Who Is The Best Fit As Chicago Cubs’ Next Manager?

David Richard – USA Today Sports

The Chicago Cubs are in the midst of a managerial search as they are looking to sign the best candidate to lead the team in another rebuilding stage next season. The Dale Sveum experiment clearly wasn’t a success, and the group led by Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer is out to find the best fit possible.

After Joe Girardi re-signed for the New York Yankees, the Cubs turned their attention to A.J. Hinch and Manny Acta as candidates. But in recent days both Dave Martinez and Rick Renteria have also emerged as possibilities.

The four candidates have their pros and cons, but with the focus being on player development and the experience managing up-and-coming players due to the talent waves expected to arrive from the minors in the next two years, it seems like Acta and Hinch have a small edge with the front office.

A.J. Hinch has a lot of experience as a farm director and in the player development area, but there are concerns whether he’s looking to manage once again. Manny Acta, on the other hand, surprised in the interview and he’s also a guy with a good chance to manage at Wrigley Field next year.

Renteria, however, can’t be discarded as a choice. The current member of the San Diego Padres staff has several qualities that the Cubs are looking for. He’s bilingual so he would be able to help the Latin players, he has a lot experience working with youngsters and he has already worked with members of the front office like Jason McLeod and Jed Hoyer so he’s not an unknown.

Dave Martinez is more of a long shot. He participated in the interview due to his connections with Joe Maddon, arguably one of the best managers in the game, and a Tampa Bay Rays coaching staff that has been working with young players in the last years with very positive results.

Whatever this front office decides, I hope they are able to land the manager who’s the better fit for the organization. Epstein and Hoyer already lived this process with the Boston Red Sox the last decade and everything ended with two World Series rings. Hopefully they can repeat the success with a franchise that hasn’t been able to win anything in the last 100 years.

Juan Pablo Aravena is a sports writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @jparavenarant or add him to your network on Google

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