Cubs' new approach to finding a manager

The “how” looks to be just as interesting as the “who” in the Cubs' managerial search.

Team president Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer said Thursday they'll interview Phillies bench coach Pete Mackanin on Friday after having dinner with him Thursday night.

The Cubs also have permission to speak with Texas Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux, and that meeting may take place next week.

Those are the only two set interviews at this point, but other names are definitely in the mix, including former Red Sox manager Terry Francona and Milwaukee Brewers hitting coach Dale Sveum.

There are a couple of interesting twists. For one, the Cubs are letting it be known whom they're talking to. What's more, managerial candidates will meet with the media after their formal job interviews. This was not a practice of the previous Cubs regime, which took a more private approach.

The job interviews themselves will be different.

Before Epstein hired Francona in Boston, he developed a “simulation” of sorts.

“I had never done it before, so we started out with a threshold question of, ‘How can you conduct a process where you're getting the right person to actually manage the club, not just the right person to impress during an interview,' because it doesn't always match up,” Epstein said.

“You can have someone who is really impressive during an interview, then you hire him as a manager, and they turn out to be a dud. You get somebody who's a dud in the interview, but they turn out to be a fantastic manager and leader of men.”

Part of the simulation will be to give the candidate a game situation and ask the candidate what he would do.

“We had them watch key innings of this game,” Epstein said. “We'd stop and try to create a real, live situation, where it's first-and-third with two outs or first-and-third with one out. He knows who's available in the pen. He knows who the other manager has available for pinch-hitting situations. We'd ask him what would he do in this situation.

“We tried to create some intensity. We got right in his face and asked for an answer pretty quickly.

“We weren't looking so much at what the managerial candidate said in terms of the strategy he'd employ, but what pieces of information he would use, what his thought process would be in trying to make a decision.”

Francona update: Theo Epstein said Terry Francona should be high on anybody's managerial wish list. Francona and Epstein worked together in Boston from the 2004 season through this year, when Boston upper management let Francona go.Epstein said he and Francona have talked but that he wants to make sure the #8220;fit#8221; would be right.#8220;For my growth as an executive, maybe it's the right thing to work with a new manager,#8221; Epstein said. #8220;For Tito's growth as a manager, maybe it will be better for him to work with a new boss.#8220;You don't want to live in the past. Eight years, 10 years, is a long time to be in one place with the same dynamic. We're very close. We have the type of relationship where we can talk about these things.#8221;Other candidates on a larger list figure to be Tampa Bay coach Dave Martinez and Boston coach DeMarlo Hale. It's unlikely the Cubs will interview a sitting manager, apparently ruling out Tampa's Joe Maddon.Seeking out Sandberg:Cubs Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg won rave reviews from Theo Epstein even though Sandberg was ruled out as a managerial candidate because he does not have major-league coaching or managerial experience.#8220;I told him, #8216;Look, I've only been in Chicago for little more than a week,' but it's clear what an incredible impact he made on the people here and this organization, greater than I imagined from afar,#8221; Epstein said.#8220;I made it clear that we had a lot of work to do with the Cubs, but I hope that we could turn the organization into something that would make him proud.#8221;Epstein also said he hopes special assistant Greg Maddux stays with the organization. Maddux has family concerns he has to balance with work.Quade closure:Theo Epstein spoke highly of fired manager Mike Quade, saying he hopes Quade will get a chance to manage again in the big leagues. Epstein flew to Florida on Wednesday and personally gave Quade the bad news.#8220;The biggest factor was, I just felt like given the research that I've done, that we've done over the last week or so, it just seems like change is appropriate because we'll have someone come in with a clean slate and chart a new direction, and I think that's what the organization needed,#8221; Epstein said.#8220;It was less about Mike and more about what the organization needs right now.#8221;bmiles@dailyherald.com