Cubs offer better job than Cardinals, Red Sox
(Pieces Of The Article) By Jeff Passan, Yahoo! Sports —
On Terry Franconaâs way out of Boston, Red Sox management shoved his reputation down a flight of stairs, dragged it outside and curbed it for good measure. If he was going to run a toothless clubhouse, they were going to render his character just the same. Little did they know Franconaâs emergence from the beatdown â and what it says about the Red Sox organization â would serve as the focal point for baseballâs greatest melodrama today: the managerial carousel whirring for three of the gameâs biggest jobs.
Francona, it turns out, has been in contact with Theo Epstein, his former boss in Boston, the new president of the Chicago Cubs and filler of the second gig in the manage-a-trois. Their conversations show the respect accorded to Epstein and, by extension, a Cubs job that prior to his arrival wouldâve been looked upon as rather dead-end. Moreover, they affirm that Francona lays blame not on Epstein but the Red Sox ownership that has to convince the next manager it wonât similarly defile him whenever his tenure ends.
Epstein intimated that Francona likely doesnât fit with the Cubs right now, which takes us to the third team: the St. Louis Cardinals, who won a championship a week ago, saw their manager retire three days later and began interviews to fill the job Thursday. Francona, who seems to make every bit of sense for the Cardinals, is expected to interview with them in the near future.
How much the Cardinals make sense for him, of course, is the ultimate question he must ask himself as he weighs their opening against the Cubsâ. Because of Franconaâs history with Epstein, perhaps St. Louis looks more appealing.
It shouldnât.
The Cubsâ job is the best one open. Better than the defending champion Cardinalsâ. Much better than the $170 million-payroll Red Soxâs.
This is not crazy talk. The quality of a job isnât simply about present-day talent, a category in which the Red Sox and Cardinals run parallel (provided Albert Pujols re-signs, of course), both eons better than the Cubs. Nor is it all about future talent, with the Cardinalsâ farm system among the best in baseball and the Red Soxâs and Cubsâ skewing bottom barrel.
The allure of the Cubs is in what could be â the same what could be that drew Lou Piniella and Dusty Baker and dozens of dreamers before them. If winning the World Series is baseballâs apex, winning the Cubsâ first World Series in more than a century is nirvana. Epstein wasnât leaving Boston, where he won two championships, for just any job. Jed Hoyer, the San Diego Padresâ general manager, wouldnât trade a great job in the most gorgeous city in baseball for frozen winters unless he saw Chicagoâs GM job as a monster upgrade. —
If That Was Enough To ONLY Wet-Your-Whistles…
Then here’s The Link to The Rest Of The Article.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Ai1ediHLimNfYN2tLfc3H1ARvLYF?slug=jp-passan_cubs_red_sox_cardinals_manager_search_110411
SEE!!! !!! !!!
Gettin’ SAUCY and INTERESTING Already!
And it’s ONLY NOVEMBER!
We’ve TOTALLY Got Plenty-Plenty-Plenty of Time ahead of Us to Let This One BOIL-OVER in INTERESTIN’ SAUCY-ish-ness.
If That Comment Makes ANY Sense to ANY Of You in ANY Way…
Then I Feel Secure In My Odd-Word-Usage.
Wouldn’t You?
EXACTLY!
You Damn Sure Would AND HOW!
hehehe
hehe
he
(crickets)
"You Jivin' Me, Turkey?" 