Read More: Matt Garza (P – CHC), Sean Marshall (P – CIN), Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs traded relief pitcher Sean Marshall to the Cincinnati Reds on Friday for three players, and Theo Epstein says the club probably isn’t done making moves:

“I don’t think we are done,” Cubs president Theo Epstein said Friday after trading Sean Marshall to the Cincinnati Reds. “I do think we still need to build more depth on the starting pitching front, both in the big leagues and minor leagues.

“But it doesn’t happen overnight. You have to make sacrifices. Just like moving Sean Marshall, who was certainly an asset for the 2012 club.”

It’s been widely speculated that starter Matt Garza could be a prime trade target. Epstein said Garza is “the type of pitcher you want to build around” while acknowledging that the Cubs are in a situation where they’re listening to offers for anyone on the roster.

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Read More: Yonder Alonso (1B – SDP), Anthony Rizzo (1B – SDP), San Diego Padres, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs

According to Jon Heyman, the Chicago Cubs may look to acquire San Diego Prospects first base prospect Anthony Rizzo:

The 21-year-old Rizzo, who played 93 games with the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate and 49 with the MLB club, rates as one of the Padres’ top prospects, but following the recent acquisition of Yonder Alonso from the Cincinnati Reds, Rizzo has become redundant in a system rich with prospect talent.

Rizzo hit 26 homer and a .331/.404/.652 slash with the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate, but floundered in his limited time in the majors, hitting only 1 homer and a .141/.281/.242 slash.

For more on the MLB Hot Stove, tune in to MLB Daily Dish. Stay tuned to SB Nation Chicago for more updates on the Cubs, White Sox and all other matters Chicago sports related.

Chicago Cubs new president of baseball operations Theo Epstein has made it clear that he and the Cubs want a manger with Major League experience. Epstein’s decision rules out fan favorite Ryne Sandberg for the job.

While I really like Sandberg as my all-time favorite player and would have liked to see him manage the Cubs, I cannot argue with Epstein’s decision – as long as he brings in a winning manager. I was hoping the Cubs would hire Sandberg for 2011, but they hired Mike Quade instead. In light of their dismal 2011, I doubt that they would have made the postseason under Sandberg anyway.

“Ryno” managed four seasons in the Cubs’ minor league system and brought the Philadelphia Phillies’ 2011 Triple-A team to the playoffs. Epstein did interview Sandberg while in Boston for a AAA managerial spot. However, at the Major League level, winning trumps fan favorites. Cub fans want to see a World Series regardless of who is in the dugout. Bringing in an experienced manager will enhance those chances. Sandberg showed the grace and class that Cub fans remember from his playing days when he returned Epstein’s call personally and then said that we Cub fans should trust Epstein to build a winning team. Ryno will land a Major League managing job before too long.

Top contenders to manage the Cubs include Texas Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux and Phillies bench coach Pete Mackanin. Both of these men have seen the playoffs and World Series as coaches and understand how to keep their players playing hard all the way. Maddux could do wonders with a Cubs pitching rotation that struggled last year. He led the Rangers to an ERA of 3.79, good for fifth in the American League. Maybe if Maddux does not get the manager’s job, he could become the pitching coach. The new manager would have that final decision.

Mackanin just finished the 2011 season on the coaching staff of the team with the best record in the Majors (102-60). Yes, the Phillies had that outstanding pitching staff, but the bench coach must work well with the entire team. Mackanin also had success as the Cincinnati Reds’ interim manager in 2007 when he took over the team with the Majors’ worst record.

Each candidate has success as a Major league coach, and I can certainly agree with Theo Epstein’s decision to go that route. I wish Ryne Sandberg the best, and I hope he gets his opportunity soon. However, as a long-time Cub fan, I want to see the Cubs win the World Series even more than seeing them hire my favorite player from the past. Hiring a manager with successful Major League managing or coaching experience can begin the transition back into contenders.

Sources:

Carrie Muskat, Cubs Relieve Quade; Sandberg Not a Candidate, cubs.mlb.com, November 2, 2011.

Carrie Muskat, Mike Maddux in Theo’s Mix; Francona too? Cubs.mlb.com, November 3, 2011.

Major League Baseball, 2011 Standings, mlb.com.

Major League Baseball, Sortable Statistics, mlb.com.

Philadelphia Phillies, Pete Mackanin #22, Phillies.mlb.com.

Raymond grew up in Florida and began watching the Cubs on WGN in 1982. He became a fan in 1984 when Ryne Sandberg hit the two famous game-tying home runs off Cardinals closer and former Cub Bruce Sutter. Raymond then solidified his team loyalty when the Cubs won the division later that season and has been a fan ever since.

More from this contributor:

Ryan Dempster Exercises Option to Return to Cubs in 2012

Cubs Say No to Boston Regarding Matt Garza: Fan Reaction

Cubs Should Consider Frank Thomas for Hitting Coach

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Cactus League stalwart Robert Brinton, who helped cement the Chicago Cubs future in Mesa and also played a pivotal role in the league’s growth into a top draw Valley-wide, died unexpectedly in his office Friday.

Brinton, a past Cactus League Association president, was not feeling well in his office Friday afternoon at the Mesa Convention and Visitors Bureau and went to the restroom, Mesa Mayor Scott Smith said.

When Brinton never returned, another employee found him slumped over in the restroom, Smith said.

“I was just absolutely stunned,” Smith said. “I lost a friend, a co-worker, a giant.”

Brinton and Smith were partners in the drive to save the Chicago Cubs from a potential move to Naples, Fla. The two men campaigned together for approval of a Mesa ballot measure that approved financing for a new Cubs spring training complex at the present site of Riverview Golf Course, near the interchange of Loops 101 and 202 in west Mesa.

“Everything he did was for the love of his community and people,” Smith said. “He gave selflessly because he believed in it. He was that kind of person.”

Brinton was the longtime president of the Cactus League Association, the executive director of the Mesa Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the past president of the Mesa HoHoKams, the civic group that sponsors the Cubs during the Cactus League season and performs a wide array of duties at Hohokam Stadium.

Smith also noted that Brinton played a pivotal role in saving the Cactus League when it was running on fumes, with teams leaving for Florida.

But while Brinton was president, the league grew dramatically and attendance soared. The league turned into a powerful engine of Valley tourism, boosting the region’s reputation as a major destination as it added such teams as the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Chicago White Sox, the Texas Rangers, the Kansas City Royals and the Cincinnati Reds.

CINCINNATI (AP) — The Chicago Cubs’ long night in New York proved to cause no problems in Cincinnati.

Starlin Castro homered, scored four runs and drove in three while extending his career-high hitting streak to 13 games and the Cubs shook off their fatigue to pound out a 12-8 win over the Cincinnati Reds in the opener of a four-game series on Monday.

The Cubs needed 11 innings to beat the Mets 10-6 on Sunday night and didn’t arrive in Cincinnati until 5:30 a.m. Monday, but they still managed to get 16 hits, including three home runs and five doubles.

“Coming off some rough travel and an interesting weekend in New York, it was nice to see us come out and do that,” said manager Mike Quade, whose team participated as New York commemorated the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Aramis Ramirez also had three hits, including a double and his 25th homer of the season, and Jeff Baker added a home run as the Cubs won a third consecutive game for the first time since Aug. 15 and matched their season high in runs. They also scored 12 in a 12-7 win over Milwaukee on June 16.

Brandon Phillips hit two of Cincinnati’s four home runs and Juan Francisco hit a tape-measure shot, but the Reds couldn’t avoid their third consecutive loss and fourth in five games.

Rodrigo Lopez lasted 5 1-3 innings to earn the win despite allowing nine hits, including all four of Cincinnati’s homers, and five runs. Lopez (5-6) had a walk and a strikeout.

The Cubs pounced on Cincinnati starter Dontrelle Willis for three first-inning runs and knocked him out of the game in the fourth. Willis (0-6) gave up for nine hits and eight runs, one short of tying his career high, and walked three.

“Castro got us off to a good start,” Quade said. “It was good to give Rodrigo some run support.”

Francisco got the Reds on the board with his third homer of the season, a mammoth drive off of Lopez’s 1-0 pitch in the second inning. The 502-foot shot was second-longest at Great American Ball Park since it opened in 2003 to Adam Dunn’s 535-foot shot to right-center in 2004.

Somebody told him the ball hit a tree outside the stadium.

“I hit a couple out of the ballpark at (Single-A) Dayton,” he recalled. “It was just a good pitch to hit. I don’t know if they got the ball or not, but they put a branch up there.”

Quade was surprised to hear the public address announcer announce the distance before Francisco’s next at bat.

“I can’t remember the P.A. guy announcing how far a ball went,” Quade said. “How do they measure that?”

Willis followed one out later with a vicious line-drive single off of Baker’s glove at first base, and Brandon Phillips — who got his first day off on Sunday since Aug. 13 — hit his 13th homer, a 459-foot shot into the second deck in left field.

The Cubs regained the lead in the third on Baker’s third homer of the season, a 372-foot opposite-field drive into the second row of the right-field seats. They broke the game open with three runs in the fourth, the first scoring on the first of Castro’s two doubles in the game. He added a two-run homer in the fifth, and Ramirez led off the sixth with his 25th homer of the season.

“It was real tough,” said Castro, who now has 190 hits and has reached base at least once in a career-high 25 consecutive games. “You know you’re not going to sleep good. You’ve got to sleep quick.”

Phillips led off the Reds’ fifth with his second homer of the game, giving him two multihomer games this season and eight in his career, and rookie catcher Devin Mesoraco hit the first pitch of the sixth inning into the left field seats for his first career home run.

Notes: Reds utility INF Chris Valaika will have season-ending surgery next week to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He was hurt in the top of the fifth inning Sunday at Colorado when his spikes caught in the dirt as he was swinging at a pitch from LHP Drew Pomeranz. … SS Zack Cozart, already sidelined with Tommy John surgery on his left (non-throwing) elbow, is scheduled to have minor surgery to clean out his right ankle. … RHP Mike Leake’s start Tuesday against the Cubs is expected to be his final start of the season. Leake has logged 159.2 innings, 21.1 more than he pitched last season, and the club is trying to limit him to an increase of about 30 innings. … RHP Ryan Dempster, Chicago’s scheduled starter on Tuesday, is 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA in his last three starts against the Reds.