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The Chicago Cubs haven’t signed or traded any players yet, but they’ve already made several significant changes and there’s still another move to be made. Dave Martinez, who was the bench coach for manager Joe Maddon, was officially announced as the new Washington Nationals manager on Monday. That leaves his coaching position open with the Cubs and the beloved David Ross has popped up as a possible candidate.
NBC Sports Chicago’s Patrick Mooney reported the following on Sunday.
Two sources familiar with Grandpa Rossy’s situation and the team’s thinking framed it like this: Ross would be on the short list of ideal candidates to become Joe Maddon’s bench coach, but it’s also doubtful that the timing will be right for someone who is raising a young family in Florida and has so many off-the-field interests. After getting so little time off this year, Ross is said to be waiting until after the World Series is over before even considering anything else for next season.
So, you’d take it that Ross, despite being on the short list, isn’t knocking down Maddon’s door asking for the job. Ross made his feelings more clear speaking to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune.
For the Cubs fans who want Ross to be the next bench coach, you might want to move on because the retired catcher doesn’t sound like he wants the job right now.
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During his two seasons as a backup catcher with the Cubs, Ross played under Maddon and became familiar with his strategies. Ross also wasn’t afraid to express his thoughts to a disgruntled player or a teammate not following orders.
But it seems doubtful that Ross, 40, would return to a major-league lifestyle with longer hours as a coach. One of the reasons Ross retired after 15 seasons was to spend more time with his wife and three children in Florida.
“Hard to see me jumping back in,” Ross wrote in a text message Sunday. “Was a little busy this year and never got real time off.”
Ross might actually want to enjoy his retirement in 2018, after spending a year as an MLB analyst with ESPN, a long stint on the ABC show “Dancing With the Stars” and was a special assistant with the Cubs front office.
At this point it doesn’t appear that Ross is going to be Martinez’s successor, but both Mooney and Gonzales brought up current Cubs first base coach Brandon Hyde as a more reasonable candidate.
Hyde, 44, has previously been a bench coach for the Cubs in 2014, under Rick Renteria and also with the Miami Marlins in 2010-11.
