Hendry, Sandberg talk about Cubs' managerial job

Cubs general manager Jim Hendry returned to Wrigley Field on Friday after spending the first part of the week in Albuquerque, N.M., watching the Class AAA Iowa farm club play.

While there, Hendry got to talk with Iowa manager Ryne Sandberg about the Cubs' managerial job.

Sandberg on Friday was named the Pacific Coast League's Manager of the Year. Entering Friday, Iowa had a record of 80-60 and was tied with Memphis for first place in the Northern Division. To make the playoffs, Iowa must win three of four from Memphis this weekend in Des Moines, as Memphis holds the tiebreakers.

Hendry acknowledged that he and Sandberg talked but declined to get specific. He also reiterated that it's too early in the process to say there is a front-runner for the job. Sandberg and current manager Mike Quade are the two leading candidates for the job, which became open when Lou Piniella resigned Aug. 22.

"He needs to finish his season," Hendry said of Sandberg. "We're not in any rush to complete interview processes and things like that.

"You're going to read different speculations every day about who front-runners are and who's eliminated and who's not in it. Trust me, it's all basically conjecture because I haven't talked to anybody about any of it. There is no leading candidate. There hasn't been, and there won't be until I take the final evaluations to (owner) Tom Ricketts and his family."

Speaking of honors, Bill Dancy, the manager for the Cubs' Class AA Tennessee affiliate, was named Manager of the Year in the Southern League.

"So we've had a real good year in the system," Hendry said. "Daytona (A) was right in it to the wire, and Peoria (A) got eliminated last night. The system's had a real good year, not just from win-loss point of view but also for the development part.

"It's been a very good year in the system from top to bottom, and Oneri (Fleita, farm director) and his staff deserve a lot of credit."

Rotation roulette: The Cubs have juggled their rotation for the rest of this series and into next week.

Casey Coleman originally was supposed to start Saturday, with Carlos Zambrano going Sunday. But manager Mike Quade moved Zambrano up to Saturday and Ryan Dempster to Sunday, with each on his normal rest.

Lefty Tom Gorzelanny will miss at least one start with a minor fracture of the pinkie on his pitching hand. Carlos Silva threw the ball well, by all accounts, Wednesday in a rehab start for Peoria at Kane County.

What it boils down to is that Silva likely will come off the disabled list to start against Houston on Monday, with Coleman going Tuesday. Or the two could flip-flop.

"We've got some options, thank goodness," Mike Quade said. "Actually, we're in pretty good shape. Casey Coleman's available, fully rested, and could give us a lot of work if we needed it. We're looking at he and Silva in that same vicinity - Tuesday-Wednesday, Monday-Tuesday. We have so much flexibility with those two."

It's a first: Lefty James Russell got pinch hitter Carlos Beltran to fly out with a man on second in the sixth inning to keep Friday's game tied at 4-4.

That was the only batter Russell faced, but he earned his first major-league win when the Cubs got 4 in the bottom of the inning. Russell is the son of former big-league closer Jeff Russell.

"He texted me and told me congratulations," the younger Russell said. "He told me to call him after I get out of here. Pretty exciting."