Down to the Wire
Ricketts Interviews Finalists(?) for Manager

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

It seems the Cubs have picked their finalists: Ryne Sandberg, Mike Quade, Eric Wedge, and Bob Melvin. Looming in the background, though, is Joe Girardi. Indianapolis sports guru Kent Sterling's blog says the Cubs are wasting their time with anyone other than Sandberg and Quade, and the Yankees are going to keep Girardi. The Tribune says Quade is "the odds-on favorite," and lists Wedge and Melvin ahead of Girardi. Why? He's seen as very "headstrong," and if he was offered the job and refused, whoever took the position would be seen as second-rate.

Kent Sterling: Chicago Cubs waste both Ricketts' and Wedge's time
Chicago Tribune: Manager search for Cubs seems to be in final stages
Chicago Sun-Times: Quade the favorite, but Girardi still looms

Tuning Out
Cubs Show Huge Drop in TV Ratings
We figured fans weren't exactly going crazy about the Cubs this past season, but we had no idea they were so indifferent: Turns out the Cubs saw the biggest drop in their TV ratings of any team in the major leagues. The Cubs' ratings dropped a whopping 39.5 percent from 2009 to 2010, the Sports Business Journal found. The Boston Red Sox — another expensive, disappointing team — saw the second second-highest drop, with a dip of 37.9 percent. The team with the biggest jump? The Washington Nationals. Umm... who?

Washington Business Journal: Nationals win 'most improved' on TV

Chat Room
Will Cubs' Phenom Be in Outfield Next Year?
Remember this name: Brett Jackson. He's the Cubs' minor-league outfielder who's tearing up the Pan Am Games, and he "has a good shot to come up sometime early in 2011," ESPN's Bruce Levine says in his weekly chat. He also notes the rumored revamp of Wrigley Field for the 2014 season "seems to be somewhat on hold right now," the Cubs likely won't delay signing a first baseman in the hopes that they'll land San Diego's Adrian Gonzalez as a free agent, and Kerry Wood wants to end his career on the North Side.

ESPN Chicago: Chat with Bruce Levine

The Tale of the Tape
Diving into Geovany Soto's and Tyler Colvin's Numbers
It's a long offseason, so we may as well dive into the stats of the younger players and assume they'll lead us to the World Series look for patterns. The Daily Herald notes Geovany Soto's line-drive percentage increased by six percent from last year, while his groundballs dropped by four percent. (That's good.) The Herald also looks at Tyler Colvin and notes the rookie needs to work on taking walks. "His selectivity at the plate will need to improve," the paper says. But the good news: "The power potential is there as evidenced by his 20 homers."

Daily Herald: A look at Soto and Colvin

Crazy Eights
A Look Back at the Alfonso Soriano Signing
When Alfonso Soriano and his ridiculous contract comes up, we've often heard people defend him by saying, "Yeah, but he carried the team to the playoffs in '07 and '08." Yes, Daily Herald's Bruce Miles, agrees. But other than that, what has he done? Not much. "This year, at no time did Soriano come close to carrying the Cubs," Miles writes. He also notes that GM Jim Hendry wanted to give Soriano a six-year deal, but his bosses added two to the mix. End result: four more years of this mediocrity in left field. So painful.

Daily Herald: On Soriano: Who's carrying whom?

Minor-league stud pitcher Chris Archer struck out 10 against Cuba in the Pan Am Games... Angel Guzman (remember him?) is still trying to make it back to the Cubs... Cubs' pitching coach Larry Rothschild picked up his option for next season... Today is the seventh anniversary of the horrific event known as the Bartman Game. Still boggles the mind... Fan Report editor in-chief Joel Reese will be on the Nick Digilio Show on 720 WGN Radio this Sunday at midnight. The subject? The hardest-rockin', awesomest, most underrated band of all-time, UFO.

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