Sveum appears to be Cubs’ choice
MILWAUKEE — The Cubs’ search for a new manager appeared to reach critical mass Wednesday night, and all signs pointed to Dale Sveum being the top candidate.
The Boston Red Sox and the Cubs both were vying heavily for Sveum, but Red Sox officials acknowledged they will widen their search for a manager, but that did not rule Sveum out in Boston.
Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer met the media late Wednesday.
The Cubs had conducted a second discussion with Sveum the previous night. However, the Cubs would not confirm tweets from national writers who said they had made an offer to Sveum.
“We’ve reached back out to all of the candidates in some form or another,” Hoyer said. “We had good conversations. I think we’re at the stage in the process where we’re going to play our hand a little closer to the vest. I hope you guys understand that part of it.”
Asked if the endgame were near, Hoyer replied: “Hard to say. We’re trying to move to a conclusion. I stated that the other day. We’ve done a thorough process. We’ve been thorough in reaching back out to people. We’re reaching the stage where we’d like to move to a conclusion.”
The Cubs had six candidates: Sveum, Mike Maddux, Sandy Alomar Jr., DeMarlo Hale, Pete Mackanin and former Red Sox manager Terry Francona.
Maddux, the pitching coach of the Texas Rangers, was impressive during his session with the media following his job interview, but it appears that his desire not to uproot his family from Texas will prevail and that he won’t come to Chicago.
“I don’t know from a timing standpoint how that works for him,” said Rangers president Nolan Ryan as he passed through the Milwaukee hotel hosting the GM meetings.
“He is building a house in South Lake or West Lake, and both his girls (daughters) are at the university, one’s at TCU and one’s at SMU. Those are all obviously things that come into play. I just don’t know where all that shakes out.”
The Red Sox also interviewed Alomar and Mackanin, and they announced Wednesday that Mackanin no longer is being considered.
Francona and Cubs president Theo Epstein were close when both worked in Boston, and the Cubs kept lines of communication open by telephone, with Epstein saying Francona did not need a formal interview. On Wednesday, Francona said he would not manage in 2012.
Hoyer and Epstein stressed that they met face to face with Sveum a second time because he was in Milwaukee and that they conducted follow-up interviews with all of the other candidates.
One final, and key, component to the process was for the baseball management’s top choice to meet with team chairman Tom Ricketts, who is in Milwaukee for the owners meetings.
Sveum was a coach with the Red Sox before moving on to Milwaukee, where he currently serves as hitting coach. He was the Brewers’ interim manager late in 2008, guiding them to their first playoff berth since 1982.