The Cubs parted ways with manager Dale Sveum on Monday after he oversaw the worst two-year stretch in the team’s long history.
CHICAGO — Theo Epstein is proud of the talent in the Chicago Cubs’ minor league system. The president of baseball operations thinks Dale Sveum is going to be a successful manager one day.
He just doesn’t think Sveum is the right guy to help all those prospects become successful major leaguers.
The Cubs fired Sveum on Monday after finishing last in the NL Central for the first time in seven years, ending a two-year run that produced more losses than any other stretch in the team’s cursed history.
“It’s absolutely imperative that we create the best environment possible for young players to come up here, continue to learn, continue to develop and thrive at the big league level and win, ultimately,” Epstein said during an afternoon news conference. “And that’s not an easy thing to do.
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“A big part of the reason why we’re here today is because we took a good hard look at that and we decided that we needed to try to get it right before they come up.”
Sveum was among Epstein’s first hires after the executive came over from the Boston Red Sox in 2011. He had little experience as a manager when he agreed to take the job, and he knew the Cubs were at the very beginning of a top-to-bottom overhaul that they hoped would transform them into perennial contenders.
The Cubs went 61-101 last season and 66-96 this year.
A-Rod grievance begins
The grievance to overturn Alex Rodriguez’s 211-game suspension began Monday before arbitrator Fredric Horowitz.
The New York Yankees third baseman was wearing a business suit and accompanied by lawyers when he arrived for the session at Major League Baseball’s headquarters in midtown Manhattan.
Rodriguez was suspended Aug. 5 for alleged violations of baseball’s drug agreement and labor contract. Because he’s a first offender under the drug program and the players’ association filed a grievance to force an appeal, a suspension can’t start until it is upheld by an arbitrator.
The union argues the discipline is without just cause and is excessive. If the case doesn’t settle, a decision by Horowitz is expected this winter.
Inside pitch
• The Twins and Ron Gardenhire agreed to a new two-year extension on Monday, keeping the second-longest tenured manager in the big leagues in the Twin Cities through the 2015 season.
Gardenhire has managed the team for 12 seasons, and has 998 wins, 947 losses and six division titles.
• Mets manager Terry Collins received a two-year contract extension Monday with a club option for 2016, a move the Mets announced one day after finishing 74-88 for the second consecutive season.
• The first casualty after the Phillies’ worst season in 13 years was longtime pitching coach Rich Dubee, who was fired Monday.
