Do you think Epstein will hire Francona in Chicago? If they win a title there, get their HOF speeches ready!
Nope, it’ll never happen. Fresh starts for both of them.
Actually, based on his performance as guest announcer on the first 2 ALCS games, I hope Fox dumps McCarver & hires Francona.
They could hire a reasonably well behaved cocker spaniel and it would still be an improvement over McCarver. But Francona was good, and I’m sure he has options besides managing next year.
Francona would be a perfectly fine hire, but…
I think Epstein will be under a lot of pressure from Chicago fans and media to hire Ryne Sandberg. And Epstein ALREADY tried to hire Sandberg once as a minor league manager.
So, Ryno looks like a good (though far from sure) bet.
Agreed Sandberg will get the job. Besides, he’ll have a few years of honeymoon, while the team slowly de-sucks, that other guys wouldn’t.
I think Tito needs a year off to decompress first. Other managers have done stints in the booth, regained their composure there, and gone back into uniform refreshed. Tito’s passed his audition already (OK, by being better than McCarver, but still), so bet on that.
Francona would do great in Chicago. I mean, it’s not like the Cubs have had any high-priced prima donna pitchers getting out of hand on their club.