Lou Pinella Says Goodbye, But Who's Up Next?

Although his time with the Chicago Cubs was not long, Lou Pinella was a MLB Manager for 23 seasons, winning one World Series, and 3 Manager Of The Year Awards, but he's now saying farewell to the game. Yes, Lou is one of the better managers in the majors, it's now time to move on to the next one. So who is it would you look at if you were Jim Hendry? The choice I'm sure most of the fans would make is Ryne Sandberg. For 15 years he was a Chicago Cub, and for the last 4 years, Sandberg has managed for the Triple-A Iowa team under the Cubs, and he now feels as if he's ready. I like Sandberg, but I can't say if he's ready to "win ball games at the Major League level" as he put it. Then you have Alan Trammel, which would make some since seeing as how Trammel is the bench coach for the Cubbies. Trammel did have an opportunity to coach in the MLB from 2003-05 with the Detroit Tigers. It might have given him the experience in the league, but it was more like an experiment that went bad with a record of 186-300, so maybe the choice needs to go a little deeper. What about Bob Brenley, nah, keep him in the booth. So let's get down to the real candidates in Joe Torre, and Joe Girardi. We know what they have done with the Yankees, so who's to say, they can't do the same with the Cubs. New owners, equals a new way of thinking, and playing the game. Torre is close to the same age as Pinella, so he may be soon thinking retirement as well. With the problems Chicago is having with their lineup now, it's going to take some time to dig out of this cluster. So that leaves Girardi, it would be nice to get a Manager here that has the experience that he has, and his youth. Coming off a World Series win in 2009, he's probably near the peak in his career. With Hendry still in the role to take command of this operation, will he be able to make up for some of the bad Lebronesque decisions he's made in the past.