With Piniella in control, the flame's still burning

The one sure way to see some "fire" in Cubs manager Lou Piniella is to ask him if he still has the "fire."

Because of the Cubs' lackluster performance last year, Piniella wasn't exactly jumping for joy after a good number of games. Somehow, that translated to him not "having the fire" or not being "into it" as much as he had been in the past.

As the 2009 season wore down - and no doubt wore on Piniella - he shot back.

"I've been in it from the first day I've been here to the last day I leave here," he said in the Wrigley Field dugout before a game. "I take pride in the team winning and playing well to please our fan base, which to me is the best in baseball."

The off-season seems to have refreshed the 66-year-old Piniella as he heads into the final year of his contract.

The latest edition of Baseball Prospectus touches on Piniella's reputation, but quickly gets to the heart of the matter.

"The 66-year-old Piniella is no longer described as 'fiery,' but he remains one of the game's better skippers," the authors write.

Here's the lowdown on one of the game's most interesting managers:

Will he be back after this year? Don't rule it out. Cubs president Crane Kenney recently violated some chain-of-command issues when he said the Cubs would have "an interesting conversation" with Piniella if Piniella wants to come back for a fifth year. Either that or Kenney didn't inform general manager Jim Hendry that Hendry no longer has authority over the field manager.

If the Cubs have a good year, whether that means winning the World Series or getting to the playoffs, it's not difficult to imagine Piniella coming back. After all, he's a baseball lifer, and he still seems to have a lot of love for the game.

As Piniella pointed out as far back as the winter meetings, the Cardinals' Tony La Russa and the Dodgers' Joe Torre have one year left on their deals.

What about that fire? In baseball, it's overrated. Torre has succeeded with a low-key approach, as have countless other managers. In an everyday game like baseball, players don't respond to "fire" anyway. They need to play with a controlled flame day after day.

What are Piniella's strengths? He knows talent. He knows who can play and who can't. The roster transformation in 2007 is Exhibit A. Piniella saw that things weren't working at shortstop and behind the plate, so he made changes.

He also sees a lot of little things. For example, he was talking to a group of writers a couple years ago on the road when he shared this observation: "Do you know why (a player) hits into double plays?" he asked. "It's not because he's slow; it's because he screws himself into the ground when he swings the bat and can't get a good jump to first base."

It's not only with hitters. Piniella kept his eye on pitcher Angel Guzman a couple of springs ago and suggested to pitching coach Larry Rothschild that Guzman move to the third-base side of the pitching rubber.

"As a hitter, I could see that would give him a better angle to the plate," Piniella said.

What are his weaknesses? Piniella can grow impatient with his pitchers, especially with relievers who don't throw strikes. On the flip side of that, he has to be careful not to ride the hot bullpen hand for too long.

It's interesting to note that the last three managers the Cubs have had (excluding interim manager Bruce Kimm) all were outstanding hitters who came up in the 1960s and played into the '80s: Piniella, Dusty Baker and Don Baylor.

Baylor expressed a dislike for pitchers. All three men no doubt experienced a difficult time trying to understand the mindsets of players they opposed throughout their playing careers.

If there's one pitcher Piniella may have mishandled, it was reliever Michael Wuertz, whom the Cubs virtually gave to Oakland last winter. Wuertz went on to have a career year with the Athletics in 2009. A little more patience on Piniella's part may have helped Wuertz as a Cub and prevented some of the bullpen issues they have today.

Can Piniella get it done this year? It'll be a joint effort between him and the players. The whole Milton Bradley saga probably wore down Piniella last year.

With Bradley gone, Piniella seemed more at ease coming into camp this year.

As Baseball Prospectus sums up: "With one year left on his contract, Piniella remains a good bet to optimize the team's chances to win, but managers can only manage - their players have to play."

<p class="factboxtext12col"><b>Where we rank the top managers</b></p>

<p class="factboxtext12col">1. Bobby Cox, Braves</p>

<p class="factboxtext12col">2. Tony La Russa, Cardinals</p>

<p class="factboxtext12col">3. Joe Torre, Dodgers</p>

<p class="factboxtext12col">4. <b>LOU PINIELLA, CUBS</b></p>

<p class="factboxtext12col">- Bruce MIles</p>