. And in Business 101, you don't re-employ Sandberg back in the minors either. There is no logical choice but to dismiss him and wish him well.
We all will wish Sandberg well and hope that he gets a chance to manage at the big league level. But we all wish for it in another organization.
1 comment:
Eh, I feel like Hendry just strung Sandberg along and never had any intention of hiring him. If the Cubs weren't in such an obvious rebuilding stage, then maybe Quade would have been the right choice. But they lost Ted Lilly and they don't have a first baseman right now. Quade was successful in a small sample size in meaningless games. Doesn't really tell us much, except Piniella was awful.
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