In mid-September, Cub manager Dale Sveum did not get a great vote of confidence from the front office. Hoyer indicated that he would not be evaluated merely on wins and losses. Indirectly, the front office is taking part of the blame for fielding such a bad roster.
That being said, the manager still needs to get his players to play their best. The manager needs to get his team ready to play each game. The manager needs to put his players in their best opportunity to succeed.
Many people believe Sveum has pitfalls of being a manager.
First, many people dislike how he operated his bullpens. He clearly overworked Shaun Camp last season. This year, James Russell made too many appearances. The Carlos Marmol situation was a boil that needed to be lanced. The public blow up with Kevin Gregg did nothing to calm the closer waters.
Second, how Sveum handles his young players. He was quite harsh in his tone with Starlin Castro, but neutral with Anthony Rizzo. Both young players have regressed this year. Sveum played the infield in his career, but his knowledge and experience has not translated to Castro or Rizzo. There is a growing question of whether Sveum is the "right" guy to continue the development of young players at the major league level. (A manager with minor league experience on how to train developing prospects may be more noteworthy than a manager with just major league bench experience.)
Third, how Sveum pencils in a line up has some people wondering if he just takes names out of baseball cap. Granted, most of the roster was fishing at the Mendoza line, but some players batting third had no business even starting the game. And once the losing became common, the line up shuffle machine started in earnest. But Sveum never stood with his principles like when he put Castro-Rizzo one, two in the line up to get them extra at-bats (relegating the rest of the season as extended spring training).
Fourth, there is an apparent lack of communication between Sveum and his players. In many post-game press conferences, Sveum would allude that he would take to a player the next day about an on-field incident. Most managers would talk to the player in the dugout by the next inning break. Perhaps, Sveum does not want to appear confrontational.
Fifth, appearances can be deceiving but Sveum looks mostly bored during games. It may because he looks like he just roiled out a bed after a bender, with his stubble beard and small facial grimaces. He does not seem like the cheerleader type - - - a loud motivator like a Don Zimmer or an in-your-face yeller like Billy Martin. The team at times lacked any high energy pulse. It seems that Sveum does not bring any intangibles into game management.
The problem that the front office has with Sveum is public perception. The public may like, hate or be indifferent about the manager. But if the front office is sensitive to the public critical of their decisions, then Sveum was one of the biggest decisions the new front office has made in their tenure. Dumping Sveum now after two bad seasons would be an indictment of both manager and management.
So, there may have been many reasons to terminate Sveum as the Cub manager. The day after the season, the Cubs fired Sveum. In a long, corporate b.s. spin statement, Cub president Theo Epstein said the following:
"I have a lot of admiration for Dale personally, and we all learned a
lot from the way he has handled the trying circumstances of the last
two years, especially the last two weeks, with strength and dignity,"
Epstein said the statement.
"In his own authentic and understated way, Dale always put the team
first and never complained about the hand he was dealt. He and his staff
helped us excel in game planning and defensive positioning, contributed
to the emergence of several players, and helped put us in position to
make some important trades. I have no doubt that – much like Terry
Francona, whom we hired in Boston after his stint with a losing Phillies
club – Dale will go on to great success with his next team. We had
hoped Dale would grow with our organization to see it through the
building phase to a period of sustained excellence; instead, I believe
Dale, who felt the weight of losing perhaps more than any of us, will
grow because of this experience and find excellence elsewhere.
"Today’s decision to pursue a new manager was not made because of
wins and losses. Our record is a function of our
long-term building plan and the moves we have made – some good, a few we
would like back – to further this strategy. Jed and I take full
responsibility for that. Today’s decision was absolutely not made to
provide a scapegoat for our shortcomings or to distract from our biggest
issue – a shortage of talent at the major league level. We have been
transparent about what we are, and what we are not yet. Today’s
decision, which was painful for all of us, was made to move us closer to
fulfilling our ultimate long-term vision for the Cubs.
"Soon, our organization will transition from a phase in which we have
been primarily acquiring young talent to a phase in which we will
promote many of our best prospects and actually field a very young, very
talented club at the major league level. The losing has been hard on
all of us, but we now have one of the top farm systems in baseball, some
of the very best prospects in the game, and a clear path forward. In
order for us to win with this group – and win consistently – we must
have the best possible environment for young players to learn, develop
and thrive at the major league level. We must have clear and cohesive
communication with our players about the most important parts of the
game. And – even while the organization takes a patient, long view – we
must somehow establish and maintain a galvanized, winning culture around
the major league club.
"I believe a dynamic new voice – and the energy, creativity and
freshness that comes with this type of change – provides us with the
best opportunity to achieve the major league environment we seek. We
will begin our search immediately – a process which will be completed
before the GM meetings in early November and perhaps much sooner. There
are no absolute criteria, but we will prioritize managerial or other
on-field leadership experience and we will prioritize expertise
developing young talent. We have not yet contacted any candidates or
asked permission to speak with any candidates, but that process will
begin tomorrow morning."
If you candidly look at the Cub press release, the executives do not directly say why Sveum was fired - - - the wins, losses, bad major league roster - - - that's all the front office's fault. Sveum is NOT the scapegoat. They also admit that Sveum was not a complainer and a good manager who will be successful some other place. That in itself is an odd statement since the Cubs are looking for someone today who will be a successful manager in the future. However, it appears that the two qualities that the Cubs desperately need are a) major league experience, and b) ability to develop young talent. Apparently, this season showed the front office that their "vision with Sveum" was near sighted when they hired him.
I was not a fan of the Sveum hiring at the beginning, but it was the front office's choice based upon their criteria. So, in many respects the Sveum hire looks like a BUST if Sveum failed to further develop Castro and Rizzo at the major league level.
This quick firing (and eating the last contract year) is to signal to the managers like Joe Girardi that there is a possible opening if you want a change of scenery. But as bad as the Cubs have been, the 2014 budget restrictions and the lack of major league talent in AAA, what high profile manager will want to come to Chicago to be a caretaker of a bad team for two more years?
