The Chicago Cubs hired Craig Counsell and in one swift move also fired David Ross. While fans are obviously happy to have one of the best managers in the game, it’s also understandable to feel a bit down about the sudden firing because at the end of the day someone did just lose their job. To go along with that thought, with Ross gone we expected most of his coaches to be replaced with Counsell’s own guys, but the way the news of bench coach Andy Green being dismissed surfaced is kinda weird.
New York Post reporter Joel Sherman wrote about Cody Bellinger and the interest from the New York Yankees in the former Cubs center fielder and first baseman. Sherman spoke to Ross and Green about how they think Bellinger will age at the plate, but tucked into that article was the news that Green has been dismissed by the Cubs.
Via the New York Post.
But I was not with him for 162 games last year. David Ross and Andy Green were as the Cubs manager and bench coach, respectively; both have since been dismissed.
Again, it was safe to assume that Green, who joined the Cubs in 2020 as the bench coach under Ross, was going to be replaced with Counsell coming in, but you’d normally see some other formal report from a local beat writer. Maybe a short press release from the team or something other than a brief mention from an article about Bellinger and the Yankees.
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Nevertheless, we now know for sure that the Cubs will have a new bench coach in 2024. After Counsell was hired there was hope that he would bring along Pat Murphy to be the bench coach in Chicago, but the Milwaukee Brewers kept Murphy, making him their new manager.
As for the rest of the Cubs coaching staff, you’d like to think that pitching coach Tommy Hottovy will be retained, as well as hitting coach Dustin Kelly, following a solid first year in that role for the Cubs in 2023.
Another name to keep an eye on is former Cubs hitting coach John Mallee, who was brought back last offseason and was added to the coaching staff with the Iowa Cubs at Triple-A. Then, on Nov. 1, The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney reported that Mallee was going to be on the major league coaching staff. But of course that would be under Ross, who is no longer the manager.
So, we’ll see who stays and what the new coaching staff will look like under Counsell, who will probably take his time making his decisions following a whirlwind process of getting the Cubs manager job.
