Cubs reportedly make several coaching changes |
Everyone knew that this was going to be a challenging offseason for the Chicago Cubs. Given the contract situations for many of these players and the fact that Tom Ricketts doesn't want to go over the Luxury Tax, the Cubs are going to have some money available but will be tighter when it comes to their overall budget.
That means for this team to add the pieces they need to add to make this team better, it will have to be done in a creative fashion, which will put a ton of pressure on Jed Hoyer. Craig Counsell also has a ton of pressure on him, as his first year in Chicago wasn't what anyone expected. Given that he signed so late last offseason, Counsell didn't have many options when it came to adding coaches to his staff and elected to roll the dice with most of the same coaches who were around when David Ross was here. Some of those coaches worked out, with Tommy Hottovy coming to mind, but some of those coaches didn't pan out the way Counsell hoped they would. You are starting to see that just one day into the offseason according to reports, Counsell has already started to remake his coaching staff by releasing several coaches, and more could be on the way. Jim Adduci, Darren Holmes, and several of the strength coaches were some of the coaches let go, but perhaps the most surprising name was seeing first base coach Mike Napoli be let go. Napoli was a longtime major leaguer who put together a decent career as a DH. A role player most of his career, Napoli faced the Cubs in the 2016 World Series and also played in the 2013 World Series as a member of the Boston Red Sox. It was during that time that he developed a relationship with David Ross, which is one of the reasons why Ross wanted him on his coaching staff when he took over. Since then, Napoli has filled different coaching roles on the Cubs staff, including first base coach for the past few seasons. Napoli was one of the most liked guys in the organization so it is unclear why Counsell elected to let him go unless Napoli wanted to pursue a different position elsewhere. Regardless, there will be some sad faces in Chicago, knowing he isn't around.
Adduci isn't as well-known of a name as Napoli, but he has been a part of the Cubs organization for a long time. The 39-year-old had a lengthy Cubs career and bounced around both the KBO in Japan across several MLB organizations. One of those stops was the Cubs organization, the final one he played for in 2019.
Going farther back than that, Adduci was also part of the Cubs organization in 2007, and he spent the next three years working through the Minor league system. Although he wasn't a big-name coach, he did have an important title: He was one of several hitting coaches for Dustin Kelly.
Ultimately, the success or failure of the hitting falls on the actual hitting coach. Still, with the Cubs having several hitting coaches, you have to wonder if Adduci wanted to look for a different role or if he needed some help with doing what Counsell and Kelly expected from him.
Most fans are happy to see Holmes go, as he was the team's bullpen coach this season. When you look at how much this bullpen struggled this season, a lot of that falls on Hoyer for his roster construction, but it was still up to Holmes and Hottovy to get the most out of those guys.
Hottovy did a great job helping these pitchers get on track as the season went on, but whatever Holmes was doing in the pen needed to be fixed. It just seemed like these relievers weren't always the most prepared, and that can't happen for a team trying to compete at the next level.
When you consider all of the injuries this team had this season, especially the soft tissue injuries moving on from some of the strength coaches, it makes sense. Something wasn't working with the Cubs this season, and they need to do a better job of putting together a winning staff. Now is Counsell's chance to do that.
