The Latest Manager News

There's a lot to cover today, so let's get started.

The biggest news is that Joe Torre will remain as the manager of the Yankees. According to reports, George Steinbrenner wanted to fire Torre, but the Boss was convinced to keep him after discussions with GM Brian Cashman and other team officials. Apparently, Steinbrenner had to be convinced that it was not Torre's fault that the Yanks bowed out of the playoffs in the first round. Didn't George watch the playoffs? If he did, he wouldn't have had to be convinced of what really happened.

So why am I reporting this Torre news on a Cubs blog. Because Torre's situation does impact the Cubs. Had Torre been fired, the likely successor to pilot the Yankee ship would have been either Lou Pinella or Joe Girardi, both in the running for the Cubs skipper position. With Torre staying in NY, both candidates are still in the running.

Pinella has already been interviewed by the Nats, but has told them that he is not the guy for their job. According to Pinella, the Nats are in the process of building a team and don't expect to compete for a while. Pinella indicated that the Nats situation is not a good fit for him.

Pinella also had a discussion (as opposed to an interview) with Giants GM Brian Sabean about the open managerial position in San Francisco. Pinella indicates that he will be having further discussions with the Giants. SF bench coach Ron Wotus has also interviewed for the Giants opening.

Girardi has also spoken to the Nats, but no announcements have been made by either party. The Nats are also interested in Houston bench coach Cecil Copoper, White Sox third base coach Joey Cora, and Yankees first base coach and former KC Royals manager Tony Pena. Yesterdays interview with the Cubs was at least Girardi's third since being fired by the Marlins.

Oakland A's coach Ron Washington was once rumored to be a contender for the Cubs job. However, his name hasn't been heard in relation to the Cubs recently. The Rangers, who fired Buck Showalter last week, have expressed an interest in Washington.

Bruce Bochy's name continues to be uttered when talking about the Cubs opening. Bochy still has a year left on his contract with San Diego and is owed $1.9 million. Hendry has not asked permission to interview the San Diego skipper yet, but Bochy appears to have jumped ahead of Bob Brenly in the Cubs managerial sweepstakes.

Speaking of Brenly, he appears to be the front runner at the moment for the Giants managerial opening. He has already spoken to the Giants and is scheduled to interview with the Cubs later this week. Although I like Brenly, I think he would be a better fit in SF than in Chicago.

If I were handicapping the managerial race (and considering that you are reading this, I guess I am), I would list the odds as follows:

Joe Girardi (2-1)
Lou Pinella (3-1)
Bruce Bochy (8-1)
Bob Brenly (10-1)