Mike Quade is “Out of the Loop” and Probably Out of a Job and Other Bullets

Oct 13, 2011

Expect more Theo Epstein coverage later this morning/afternoon/week/decade, but for now, there are some other notable things to discuss (many of which are tangentially-related to the Epstein news)…

Mike Quade was on the radio yesterday, discussing the season and the Theo Epstein news. Is Quade worried about losing his job? “I probably lost way more sleep during the season trying to solve problems and figuring things out than I have with the current search and what may or may not happen. That’s a fact,” Quade said on MLB Network Radio. “I’ve been doing this a long time. We’ll see how it plays out. It’s a huge decision for the organization, general manager-wise, and obviously they have their sights on one of the best in the business …. I really did vanish for a week and I’ve got 80 million phone calls and texts and people to get back to. Everybody assumes that I’m in the loop and understand it all. Tom [Ricketts] was going to do this search and if in fact it’s Theo – I know it was somebody that he was probably looking at first and foremost.”

Relatedly, Quade told his staff members not under contract for 2012 (which is everyone except hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo and Quade, himself) that they could start looking for new jobs as soon as the season ended, if they wanted. He says he told them that because Ricketts had told him that the GM search would be a long process. Clearly, Quade didn’t want his guys to be left out if there were other opportunities on the table, but the Cubs were still in limbo. In reality, I think Quade knows he, and the rest of them, will not be back.

MiLB.com picked the Cubs’ minor league All-Stars (one at each position), and, while there are some obvious ones (Brett Jackson in the OF, Bryan LaHair at 1B, Eric Jokisch at LHP), there were some surprises. Rebel Ridling and Michael Burgess got nods in the outfield over Evan Crawford, Jae-Hoon Ha and Matt Szczur. The list is nice, but it’s also a dour reminder of how weak this year was on the minor league front.

Andrew Cashner threw another scoreless inning (of relief) in the AFL on Tuesday. More importantly, there remain no reports of any shoulder issues.

Peter Gammons reports that the Astros’ sale is now expected to go through in mid-November (presumably approved at the owner’s meetings then), and the Astros will agree to move to the AL. They will not be missed. Even when they’re crappy, all they do is provide free wins to the teams ahead of the Cubs. That logic works, right?

Bradley Woodrum at Fangraphs has some suggestions for presumed new GM Theo Epstein on his first moves as GM. The thrust of Woodrum’s suggestion? A short-term rebuild (trading, among the obvious ones, Marlon Byrd, Geovany Soto; letting Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Pena walk). If doing things right in 2012 means that the team won’t be competitive until 2013, I’ll be fine with that. I trust Epstein and Ricketts.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel will be meeting soon with Cubs’ representatives about the city’s involvement in planned renovations to Wrigley Field. He says he’ll take a “jaundiced and critical eye” toward private requests for public money.

written by

Brett Taylor

Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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