Craig

Counsell

Zombro has become well-regarded in the baseball industry for his work as a pitching coach at Tread Athletics where pitchers like Cole Ragans have started to develop their arsenals in the offseason. This is a similar move to when the Red Sox hired Driveline’s Kyle Boddy in the offseason last year. According to Passan, Zombro will “work in all areas of Chicago’s organization to help improve the performance of the Cubs’ arms.” While it’s unclear now just how this might change the outlook for Cubs’ pitchers, keep in mind that the Red Sox as an organization drastically changed their philosophy with regard to fastball usage last season, so there may be wholesale modifications coming here in Chicago.

Good to know they’ve gotten to the root of the problem. There was, after all, that time in June when Napoli was slow to collect a hitter’s elbow pad at first base, probably costing the Cubs what would have been their first postseason appearance since 2020.

Sharma also notes that the club will tab Mark Strittmatter as their catching coach which will finalize new skipper Craig Counsell’s coaching staff in the Windy City. Holmes spent four seasons coaching with the Orioles from 2020 - 2023 where he served as the bullpen coach for one year and then as their assistant pitching coach.

We haven’t heard a whole lot yet about how new skipper Craig Counsell is going to construct his staff with the Cubs, but it sounds like there’s going to be a couple of strong holdovers in place to assist in the transition. The Cubs did lose a pair of coaches on Saturday, as bench coach Andy Green joined the Mets and assistant hitting coach Johnny Washington became the hitting coach for the Angels.

The first-time skipper led the Marlins to an 84-78 record and a Wild Card berth in his first season at the helm of a big league club. Schumaker garnered eight first place, eight second place and eight third place votes in a closely contested race. Former Brewers skipper and current Cubs manager Craig Counsell finished as the runner-up, while Braves manager Brian Snitker, Diamondbacks skipper Torey Lovullo and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts rounded out the top five.

It’ll be a five-year deal worth more than $40 million. No word yet on whether David Ross will be taking on a different role with the team. This has to be painful for the Brewers, who made a big offer to retain their manager, only to lose him to a division rival. Ross’s managerial tenure concludes after four seasons in which he went 262-284. He took the Cubs to the postseason only in the short 2020, and the team lost to the Marlins in the Wild Card then.

So, not the Angels, Astros or Padres. Some team is doing a great job of working in secret here. Could it possibly be the Yankees? The Yankees did say earlier in the day that Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman will be talking to the media Tuesday.

The Astros, Angels and Padres are the other teams with managerial openings, but there’s been no word that he’s interviewed with any of them. Houston would seem to be the more likely destination than the other two.

Jon Heyman says Counsell has made his decision. It seems the Guardians were told they were out, which is why they went ahead and hired Stephen Vogt. Counsell is believed to have received his offers from the Brewers and Mets. Long-time NY writer Bill Madden indicated that Counsell has decided against going to New York, though we’re not lending that much credence.

Martino adds that Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza, who has also interviewed this offseason with the Guardians and Giants, has emerged as a very strong candidate. He also notes that the Mets’ top candidate, former Brewers manager Craig Counsell, is expected to make a decision within the next few days. It sounds like Counsell and Mendoza are the clear frontrunners, but it’s within the realm of possibility that both wind up taking jobs somewhere else, which would throw a wrench into New York’s plans.