Cubs Fire Manager Dale Sveum

By Chuck Sudo in News on Sep 30, 2013 5:50PM

The Chicago Cubs head into Year Three of their rebuilding plan without Dale Sveum. The manager was fired Monday after a combined two-year record of 127-197.

Sveum was tasked with patiently overseeing the club's progress on the field in 2011 but his future was in doubt ever since Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein failed to give him a vote of confidence two weeks ago. Cubs players seemed to tune out Sveum and the coaching staff the last month of the season and Sveum was caught on camera engaged in a shouting match with pitcher Edwin Jackson after pulling Jackson early from a game in Milwaukee. The inability to create a culture of accountability and losing the team in the final weeks of the season sealed Sveum's fate.

"Dale has been a committed leader for this team the last two seasons, and I want to thank him for all of his dedication and hard work," Epstein said. "I have a lot of admiration for Dale personally, and we all learned a lot from the way he has handled the trying circumstances of the last two years, especially the last two weeks, with strength and dignity." The Cubs finished the season losing 14 of their final 18 games.