"This is obviously a great day," Quade said.

The job will be his first as a major league manager.

Quade, 53, took over for the retired Lou Piniella on Aug. 23 and guided the Cubs to a 24-13 record down the stretch. That was the second-best mark in baseball over that period. Quade's contract is expected to be worth between $1.8 million and $2 million, according to a major league source.

"It's awesome, they couldn't have made a better hire," Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster said Tuesday on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000. "He's a great pick to manage this team.

"He did a great job when he was given the opportunity. It's a great move for the organization and for us as a team. I'm extremely thrilled that he got the opportunity here, because if it wasn't going to be here, it was going to be somewhere else."

The longtime minor league manager was considered a finalist for the job with Triple-A Iowa manager and Cubs Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg.

"From my standpoint, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed," Sandberg said on "The Waddle & Silvy Show." "It's a disappointing day for sure."

Sandberg said he's uncertain about his future with the Cubs on any level.

"I think now it's digesting everything and kind of change the wheels and turn in a different direction," he said. "I was focused on something, and it's just taking it all in.

"I spent the four years in the minor leagues to manage at the major league level, and that's where my heart is and that's what my next step is. That's where I look next. So I'll take it a step at a time and see if there's another opportunity out there and go from there. I wish Mike Quade the best; I wish the Cubs the best and the Ricketts family."

Cubs general manager Jim Hendry called Sandberg "a great candidate," but said: "At the end of the day, I felt Mike Quade was the best manager for the Chicago Cubs."

Dempster wonders if fans' possible disappointment that Sandberg didn't get the job has to do with his legacy as a player.

"I know that Ryno has done a really good job in the minor leagues so far," Dempster said. "He's only got a few years managing down there, and he's done really well. I'm sure the more experience he gets, the better he's going to be. He was a tremendous player and is a tremendous person, and that experience is only going to make him better.

"I know people would love to see [Sandberg] back in a Cubs uniform and at Wrigley Field every day, and maybe that's as much the infatuation as it is with who's going to make the best manager. And I'm not saying Ryno won't be a great manager, I just know Mike is a tremendous one and we're lucky to have him."

Quade has been in the Cubs' organization for nine seasons. He was Piniella's third-base coach for nearly four years beginning in 2007, and he managed the Iowa Cubs from 2003 to 2006.