Coaching Staff Roundup: Rothschild Takes Option, Tram Expected to Move On, & More

Rothschild Exercises Option
Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothschild has picked up his option for the 2011 season. Bruce Levine reports that Larry informed team officials of his decision Monday, which was his last day to do so. This does not mean that Rothschild will definitely return to the club next season, because he could be fired if a new manager comes in and bring in "his guy". Paul Sullivan tweets that if Mike Quade becomes the skipper, Rothschild will return.

Jaramillo Expected to Stay
Rudy Jaramillo is the only Cubs coach in addition to Rothschild who is under contract for the 2011 season. Despite the Cubs offensive struggles in 2010 he is still well respected around baseball. This means that Rudy will most likely be back regardless of who the new manager is.

The Final Four
The Chicago Tribune reports that it appears that Mike Quade, Ryne Sandberg, Eric Wedge, and Bob Melvin are the final four for the Cubs managerial position. Carrie Muskat also lists these four as finalists. Tom Ricketts reportedly would like a guy with a Cubs background, which would indicate that Q and Ryno could have an edge, but Tom has met with Wedge. Levine expects the new skipper to be announced soon.

Bench Coach
Bruce Levine mentioned during his chat earlier in the week that the Cubs do not see Alan Trammell as a big league manager. He added that Alan will most likely be "moving on". If Ryne Sandberg is named the manager, Tram could be replaced by ex-Cub Larry Bowa.

Rest of the Staff
The Tribune points out that the rest of the Cubs coaching staff could easily stay intact if Mike Quade is named the manager. This would create less of a transition period. Bringing in a skipper that has already been around for three years and keeping the rest of the coaches could help the Cubs gel faster in 2011.

Random Quick Hits

• Cubs pitcher Angel Guzman started playing catch this week in Mesa according to a report from Carrie Muskat. Guzman missed the entire 2010 season.
• The Mesa Solar Sox posted an 8-3 win yesterday but no Cubs prospects saw action. They will have the home opener tonight with Jake Muyco, David Cales, Chris Carpenter, and Kyle Smit all scheduled to pitch. Josh Vitters, rehabbing his broken hand, may see the field tonight.
• Chris Archer fanned ten over six shutout inning yesterday in Team USA's 4-1 win over Cubs in the Pan American Games Qualifying Tournament.

That's it for now, but I'll keep you posted on Everything Cubs as always!

It's All Over

The last day of the Major League Baseball season is always a sad one. Especially when it ends in early October for the Cubs. Especially when you're capping off a year as bad as this one. Especially when the payroll is expected to drop this winter.

However, there is still a reason to keep an eye on the Chicago Cubs. There is still a reason to hope. The Cubs finished strong. Today's 4-0 loss to the Astros was sour, but they still went 5-2 on the final road trip of the season. They went 24-13 in the 37 games under Mike Quade.

The Astros win today put them in fourth place in the NL Central. The Cubs dropped to fifth with a final record of 75-87. There are a lot of questions to be answered this winter.

Here's the latest from the final weekend of the 2010 season:

• The biggest question going around, "Will Mike Quade return as the Cubs full-time skipper in 2010?" Tom Ricketts and Jim Hendry were asked today, "When do you plan to have a manager in place?"
• Quade told Carrie Muskat that he feel good about his chance to return.
• Cubs legend Ron Santo will be honored in Mesa, Arizona next Saturday. Ron will have another shot at the Hall of Fame in December.
• Bob Melvin was interviewed for the manager's job by Jim Hendry on Saturday in Houston according to the report from the Sun Times.
• Carlos Zambrano wants to Cubs to go after Adam Dunn.
• Speaking of Big Z, Jim Hendry has announced that the big right hander will stay with the Cubs next season.
• Ken Rosenthal thinks that if the Cubs wait for Joe Girardi to finish his season to name their manager, they will be taking a risk. Many other candidates may have moved on by that time.
• CSN Chicago reports that Rudy Jaramillo plans to honor his contract as the Cubs hitting coach no matter who the team's manager is.
• While there is no time table for the search for a new manager, Jim Hendry expects to narrow it down in the next couple weeks.
• Tom Ricketts said on the WGN Radio broadcast today that the new manager will be in place by mid-November.
• Paul Sullivan reports that Jim Hendry was pleased with Kosuke's season. Hendry said that Kosuke did a much better job. He does not believe the team over-evaluated the right fielder.
• Carlos Marmol, Geovany Soto, and Sean Marshall are all arbitration eligible. They will all be due big raises once again.
• Xavier Nady is the only Cub set to become a free agent. Aramis Ramirez will take his player option for 2011.

Opening Day is at Wrigley on April 1 against the Pirates! I'll keep you posted on all the rumors and news... the best time to blog on the Cubs is during the winter!

Go Cubs Go!