CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs desperately want David Ross to succeed. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer was heavily involved in the decision to pluck Ross from ESPN and make him the 55th manager in franchise history. Chairman Tom Ricketts said Ross “had a great season” after the Cubs collapsed in September and failed to make the playoffs. The most important players in the clubhouse have Ross’ back. It’s clear that Ross is safe for now.
Advertisement
But when the margin for error is razor-thin, every aspect of an organization must be scrutinized. One or two bounces here or there could have meant the difference between 84 wins and competing in October or 83 wins and going home for the winter. As Hoyer thinks about every decision that could have been made, big or small, he has to consider whether Ross is the right person to manage this team.
That uncomfortable topic could be avoided if the Cubs spend the money necessary to upgrade the roster and the players continue to respond to Ross’ leadership style. But to get to 90-plus wins, the Cubs will need their manager to continue to adapt.
“Next year is going to be important,” Hoyer said. “We have real organizational momentum. It’s really important to continue to build on that. Obviously, Rossy’s a big part of that. But, yeah, he’s not a new manager anymore. He’s going into his fifth season. I think he’s really matured in the job and developed. Like all of us, he wants to get better every year.”
During Tuesday’s end-of-season news conference in the Wrigley Field interview room, Hoyer sat in the same position that Ross occupies before and after each home game. In those media sessions, Ross sometimes has to answer for group decisions that involve Hoyer, general manager Carter Hawkins, bench coach Andy Green, pitching coach Tommy Hottovy and Craig Breslow, an assistant GM and the senior vice president of pitching.
With the way the Cubs unraveled down the stretch, questions must be asked about strategy. Does Ross signal for bunts too often? Should he have picked spots to rest his best relievers in August to prepare them to thrive in September? Does he call upon the right relievers at the right times? Should he let his starters pitch deeper into games to help preserve the bullpen? Would different lineup combinations have given everyone more breathing room in those close games?
Advertisement
The modern manager is no longer seen as an authoritarian figure who cannot be questioned. Ross largely understood the dynamics when he replaced Joe Maddon after the 2019 season because he had worked as a special assistant in baseball operations. This is a job that requires collaboration with the front office, a large coaching staff, and the medical and research and development departments.
David Ross has a 262-284 record in four seasons as Cubs manager. (John Fisher / Getty Images)Would load management have helped Dansby Swanson, Nico Hoerner and Ian Happ stay sharp in the last month of the season? Is it on Hoyer to find his manager more trustworthy relievers? Or does Ross have to be more creative to find ways to keep pitchers fresh down the stretch? On and on, the questions will be asked all winter and into next season.
“I know the manager in a big market is always going to get criticism,” Hoyer said. “That’s part of the job. Terry Francona just retired and he’s going straight to the Hall of Fame. I was with him in Boston for a long time and there were always questions about what he was doing and he’s going to be in Cooperstown. That’s the nature of it. Do we have disagreements? Do we have heated conversations? Of course we do. But you will with any manager. They have to make so many different decisions. They have so many different things to weigh.
“We work hard all the time to give him the right information. And if there are things that we disagree with, or things that we can do better, he’s very open-minded to that. He’s constantly trying to improve.”
Maddon is also a potential Hall of Famer, but the front office’s two primary frustrations near the end of his tenure in Chicago revolved around his strong-willed nature and laissez-faire attitude in the clubhouse. Again, those qualities made Maddon successful beyond his wildest dreams and helped end a 108-year World Series drought. Ross, a key role player on that championship team, has a different gravitas in the locker room and a willingness to hear those criticisms.
Advertisement
“There’s a long list of areas where I can improve,” Ross said. “I’ll sit down and talk with my coaches, talk with the front office. Other people see your shortcomings more than you do. I’ll try to evaluate when I have conversations with others (about) what I can do. Continue to listen to the feedback and grow.”
Just because this year played out in a particular fashion doesn’t mean that Hoyer has all the information needed to determine whether Ross can thrive as an in-game tactician. The reality is this was the first full season in which Ross managed a team that was competing in August and September. That 2020 division title came in a 60-game season before the Cubs went into cost-cutting mode amid the COVID-19 pandemic, moving Yu Darvish to the San Diego Padres and executing sell-offs at the next two trade deadlines.
Ross remains a steady presence, excelling in the areas of the job that are impossible to truly measure, though a team going from 10 games under .500 to 12 games over .500 in the same season is a good sign.
Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts looks beyond the September collapse and credits manager David Ross for the team’s midseason turnaround and year-over-year improvement: “Rossy had a great season. The players play hard for him. He’s our guy.”
— Patrick Mooney (@PJ_Mooney) October 1, 2023
“It’s a testament to him,” Swanson said. “We follow him. A lot of our personality comes from him as a manager.”
It would have been easy to undermine Ross. A pitcher can turn his back when the manager walks out to the mound and cause a scene. A hitter can throw his helmet in frustration and instigate a dugout altercation. The players will never completely agree with everything the manager does for six months. But Ross commands their attention and deals with stuff so the front office doesn’t have to.
“I don’t even know how many people are in a clubhouse on a given day,” Hoyer said. “Let’s call it 50 to 60 people are down here every single day. All those people at some point in that day want or need his time. His mood, his direction, everything about the manager defines what happens in a clubhouse. This game is so up and down all the time.
“To be able to bring a positive energy, a productive energy every single day, to stay on message all the time, to be encouraging to the players and to keep their respect all the time, there’s not a lot of groups of humans more cynical than a group of major-league players. If they sense any weakness, if they sense any part of you is not genuine at all, you can lose that group of players really quickly.”
Advertisement
A manager has to have those rare interpersonal skills, a feel for the clubhouse and the ability to connect with analysts, support staff, the media and corporate partners. Ross took the job with that kind of confidence and charisma. The relationships within the organization are meaningful. The emotional connection to Wrigley Field is genuine.
But the Cubs no longer have a rookie manager. The expectation is that Ross, who has a 262-284 record and zero playoff wins through four seasons, will continue to grow with his in-game decision-making. His contract is guaranteed for next season and includes a club option for 2025. The bottom line is the 2024 team has to win or else Hoyer may be forced to look in another direction (while heading into the final year of his own contract).
“I know the expectation here,” Ross said, “and hold myself to a higher standard than where we’re at.”
(Photo: Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune / Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57k3JqampiZ3xzfJFsZmpoX2WCcK%2FUm6pmnJGrtqV50aiqrGWYpMFuv8Saq2g%3D