Chicago Cubs: Why Joe Girardi should be next manager

The Chicago Cubs enter their most pivotal offseason under the Theo Epstein era, with a crucial managerial opening to fill now that Joe Maddon is gone.

It’s now or never for the Chicago Cubs‘ once promising championship contender window. As their window appears to still be open for the time being ever so slightly, it’s up to everyone within the Cubs organization to realize how there’s little margin for error when it comes to determining who’s now the best fit to lead the team moving forward.

For five seasons, Joe Maddon helped breath new life and excitement throughout Chicago and into the entire baseball world when he guided the once “lovable loser” Cubs to five consecutive winning seasons, along with garnering the 2016 World Series Championship.

Maddon was known as the ultimate players’ coach, which had many benefits during his Cubs’ tenure. Maddon often catered to players’ needs, while displaying an easy-going, light-hearted approach when communicating with his team. Everyone who had played for Maddon appreciated all the positivity he brought to the clubhouse, especially the laughter and fun that took place regardless of wins or losses.

Unfortunately, Maddon’s fun-loving approach wore out its welcome on the North Side permanently this past season, as the Cubs’ September collapse was the final straw. Since winning the 2016 World Series, the Cubs have only been regressing as a collective unit, in large part because Maddon’s messaging and quirky coaching tactics became stale over time.

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Failing to hold players accountable for their under-achieving play was Maddon’s biggest fault as manager. He never gave any serious inclination to bench a player such as Jason Heyward whose performance at times warranted just that. Players such as Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, and Kyle Schwarber, all for the longest time knew that no matter if they were batting .220 or .300 would be still in the lineup outside of injury or in Russell’s case: suspension.

All of the faults Maddon presented above are exactly why the organization needs to hire a manager with an opposite mentality. Someone who has not been with the organization in recent years: Sorry David Ross…because while the players will respect the heck out of Ross or anyone currently affiliated with the Cubs’ organization, the front office needs to go in a completely new direction to get the most out of this team moving forward.

Insert Joe Girardi‘s name into the conversation. Yes, he’s a former Cubs player; yes he opted to take the New York Yankees managerial job over the Cubs more than a decade ago. Yet, he’s won a World Series as Yankees’ skipper. And he’s the exact opposite of Maddon, which is exactly what the Cubs could use at this point.

While Maddon was a players’ coach, Girardi has proven over the course of his managerial career to be a no-nonsense coach. Girardi was not afraid to have stern conversations with any player who was under-achieving, and would often sit notable players on the bench such as Alex Rodriguez if they were struggling, regardless of how much money they were currently getting paid.

With hiring someone like Girardi, the Cubs aren’t getting the often easy-going, free-wheeling clubhouse on a routinely basis. And that’s exactly what this team needs: to stay completely focused on the task ahead, rather than on what music they’re going to be playing following the game.

Girardi will hold all of his players accountable for their mistakes, something Maddon just could never do. Like Maddon, Girardi had routinely led his teams to division titles and postseason births. All of this though despite dealing with an aging roster that could hardly stay healthy for the most part.

The rise of outfielder Aaron Judge would not have been made possible without Girardi’s guidance and belief in him back in 2017. Girardi even benched Judge for a few games following a second-half slump that season. Would Maddon ever consider benching Bryant for more than one game for his lack-luster play at times? Nope. If anything, some sort of public relation injury excuse would be made to cover up a Cubs player’s poor performance if he was sitting out for more than one game in a row.

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If the Cubs are truly serious about repairing their championship window, then they must hire Girardi. His resume is just as good as Maddon’s and players will no doubt respond in a much more positive way to his coaching style.

Girardi doesn’t care if your feelings get hurt, he just wants to win at all costs. And that’s exactly the type of manager the organization needs at this point.

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