In the final week of September, there were two different articles written by two national MLB reporters and it became obvious then that despite all the bitching from fans this season, that the Cubs were going to bring back David Ross to manage the team in 2024.
Ken Rosenthal and Jon Heyman both discussed the future of several managers, but neither baseball insider even mentioned the possibility of Ross being on the hot seat, as the Cubs were slowly fading away down the stretch, blowing a four-game lead in three weeks in September. Then, after the season ended, Tom Ricketts pretty much squashed any speculation about the Cubs moving on from Ross. But again, all of that speculation was coming from disgruntled fans.
Via The Athletic.
“I think Ross had a great season, and the players played hard for him,” Ricketts said. “He’s our guy. I like him a lot, and I think he had a good year. When the team got down, way below .500 and it looked like the season was over, he didn’t let it go. He got the guys back and playing hard. We got to here. He was a big part of that. I think he’s a great manager.”
Then, Jed Hoyer had his end-of-season press conference on Tuesday and he also defended Ross in front of the media.
Via NBC Sports Chicago.
“The manager in a big market is always going to get criticism,” he said. “That’s part of the job. Do we have disagreements and do we have heated conversations? Of course we do, but you will do that with any manager. He’s constantly trying to improve, but ultimately we were very pleased with the job he did this year.”
The Cubs first hired Ross after Joe Maddon was ousted from the dugout following the 2019 season. The Cubs won the NL Central in the shortened 2020 season, before the 2016 World Series core was traded away during the summer of 2021, that led to a dreadful 71-91 record. The team took a minor step forward in 2022, ending the season with a record of 74-88.
For the first time in his managerial career, Ross had a full season with a competitive roster. I’m not going to go through every decision I and many other fans disagreed with, but obviously Ross wasn’t the most popular guy in Chicago at the end of the season. I will say, there were definitely things out of his control that led to the team’s downfall in September. And well, the front office obviously deserves some blame for putting together a lackluster bench in the first few months of the season.
Anyway, I think Ross does deserve some credit because although the Cubs did fail to make the playoffs, they didn’t completely shut down in the summer, when the Cubs were 10 games below .500. It would have been very easy for this team to crumble, but they didn’t and players have pointed to Ross’ leadership as one of the factors that kept them focused after the All-Star break.
Ross signed an extension in 2022, that includes a team option for 2025.
Meanwhile, the Cubs have to make a decision on the 2024 option for right-handed pitcher Kyle Hendricks. The veteran starter returned from a shoulder injury in 2023, and while Hendricks didn’t pitch like the prime version of himself, he did have his best season in quite a while.
Hendricks ended 2023 with a 3.74 ERA, posting a 2.8 fWAR in 137 innings. There were definitely some positive signs that a healthy Kyle Hendricks can still be a productive starter.
As for his contract situation, Hendricks can earn $16 million in 2024, if the Cubs pick up his option. Hoyer wasn’t going to commit to that during his presser on Tuesday, but it does sound like he’s interested in working out a new contract with Hendricks.
“His season was exceptional given, truly I didn’t have a great sense of what we were going to get out of him. “Obviously I’m not going to negotiate anything with you guys right now but certainly we want to keep him as a Cub for next year and beyond.”
Jed Hoyer on Kyle Hendricks
So, it’s not hard to imagine that the Cubs approach Hendricks this offseason with the idea of ripping up his 2024 option and offering him a two-year deal instead. Regardless, I don’t think Hendricks has thrown his last pitch as a Cub.
