Terry Francona may well be top choice for the Chicago Cubs as manager – MLB News
The Chicago Cubs’ president of the baseball operations Theo Epstein stated on Friday, November 4 that Terry Francona will be top of the list of candidates for the managerial responsibility in the team.
He was talking to the press after it he also revealed that he along with Jed Hoyer, the new general manager of the Cubs, he will have a meeting with Philadelphia Phillies’ bench coach Pete Mackanin next Friday to see the prospect of hiring him.
However, Francona who has previously remained a part of the Boston Red Sox for nine years along with Theo Epstein is seemingly the best current choice available to the Chicago Cubs. Add to it the fact that he clearly stated that Francona will be part of
the team without any interview if he decided to join the Cubs.
"Clearly, [Francona] would be at the top of anybody's list as far as available managers," Epstein said. "I think it has to be the right fit here. I think he needs to figure whether this is right for him. I'm not sure it is, and Tito's not sure it is."
Epstein emphasised that he did not want to turn the Cubs into a Boston Red Sox show as he had already brought Jed Hoyer and Jason McLeod from Boston. Francona joining the team, provided he does, will be the fourth big name becoming part of the Cubs after
they served the Boston Red Sox for years.
However, Epstein’s emphasis was largely on the fact that he had worked with Francona enough to know him. "I know him like the back of my hand, and he knows me like the back of his hand," Epstein said.
He also commented that they might be better to have a manager who they can grow with a little bit, probably referring to the importance he attaches to having a team that has the experience, capability and maintain coordination to keep the team functioning
at the highest level.
If Francona decides to join the Cubs, this will mark a big change for a team which has not won a single World Series for over a century and a team whose 2011 season was a sheer disaster.
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