The Cubs are expected to move on from current manager Joe Maddon after the 2019 season, and with no clear replacement in the wings, here are five names fans should be paying attention to once the regular season ends.
While many have speculated that former Cubs like Joe Giardi or Mark Derosa would make perfect sense as replacements for Joe Maddon, Theo Epstein and the Cubs are likely looking for a manager who doesn’t operate quite like Maddon. Adding someone like Giardi, who was replaced by Aaron Boone after struggling relating to his younger clubhouse and unwillingness to fully embrace analytics, would be more of the same.
In today’s game, every team is adapting to analytics and finding more ways to utilize all the information in front of them. The Cubs’ front office appreciates the numbers as much as any club right now, so hiring someone like Giardi who has similar pitfalls that have led to Maddon walking after this season makes little sense.
Expect the Cubs to go with more of a new wave manager, someone in the mold of current Brewers manager Craig Counsell, who has taken a Brewers team that on paper is far less talented than the Cubs, and finished with a better record than the Cubs two seasons in a row.
So, here’s a list of the managers that fit more of the “new wave” manager mold, guys who embrace analytics and can relate to the current players in ways older managers cannot.