Girardi's options emerge: Yankees, Cubs, or Fox

Bob Nightengale | USA TODAY Sports

The Chicago Cubs are targeting Joe Girardi to be their next manager after firing Dale Sveum on Monday, but Girardi is telling friends that he also is seriously contemplating whether to take a year off and work for Fox Sports if he doesn't return to the New York Yankees.

The Cubs believe that Girardi would be the perfect fit to replace Sveum, a manager who not only can develop young players, but prepare them to win by the 2015 season. They have one of the top three farm systems in baseball, according to baseball evaluators, including four of the top 30 prospects in the game.

The Cubs finished in last place for the first time in seven years with a 66-96 record, and have lost 197 games the past two seasons.

"The losing has been hard on all of us,'' Cubs president Theo Epstein said in a statement, "but we now have one of the top farm systems in baseball, some of the very best prospects in the game, and a clear path forward.''

Sveum wasn't fired over the Cubs' dismal record, but by the slow development of some of their young players, particularly shortstop Starlin Castro and first baseman Anthony Rizzo.

"In order for us to win with this group, and win consistently,'' Epstein said, "we must have the best possible environment for young players to learn, develop and thrive at the major league level.''

The Cubs, who plan to begin their search Tuesday, say they would prefer an experienced manager, but former catcher Brad Ausmus, who interviewed in Boston and pulled out of the Houston Astros' job search last winter, remains a top candidate.