Francona out?

I'm sure the Cubs could use him, and Epstein for that matter. At this point, you have to try anything to end the drought.
 
I was thinking the same thing.

The manager is the least of the Cubs problems, but getting a GM in Epstein that put together a team than won 2 championships couldn't be the worst thing in the world IMO. A Francona/Epstein package deal sounds ok to me..
 
Gotta get the players first. Don't spend a ton of money on a manager. Francona wouldn't have won many more games this year than Quade did. have to have the players to win, then the manager matters.
 
There's been chatter about the ChiSox going after him.

He was a coach in the ChiSox system earlier in his career.
 
Churlish79 said:
There's been chatter about the ChiSox going after him.

He was a coach in the ChiSox system earlier in his career.
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Guillen is in Florida. Is Ken Williams out? Francona/Esptien seem to be a package deal to the white Sox.
 
hawkfarmer said:
Gotta get the players first. Don't spend a ton of money on a manager. Francona wouldn't have won many more games this year than Quade did. have to have the players to win, then the manager matters.
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Agreed.. I'm more focused on who the Cubs' next GM will be, moreso than the manager. The manager won't matter much if the front office is a nightmare.
 
1977Hawkeye said:
Agreed.. I'm more focused on who the Cubs' next GM will be, moreso than the manager. The manager won't matter much if the front office is a nightmare.[/QUOTE

A nightmare is a good way to describe the organization as a whole right now. It's probably going to be a a few years to get rid of the terrible contracts, develop some talent, and get back to the playoffs. It's going to be a huge challenge for any GM. However the Cubs do have one thing that many teams don't; money. But as the Cubs have found out, money is only good if you spend it wisely.
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And the Chisox have tied up big money on 3 duds for several more years. So, they have little to no wiggle room or future unless they can find a way to unload them (Dunn/Rios/Peavy). Big money long term contracts to free agents hardly ever work out good. I don't understand why the GM's keep doing it.
 
mbchawk said:
And the Chisox have tied up big money on 3 duds for several more years. So, they have little to no wiggle room or future unless they can find a way to unload them (Dunn/Rios/Peavy). Big money long term contracts to free agents hardly ever work out good. I don't understand why the GM's keep doing it.
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All the ChiSox can hope for is that their big guns produce next year.

It's been said by many people in the media that follow baseball.. if you look at the Sox lineup, it should compete easily in the ALCentral.

The ChiSox have the luxury of playing in a highly inconsistent division which has money issues among the other members. The ChiSox should be able to dominate their division.. but CAN'T. It's fairly telling.
 
Firing Francona would be dumb, managers don't really affect the on-field results at all. But his personality seemed a pretty good fit for that team. It's not his fault he had terrible starting pitching for a solid month.

I'm not sure I really want Epstein to get the Cubs GM job, I don't think he's terrible but he's made a lot of mistakes over the last few years. I think there are a lot of better options out there, Andrew Freidman obviously being number one.
 
HawkeyeMike23 said:
Firing Francona would be dumb, managers don't really affect the on-field results at all. But his personality seemed a pretty good fit for that team. It's not his fault he had terrible starting pitching for a solid month.

I'm not sure I really want Epstein to get the Cubs GM job, I don't think he's terrible but he's made a lot of mistakes over the last few years. I think there are a lot of better options out there, Andrew Freidman obviously being number one.
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Agree on Freidman, he does a lot with a little. Disagree on the Managers not affecting on-field results. I don't think this year was on Francona, because of injuries and huge flops like Crawford. But the way a Manager handles the pitching staff, motivates the team, and day-to-day strategy absolutely affects on-field play.
 
HawkeyeMike23 said:
Firing Francona would be dumb, managers don't really affect the on-field results at all. But his personality seemed a pretty good fit for that team. It's not his fault he had terrible starting pitching for a solid month.

I'm not sure I really want Epstein to get the Cubs GM job, I don't think he's terrible but he's made a lot of mistakes over the last few years. I think there are a lot of better options out there, Andrew Freidman obviously being number one.
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Friedman and Epstien seem like the same guy to me. I just did a quick bio on Friedman and I am not a baseball guy you tell me what is the difference?
 
Of course they are going to fire Francona, anybody remember the circumstances surrounding how he got the job in the first place?
 
ssckelley said:
Of course they are going to fire Francona, anybody remember the circumstances surrounding how he got the job in the first place?
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This, only at least in Francona's case, he's got two WS rings on his side. That's something Little didn't have.
 
Come on down to the South Side. Would be a great pickup for the Sox. I don't think we'll see Epstein here as he want have the loose money he would in Boston. I would like Williams to step down and be replaced by Hahn if the Cubs don't take him.
 
trj said:
Friedman and Epstien seem like the same guy to me. I just did a quick bio on Friedman and I am not a baseball guy you tell me what is the difference?
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Money. Epstein works with a huge budget. Friedman works on a shoe-string budget. Epstein has had a lot of big money busts lately Dice-K, Lackey, Crawford (for now), JD Drew, and made some poor trades. The Red Sox can afford to take on contracts like that because their payroll is second to only the Yankees. Friedman has built his team up through the draft and by cleaning up on trades by knowing when to move players while their value is high. He's also done a great job of locking up a lot of his young talent very early and for less than market value.

I would be fine with Epstein getting the Cubs job, but there are at least 10 guys I'd take over him.
 
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