Cubs Set to Hire Sveum

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Nov 17, 2011 3:00PM

Did the Cubs find their man? Or at least a man willing to manage the team next season? Multiple reports suggest that the Cubs have offered their vacant managerial job to Milwaukee Brewers hitting coach Dale Sveum. Candidates for the position such as former Red Sox skipper Terry Francona and Texas pitching coach Mike Maddux had apparently both removed themselves from consideration for the job.

Will Sveum (Pronounced "Swaim") accept the offer? The 47-year-old Brewers also remains on the radar of the Red Sox, where Sveum served as third base coach in 2004 and 2005. During his tenure with the BoSox, Sveum worked under Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein.

Sveum joined the Brewers, where he spent his first five years as a player, in 2006. He briefly served as interim manager at the end of the 2008 season after Ned Yost quit, but was passed up for the skipper position on a permanent basis before the '09 season. Having interviewed with both the Cubs and Red Sox twice in recent weeks, he seems poised to finally become some team's manager. The Cubs apparently hope he decides to manage from the dugout in Wrigley.