Coaching Staff Decisions

Now that Dale Sveum is in place as the manager of the Chicago Cubs, it is time to starting figuring out the rest of the Cubs coaching staff. The team announced today that Rudy Jaramillo will return as its hitting coach. Jaramillo is entering the final year of his three year contract.

Sveum is also slated to meet with the two other coaches that are under contract, Lester Strode and Pat Listach. Most likely Bobby Dernier, Ivan DeJesus, Dave Keller and Mark Riggins will not return. In fact, Dernier and DeJesus have already been informed that they will not be back for next season.

Sveum is going to conduct interviews for his own pitching coach and bench coach jobs. Listach could return to the staff in a different role.

Sveum already has a list of candidates that will be interviewed for the job of pitching coach. He is looking to bring in someone who is very close to him as the bench coach. Mark Riggins spoke to Sveum over the weekend. The two are expected to talk again soon.

The full coaching staff should be in place sometime in the next few weeks. That's it for now, but I'll keep you posted!

Do the Cubs Need to Make a Change on Their Coaching Staff?

Many times, when your team has one of the worst records in the league, a change on the coaching staff is considered. Improvements are rarely seen based on a tweak on the staff, but management likes to send the message to the team that losing will not be tolerated. So the question is, should the Cubs fire of their coaches?

Mike Quade is in his first year as the manager of the Cubs, as are many of the assistant coaches. Q has made some questionable decisions, but I don't think many people expected the Cubs to contend this year anyway. At this point, I think it would be best to stick it out with Quade for at least the rest of the season.

The two coaches that most often take the blame for their team's struggles are the pitching coach and the hitting coach. Pitching coach Mark Riggins is in his first year, so it may be too soon to pull the plug on him. However, I doubt that guys like Carlos Zambrano, Matt Garza, Carlos Marmol, Kerry Wood and Ryan Dempster truly have that much respect for the longtime minor league coach. Riggins main job is to work with younger hurler such as the currently disabled Andrew Cashner, Chris Carpenter, Marcos Mateo and even Randy Wells or Jeff Samardzija. None of those guys have performed particularly well and I haven't heard anyone rave about Riggins. None the less, I'd stick with him for at least the duration of 2012.

Rudy Jaramillo is supposed to be a hitting guru. However, he has failed to help the Cubs offense. The hitters continue to scuffle in Jaramillo's second year on the job. If you're going to make a move just for the sake of making a move, I'd fire Rudy. The Cubs could bring Jim Riggleman on the staff to take his place or promote Dave Keller to interim hitting coach and then hire someone else at the end of the year.

Pat Listach might have been a mistake as Q's bench coach. Mike could have used an ex-big league manager at his side. If the Cubs hadn't been so rude to Alan Trammell, keeping him on would have been a good move. This is another place that Riggleman could take over. Rarely is a bench coach fired in the middle of the season.

Ivan DeJesus has made some poor decisions in the third base coaching box this season. Coaching third is a very difficult job. For next year, the Cubs may consider swapping DeJesus and Listach. Pat did a solid job coaching third for the Washington Nationals and DeJesus is familiar with a assistant coaching role in the dugout. I do think Ivan is an asset to the staff, but he has struggled a bit as the third base coach.

Thoughts?

Blogging from Mesa (#2)

The Cubs picked up a win over the Rangers today and made some big time roster decisions. Here's the latest:

• Andrew Cashner was named the Cubs fifth starter today. Carlos Silva was told that he will not make the team.
• Silva was not happy with the way the Cubs handle the competition and the way Mark Riggins informed him about the decision.
• Jim Hendry is trying to work out a trade for Silva, but if that does not happen he will be given the option of going to Triple-A Iowa or becoming a free agent. Silva said today that there is "no chance" of him going to Triple-A.
• Marcos Mateo has made the team. Mike Quade announced today that Mateo has won the final spot in the bullpen. Jeff Stevens and Casey Coleman were both sent to minor league camp today.
• There are currently only 27 guys in big league camp. The two extra players are both catchers trying to recover from injuries- Welington Castillo (finger) and Max Ramirez (wrist). Carrie Muskat reports that they are in camp for insurance and Koyie Hill is still expected to make the roster.
• Ramirez will take BP tomorrow and if it goes well he could get in a Cactus League game before camp breaks.
• Q expects Mateo, Russell and Samardzija to all be able to go 2+ innings on some days.
• Augie Ojeda, who was already sent to Fitch Park, is dealing with more back spasms.
• Jeff Baker is day-to-day and expects to play in Goodyear on Monday.
• Randy Wells will start the Cubs intersqaud scrimmage on Wednesday, while Cashner gets his final tune-up on Thursday in a minor league game.
• On a personal note, today I saw a game at Surprise Stadium for the first time. I was very impressed with the field, which is a bit smaller than HoHoKam. It's a good place to take in a ballgame.
• This morning I watched early batting practice at HoHoKam Park before the team left on the bus. It's a great idea if you would like to get close to the players and have a shot at an autograph or two in addition to seeing some extra BP.

That's it for now, but I'll keep you posted!

Breaking News: Ryan Dempster to Start on Opening Day

Updated 3:20pm CT with Spring Training Rotation Info

Today, Mike Quade named Ryan Dempster his Opening Day starter. Demp will take the ball against the Pirates on April 1 at Wrigley Field. This choice is very popular among Cubs fans.

Carlos Zambrano got the nod for six straight years as the Cubs Opening Day guy. The last time he didn't start on Opening Day was when Kerry Wood took the ball for Dusty Baker in 2004. Matt Garza was also in the mix to start the opener.

Quade made the decision this early on because he want to be able to set up the Spring Training rotation accordingly. Zambrano will essentially be the Cubs No. 2, starting the second game of the season. Garza will pitch the final game of the series with the Pirates on April 3.

Update: The Cubs also announced today that Matt Garza and Carlos Zambrano will both pitch in the Spring Training opener against the A's on Sunday. The first pitch is at 2:05 with Cubs Central Pregame on WGN Radio starting at 1:30. It is almost here!

Mike cited Zambrano's hot finish as a reason why this decision was so tough. Dempster status in the clubhouse was not a factor in the decision.

Shifting gears, the MLB Network has released its full 83 game Spring Training broadcast schedule. The first game will be on Saturday at Noon CT as the Phillies take on the Yankees. They will air a tape delayed version of the Rockies/D'backs game on Saturday night at 10:00. Next Sunday, the Angels and Dodgers will battle on the network at 2:00.

The Cubs will play on MLBN on March 11 against the White Sox, March 21 against the Angels, March 22 against the Dodgers and March 25 against the Mariners. The channel will air its "30 Clubs in 30 Days" series for the third straight year. The Cubbies will be featured on March 11 at 6:00 (after the air the Cubs/Sox game).

More to come...

Levine's Latest Before the Snow

Here's the latest from Bruce Levine's popular weekly chat, which takes place every Tuesday over at ESPNChicago.com.

• Jay Jackson has a live arm and could make the club out of Spring Training.
• Bruce thinks the White Sox have a better chance at the playoff than the Cubs "at this point."
• The Cubs have no plans to switch Sean Marshall to the rotation. James Russell will be given a chance.
• Starlin Castro leading off for the Cubs is within the realm of possibility. Baker, Kosuke and DeWitt are other candidates.
• The Cubs will continue to be one of the slowest teams in the majors.
• The Cubs will not trade Geovany Soto, but if they are having another bad season Carlos Marmol could be dealt.
• Levine does not think Samardzija has been handled very well.
• Bruce does not expect a sophomore slump out of Starlin Castro. He should be much improved on defense.
• If Aramis Ramirez plays well, the Cubs will consider picking up his $15 million option. Otherwise, they'll have to pay a $1 million buyout.
• Mark Riggins is a new voice but he has lots of experience. Bruce expects him to be a good fit.
• The Cubs see Brett Jackson as their leadoff man and center fielder of the future.
• The consensus in the organization is that Trey McNutt has more upside than Chris Archer.

That's it for now, I'll keep you posted!

Notes from Day 2 at the Winter Meetings

It's the second day of the 2010 MLB Winter Meetings in Florida. Although rumors and news surrounding the team itself will take a backburner this week because of the passing of Ron Santo, let's get caught up on what has happened at the meetings.

• Yesterday the Cubs named Mark Riggins their pitching coach. Riggins previously served as the Cubs minor league pitching coordinator and spent many years in the Cardinals organization. He spent two years on the Cards big league staff under Joe Torre in the '90s.
• Tennessee Smokies pitching coach Dennis Lewellyn will be promoted to fill the roving role that was held by Riggins in 2010.
• CBS Sports reports that the Cubs are targeting Adam LaRoche.
• Bruce Miles doubts their interest in LaRoche.
• Jon Heyman thinks that the Cubs would like to add Carlos Pena to fill their first base opening.
• Jerry Crasnik of ESPN tweeted today that Brandon Webb's representatives were to meet with the Cubs this afternoon. Webb has been connected to the Cubs over the past week or two.
• The Arizona Diamond Backs have interest in inking Xavier Nady.
• The White Sox signed a pair of former Cubs in Daryle Ward and Jeff Gray. Both men were given minor league deals.
• Thanks to BCB for this one- the Pittsburgh Post Gazette says that the Cubs are shopping Tom Gorzelanny. With Casey Coleman, Carlos Zambrano, Carlos Silva, Ryan Dempster and Randy Wells all in the rotation mix as well, this reports may be accurate.
• Ken Rosenthal has connected Kerry Wood to the White Sox, but it doesn't sound like that will happen.
• The Orioles will be in on Derrek Lee.
• Speaking of former Cubs, Kevin Gregg and Rich Harden both have offers on the table. Rich could come back as a reliever.
• Bruce Levine says that Kosuke is back on the trade block, but only if Hendry knows he can get another left handed bat to take his place.

I'll update with any other news that breaks tonight.

Breaking News: Mark Riggins Named the Cubs Pitching Coach

Mark Riggins has been named the pitching coach of the Chicago Cubs. Riggins was previously the minor league pitching coordinator. More news and updates from the winter meetings later...

Breaking Down the Options for Cubs Pitching Coach

Cubs.com's Carrie Muskat tweeted today that she expects the Cubs to name a new pitching coach on Wednesday. With just two days until Mike Quade's staff will actually be complete, let's break down some of the candidates to replace Larry Rothschild.

Mark Riggins
Many big league sources are reporting that Riggins, the Cubs minor league pitching coordinator, is the favorite to land the gig. The Cubs are expected to stay within the organization for the hire and Mark seems like the right guy. He briefly appeared as a big league coach with the Cardinals in 1995 before becoming the Cards pitching coordinator from 1996 to 2007 before filling the same role with the Cubs starting in 2008. He spent five seasons as a left handed pitcher in the St. Louis chain.

Lester Strode
Strode is the only candidate who has plenty of big league experience. He has been on the Cubs staff as the bullpen coach since 2007. During that time, Lester has also served as an assistant pitching coach to Larry Rothschild. After a nine year minor league pitching career, Strode become a coaching in the Cubs system, first with the Peoria Chiefs ('91-'92) and then as the minor league pitching coordinator.

Mike Mason
Mason's name is a familiar one to most because he spent six years in the big leagues including a brief stint with the Cubs during the 1987 season. The bulk of his career was spent with the Rangers. Mason has been a minor league pitching coach since 1991 and has been the Triple-A Iowa Cubs pitching coach since 2008.

Dennis Lewallyn
The final main candidate with a shot to fill the void on Mike Quade's staff is Dennis Lewallyn. He instructed guys like Chris Archer, Austin Bibens-Dirkx, Chris Carpenter and Craig Muschko this season at Double-A Tennessee. The eight year big league right hander has been the Smokies pitching coach since 2007 and a minor league coach since 1995. Dennis was the D'back minor league pitching coordinator for five years before departing for the Cubs system.

The good thing about all four guys is that they have a strong knowledge of the Cubs organization and its players. It think it is the right move to stay inside the system for this hire.

Jim Hendry on Talkin' Baseball

Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothschild left the team last week to take a job with the New York Yankees. Immediately, speculations about Greg Maddux replacing Larry started, but this situation does not seem likely. Other guys inside the organization like Mike Mason (AAA Iowa), Lester Strode (bullpen coach) and Mark Riggins (minor league roving pitching coach).

Jim Hendry spent some time on ESPN 1000 this week to talk Cubs with the crew on Talkin' Baseball:

• The conclusion to Larry Rothschild's tenure with the Cubs came to an end rather quickly.
• This didn't come as a complete shock to Jim. Hendry and Rothschild have a good relationship.
• This was a family decision for Larry.
• It is still early to tell, but the Cubs are looking to find the best first baseman them can. Moving Tyler Colvin to first is a possibility. Colvin is prepared to do either one.
• Colvin's role will be dictated by who else the Cubs get.
• This year's GM Meetings were more business-lie than in the past. There was not a whole lot of time for trade talk.
• Crane Kenney told Bruce that the Cubs should have some money to spend.
• Hendry believes that the team will be able to add a piece or two. They will also look for a trade or two in the offseason.
• The Cubs expect to fill the pitching coach void within the next week or two. They plan to go inside the organization and make a hire soon.

That's it for now, I'll keep you posted!