Many people expect that when the Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella retires, hall of famer Ryne Sandberg will be the next Cubs manager. I for one would love to see Sandberg as the manager of the 2011 Chicago Cubs. I do have my reservations about it as well.
Sandberg was one of the best Second basemen of all time and was a quiet leader on and off the field. After he retired he left the game for awhile and then slowly worked his way back when he started off as a coach during spring training. Since then he has manager for 3 years in the minor leagues and is entering his fourth at the Cubs triple A affiliate in Iowa.
By all accounts Sandberg has done very well learning the craft of becoming a manager of a team. Sandberg is a leader and a defender of his teams and has no problem getting in the face of an umpire to stick up for his players. Arguing was one thing you rarely saw when Sandberg was playing. Last year Sandberg led his Double A minor league team to it's playoffs and they did very well.
My concern regarding whether Sandberg is ready to manage in the big leagues is that he has not coached or managed there before. Coaching in the major leagues is different than the minor leagues because the money and the egos are a lot bigger. Granted Sandberg was a hall of fame major league baseball player who played with Sammy Sosa and other players who have had huge egos. My question is how will he deal with the egos Soriano and Zambrano as a manager. He knows how to deal with people like that as a player but not as a manager and it has to be different.
Sandberg may have been better served to be promoted to a coach this year or have Piniella stay another year and have Sandberg be a coach on the team next year. It appears that if Ryno gets a shot as a manager with the Cubs, he will be thrown head first into the fire. I hope he can handle it but only time will tell.
