The Chicago Tribune's Melissa Isaacson profiles Bob Brenly, and the possibility that he could be a big league manager again soon, perhaps for the Chicago Cubs:

"If the right situation came along, absolutely I'd like to get back on the field. But I don't have to go out searching for that job or be standing by my phone 24 hours a day waiting for the call. I'm perfectly content to do what I do for the rest of my life."

But what is the "right situation" for Brenly, who told the La Crosse (Wis.) Tribune in July the Cubs job was "attractive"? He said then he would listen if the Cubs called but would have to be given certain assurances, specifically that the organization change its stance on player personnel, emphasizing the farm system over free agency.

Brenly has not backed off those comments. He said last week, however, that he became so uncomfortable when his name started floating frequently earlier in the season as a replacement for Dusty Baker that he refused all interviews and spoke directly to Baker about it.

Read the rest.

When Brenly first began broadcasting for the Cubs in 2005, my initial reaction was I'd like to have Steve Stone back. Brenly, it seemed to me, stated the obvious a bit too much. But his broadcasting is either an acquired taste, or he's improved at the job. Or maybe both. But I now like the Kasper-Brenly combination, and would be perfectly happy to have it continue.

My guess is that if Baker is not brought back this offseason, Jim Hendry will at least give Brenly an interview for the Cubs managerial job. Brenly was not a great manager in Arizona. He won because of Johnson and Schilling and Gonzalez. When those three got older and broke down, he stopped winning. I'm not sure if Brenly would be that much different from Baker as a manager. But it seems to me that his comments about building through the farm system rather than through free agency would be right up Hendry's alley, perhaps giving him an inside track at the job.