October 15, 2018

• Daily Herald, Cubs facing several key issues this off-season https://www.dailyherald.com/sports/20181013/cubs-facing-several-key-issues-this-off-season

• The Athletic, Cub o’ coffee: Time for some exit interviews (infield edition) https://theathletic.com/590449/2018/10/15/cub-o-coffee-time-for-some-exit-interviews-infield- edition/

• The Athletic, Cubs roundtable: Four pressing questions for ’s favorite NL wild-card losing team https://theathletic.com/587544/2018/10/14/cubs-roundtable-four-pressing-questions-for-chicagos- favorite-nl-wild-card-losing-team/

• The Athletic, Thoughts on the next hitting and where the Cubs go from here https://theathletic.com/586874/2018/10/12/thoughts-on-the-next-hitting-coach-and-where-the- cubs-go-from-here/

• Chicago Tribune, 5 potential candidates to be the Cubs' next hitting coach http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-cubs-hitting-coach-candidates- 20181012-story.html

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Daily Herald Cubs facing several key issues this off-season By Bruce Miles

If there's any upside for the in getting knocked out of the playoffs early, it's that team president Theo Epstein and general manager have plenty of time to plan their off-season.

There is plenty to do and a lot to decide.

Players may become free agents one day after the World Series ends. No doubt Epstein and Hoyer will be active in both the free-agent and trade markets.

Here are some of the key issues and the key names.

The offense: There's no understating just how far the Cubs' offense fell in the second half of the season. Epstein's frustration, disappointment and even anger were quite apparent during his postseason news conference.

And just over a week later, hitting coach was fired after one season on the job.

At the all-star break, the Cubs led the in runs scored, batting average, on-base percentage and OPS. They were the only NL team with a triple-digit run differential (plus-114).

At season's end, the Cubs were still first in batting average. They were second in OBP, but they had fallen to fourth in runs scored and to fifth in OPS. They were 11th in home runs.

How to remedy it: The two most attractive free-agents-to-be on the market will be Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper and Dodgers shortstop Manny Machado.

The Cubs have money to spend. They'll be conscious of going over the luxury-tax threshold, but that won't be a deal breaker if Epstein and Hoyer feel they can land one of these players.

What that might mean: If the Cubs were to land a big-tag free agent, they'd have to move some players, either around the diamond or out the door. Any of , or Jr. could wind up being trade bait this off-season.

Schwarber would be an attractive DH option for an team even though his defense in left field was more than acceptable.

He had a batting line of .238/.356/.467 for a solid .823 OPS and solid OPS-plus of 115.

Shortstop will begin the season under suspension under the terms of 's domestic violence policy. The Cubs may seek to trade him, but his value may be at an all-time low.

The Heyward question: For the past two springs, a big topic was how much "better" outfielder was going to be after working with hitting coach John Mallee in 2017 and Davis in 2018.

Truth be told, Heyward was only marginally better in '17 than he was during his offensively poor 2016 and in '18 over '17.

This year, he went .270/.335/.395 for an OPS of .731 and a paltry OPS-plus of 92 (where 100 is league average). During his postseason news conference last year, Epstein talked of getting Heyward back to being a 6-win player, as in wins above replacement (WAR). Heyward was only a 2.0 this year after going 1.0 in both 2016 and 2017.

He has completed three seasons of his eight-year, $184 million contract. His full no-trade protection has expired -- he may block deals to 12 teams over the next two years. If the Cubs could find a taker and even pick up some of the money, they'd certainly consider moving Heyward.

What to do with Hamels: Left-hander Cole Hamels was a godsend to the Cubs' starting rotation when they obtained him in a July trade with Texas.

With Tyler Chatwood unable to find the strike zone and Yu Darvish gone for most of the season with injury, the Cubs were desperate for some stability and effectiveness.

Hamels gave them all of that, plus large doses of professionalism. With the Cubs, he went 4-3 with a 2.35 ERA and a WHIP of 1.10. He also tossed Cubs' only complete game of the season.

There is a $20 million club option on Hamels for 2019. Epstein stated his desire to explore bringing Hamels back. It would serve the Cubs well to pick up the option or pay the $6 million buyout and perhaps work out a two-year deal.

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The Athletic Cub o’ coffee: Time for some exit interviews (infield edition) By Andy Dolan

It would be rude of me to deprive you of your Monday morning ritual just because the Cubs have crapped out of the playoffs earlier than at any other time since this column’s debut in April 2016. This offseason figures to have no shortage of news, and the Cubs got a jump start on it by firing hitting coach Chili Davis under cover of darkness (and a news release) last week. So let’s kick things off by taking a look at the nine different infielders who played for the Cubs this past season.

Anthony Rizzo: He wasn’t just a lockdown late-inning relief pitcher, you know. Rizzo got off to a horrendous start, and on April 30 he finished the day hitting a woeful .149/.259/.189 with a homer and nine RBIs to go with only four walks against 15 strikeouts. The only thing that salvaged his on-base average at all was that opposing pitchers apparently took pity on him by hitting him seven times. That .189 slugging seems almost unbelievable. He went on the disabled list after the sixth game of the season with a bad back and had only one extra-base hit, a homer, in his first 18 games.

But, he’s , and like water, he finds his own level, even if it requires him to play the Rocky theme and run naked around the clubhouse. From May 1 on, he hit .303/.393/.512 with 24 homers and 92 RBI. When the Cubs needed a spark he moved to the top of the order, where he continued his amazing run as the self-proclaimed greatest leadoff hitter of all-time. He now has 11 career homers as a leadoff man, including four in only 45 games.

He’s also the only left-handed batter to ever homer off of the Brewers’ Josh Hader, and that homer, on Labor Day, nearly put the division to bed for the Cubs. That game was the first of six between the Cubs and Brewers in a 10-day period in early September, and Rizzo’s two-run shot gave the Cubs a 3-2 lead. It would have been a huge tone-setting win for the rest of the season. But Carl Edwards Jr. melted down in the bottom of the eighth (the first of many from that point on) and tried to turn an unlikely double play by stepping on third for a force and then trying to get Lorenzo Cain at first. Bryant could have gone home for a force at the plate, but instead he failed to get Cain and the winning run scored. The Brewers would win four of those six Cubs matchups, and, well, you know what happened.

Rizzo still has a season and two team options on his terrible contract, which is the gift that keeps on giving, allowing the Cubs flexibility as they look to add another impact bat this offseason.

Javier Báez: The Most Valuable Player is a misnomer. The Brewers’ Christian Yelich will win it this year because he was the best player. But is he more “valuable” than Báez? Báez plays more premium defensive positions than Yelich and plays them all well. He has perfected the “run until you score or get tagged out” method of baserunning, showcases a super-high baseball IQ on a regular basis, is the best tagger in the game, and probably the best slider, has the same power/speed mix that Yelich has, and is a year younger.

We saw flashes of the player Báez could be over the years, especially in the 2016 NLDS when he would have been the MVP if there were such a thing in that round, and the NLCS when he and split the award. He put almost everything together in 2018. On a team where he’s likely the third-best offensive player behind Rizzo and Kris Bryant, Báez is already the most important player on the team because of how many ways he positively impacts games. His last area to improve in is drawing walks. He played 16 more games in 2018 but walked one fewer time than he did in 2017. He drew more unintentional walks this year (21) than in 2017 (15), but either way his career high is 30 walks in a season. To put that in perspective, Bryce Harper walked 38 times in September this year.

Addison Russell: It’s all gone wrong and it’s all his fault. When he homered on June 29 against the Twins it was his second in as many days and fifth of the season. His slash line was .282/.354/.407. It looked like, at the still-young age of 24, he was starting to put it all together. But he never homered again, hitting only .207/.264/.251 the rest of the season. He was suspended for the last 11 games of the season and the first 29 of next season under the league’s domestic violence policy, and he has no discernible future with the Cubs. The only question is if they’ll release him or try to trade him once his suspension ends. His departure should not depend on his potential to become a quality player. Life has consequences, and this is one of them.

Kris Bryant: We have even more reason to loathe players diving head-first into first base than ever, and we had a lot before. First off, you have to slow down to dive so you are costing yourself the very edge you think you’re gaining. Then there’s what can happen when you try to fly. Bryant was tearing up the National League on May 19 to the tune of .311/.428/.595 when he threw all principles of physics to the wind and belly-flopped unsuccessfully at first during a doubleheader in Cincinnati and hurt his left shoulder. His MVP-level start was over, he served two DL stints and a endured a woeful .249/.339/.378 finish to the season while trying to play with one arm.

The Cubs played the final 120 games of the season with their best player putting up a worse OPS than managed last season. Bryant also got hit in the head with a pitch, hit in the hand twice and probably got bit by that rat that jumped out of the outfield basket in September. Let’s hope he got all of that out of the way and can just get back to terrorizing the National League next season.

David Bote: For a guy who played in fewer than half of the team’s games, Bote made quite an impression. His prodigious exit velocity was on display as his first five homers either tied the game or gave the Cubs the lead. He was part of the back-to-back homer walk-off with Rizzo against the Diamondbacks, drew the rare walk-off walk in a game against the Reds, and nobody will ever forget his walk-off grand slam against the Nationals on Sunday Night Baseball. The Cubs won 17 of the first 21 games he played in.

Bote also played excellent defense at third base, which is supposed to be his third-best infield position. But even great stories have a shelf life. Not long after he crushed a knee-high fastball off Ryan Madson in that win over Washington, teams stopped throwing it to him there. He hit only .176/.244/.315 with 40 strikeouts in his final 40 games. He has the potential to be a valuable utility player for the Cubs next year, though clearly he’s got a major adjustment to make at the plate.

Tommy La Stella: Did you know La Stella led the National League in pinch-hits with 24? I think maybe the Cubs’ TV and radio announcers mentioned that once or 12,000 times. He played in a career-high 123 games, in what was in many ways the least productive of his four seasons with the Cubs. He posted his lowest batting average, his second worst on-base average, and by far his worst slugging. But as long as there’s no designated hitter in the National League, being a good pinch-hitter is a valuable skill.

You’d think a guy would be more productive in starts because he gets multiple at-bats, but when La Stella got one, and only one at-bat in a game as a pinch hitter, he hit .312/.398/.416/.813 with 24 hits and nine walks. If you have a pinch-hitter who gets on base nearly 40 percent of the time, you’ll find a spot for that guy. Defensively, he doesn’t really have a position. His arm makes turning double plays at second an adventure, and he’d never played third base until he came to the Cubs. His 91 plate appearances as a pinch-hitter in 2018 were more than he had in 2016 and 2017 combined (81).

Daniel Murphy: It seemed like a gift from the heavens when the Cubs got Daniel Murphy from the Nationals on August 21, even if he did come with baggage that required another uncomfortable welcome-to-the-Cubs press conference. He had missed the first 64 games of the year after offseason knee surgery, and the Nats probably brought him back too soon. They activated him in time for a six- game road trip through Toronto and the Bronx where he could be the designated hitter. He didn’t really hit his stride for another month. When he came to the Cubs, he was in the midst of a 12-game tear where he hit .362/.375/.532. It seemed absurd that every team in the National League let him pass on waivers, but they did. The Cubs were at the tail end of that weird (but not too weird for their anemic second-half offense) stretch where they scored only one run each in five consecutive games on a solo homer.

The Cubs won the first eight games Murphy played in and he hit .308 with a .528 slugging in his first 15 games with the team. But then he, too, succumbed to the Cubs’ post-All-Star offensive malaise.

Never a defensive whiz, his age and bum knee severely limited his range at second base and he’s never been much of a thrower. He also runs like a toddler with his short choppy steps and his hands out to his sides like he’s just trying to not fall down. His wobbly running style somehow served as an exemplification of the Cubs’ final month as they, too, looked like they were just trying to get to the finish without falling over.

Murphy did crank it up down the stretch, and hit a very strong .380/.395/.560 over the Cubs’ final 13 games. At this point in his career he needs to find an American League team with a DH spot for him. Dreams of him doing something awesome for the Cubs in the postseason to make the incredible 1.850 OPS he posted against them in the 2015 NLCS more palatable faded as the Cubs flailed away helplessly in the wild-card loss to the Rockies. Unless Murphy’s 11th-inning intentional walk or his five innings of competent first base play filling in for Rizzo in that game really did it for you, his Cubs killer legacy is secure.

Efren Navarro: Did you remember that Efren Navarro played for the 2018 Cubs? Don’t feel bad if you didn’t; I’m not entirely sure that he remembers. Navarro was recalled from Iowa when Rizzo went on the disabled list in April and played in four games. His most memorable moment came in a game against the Braves when he entered in the sixth with the Cubs down 10-2, but batted twice in the eighth inning when the Cubs rallied to take a 14-10 lead. Navarro made two of the three outs. Hey, somebody has to make them or the game never ends!

Mike Freeman: Freeman spent all season at Iowa until he was recalled on September 26 to give the Cubs middle infield depth with Russell on the suspended list. Freeman’s wife was due to give birth on October 1. Nice of the Cubs to finish their playoff run on October 2 so he could get back home.

Next week we’ll look at the rest of the position players who got an at-bat, including, for some reason, Terrance Gore.

Chili Davis was fired because somebody had to pay for the Cubs’ offensive flop in the second half. And it was real. The Cubs were first in the league in runs at the All-Star break but dropped to fourth by the end of the season.

Given how well the Cubs pitched down the stretch, had the offense merely been competent, they might very well still be playing. If you judge an offense by its most important measure, which is how many runs they score, Davis’ career is pretty impressive.

In his three seasons as the A’s hitting coach they finished eighth in the AL in runs scored in his first season but third in his next two. He went to Boston and they finished fourth, then first, then dropped to sixth. Then fourth with the Cubs. He won’t have much problem finding another job.

Maybe at his next stop he won’t be blamed for the team not replacing David Ortiz or for Kris Bryant getting hurt.

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The Athletic Cubs roundtable: Four pressing questions for Chicago’s favorite NL wild-card losing team By Jon Greenberg

The other day I was reading Dan Hayes’ story about the search for the next Twins manager — not exactly a captivating nationwide expedition — and a familiar name popped up: .

Rowson, as you might remember, was the Cubs hitting coach from 2012-13. You might not remember that, because who cared who the Cubs hitting coach was in 2012 or 2013? (In verifying this fact, I was reminded that Rudy Jaramillo actually was the hitting coach for half the 2012 season before he was fired. Remember when Jim Hendry threw bags of money at Jaramillo to save the Cubs’ offense? Lou Piniella had a funny anecdote about that in this recent autobiography.)

Rowson is now the hitting coach for the Twins — again news to most people — and got a courtesy interview to replace Paul Molitor. I’m guessing he won’t be getting that job. Nor will Rowson be the next Cubs hitting coach. But will the Cubs revisit their recent past to replace Chili Davis, who was let go this week? Will they branch out to someone who didn’t work for Boston or San Diego in the last 15 years?

The identity of the Cubs’ next hitting scapegoat, er, coach is one of four questions I had for our Cubs experts Patrick Mooney, Sahadev Sharma and Andy Dolan in this virtual roundtable discussion.

1. Who should the Cubs hire as hitting coach? And does it matter? Are they still paying off Rudy Jaramillo like a student loan?

Patrick Mooney: Anthony Iapoce rounded out his resume with big-league experience after spending the last three seasons with the and could essentially pick up where John Mallee left off because of his relationships inside the organization. Iapoce worked for the Cubs as a special assistant in player development and oversaw the minor-league hitting program between 2013 and 2015. But even Iapoce would admit that it comes down to players making plays. Rudy Jaramillo is a reminder that it’s never a good sign when you play up adding a new hitting coach like it’s a new free agent.

Sahadev Sharma: To be honest, I’m not sure who the hitting coach is will really be the key to the Cubs offense turning it around. If I had to pick one player who struggled last season that you definitely want to see turn it around, it’s . Usually, it’s really hard to know who is going to be the one to unlock a specific player’s potential. But if Anthony Iapoce or really clicked with Contreras in the past, then go with that guy.

Here’s an idea that might make sense: What about as hitting coach? Yeah, I’m not sure he helps them hit any better, maybe let focus on that. Here’s why I’m even suggesting it: Theo Epstein has seemed hesitant in the past when I’ve asked if he’d ever hire a manager with zero coaching experience – though he never completely ruled it out. I’m not saying Ross is the right guy to manage this team in the future, but perhaps the Cubs envision that. If that’s the case, maybe it makes sense to get him a year in a coach’s uniform before transitioning into the top role.

Other than that, maybe Manny Ramirez. I have no clue if he’ll help, but it would be fun to cover him for a full season and maybe he’ll say something ridiculous on the record that we can all enjoy.

Andy Dolan: What’s Dale Sveum up to these days? And no, it doesn’t really matter. As Emmitt Smith would say, Chili was an “escape goat.” Somebody had to take the fall for the Cubs’ broken offense. Firing the hitting coach is in The Cubs Way book right between “Find a way to classify an April Wednesday game versus the Reds as a premium game” and “Fuck up the press conference for every controversial trade acquisition.”

2. Did the Cubs overhype their young hitters? We’re not talking about Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant or Javy Báez, but it looks like the rest of the group just aren’t All-Star caliber types. Who do you think can still rise to the top?

Mooney: Blame the media. And the Cubs. And the players for believing the hype. We’re just seeing some of the issues when all these young hitters are clumped together. Albert Almora Jr. would be a perfect No. 9 hitter/Gold Glove center fielder/clubhouse guy in a loaded American League lineup. Willson Contreras got ahead of himself with his best-catcher declaration, but he’s got all the physical tools and maybe the Cubs need to surround him with an experienced backup and a couple different personalities/producers to take off some pressure. Can’t understand how Kyle Schwarber – who’s already handled the best pitching in the world in the biggest moments of his life – could hit 26 homers and make his season feel so quiet.

Sharma: Did the media hype up these players? I don’t know about that. It wasn’t us who clung to these players in trades and talked up Schwarber as a great offensive force or Addison Russell as Barry Larkin. We may have foolishly parroted these ideas, but we certainly didn’t start them. Even when I wrote about Ian Happ possibly turning a corner to start September, I was careful to write that it was Andy Haines who was suggesting this, not me.

As far as who can bounce back, I’m gonna stick with Contreras. He’s the most talented of the group and I’ve seen him perform like a star for an extended period of time. I think he can get to that level again with the right guidance and focus. He certainly has the intensity and edge that Epstein spoke about after the season ended, now for the talent to shine through for a full season.

Dolan: The Cubs overhyped them, the media found ways to support the case, and the fans ate it up. Everybody was complicit. Even as we all knew that the reason teams need volume is because most prospects end up suspect, it seemed for a while like the Cubs were going to be the exception. But hype can’t hide the fact that Albert Almora can’t hit right-handers, Kyle Schwarber can’t hit left-handers and Ian Happ can’t stop swinging at pitches above the letters, even though everybody knows he can’t hit them. Second-half Willson Contreras slugged .249! Cole Hamels slugged .261. If any one thing got Chili fired it was whatever happened to Contreras. He hit two homers after Aug. 1, and I’m not sure the one he hit the last weekend of the season actually hit inside the basket.

I think Contreras will round back into form, Schwarber will eventually hit lefties and at some point umpires will stop calling pitches in the other strike zone strikes. I’m not sure about Happ, but the first sign of real trouble will be when people start writing that he should give up switch hitting. I have no faith that Almora is anything more than the right-handed half of a platoon–a shockingly slow right-handed half of a platoon.

3. I don’t think will care about being a lame duck, because he’s getting paid, and he’s in charge, but what are the “distractions” that are coming in 2019? Besides the constant speculation with every winning and losing streak, how is he going to handle being second-guessed behind the scenes?

Mooney: Maddon will channel his inner Jay Cutler: Don’t. Care. Honestly think an element of this will be good for the Cubs, a little edge and uncertainty to spark a team that probably needs to feel some more internal pressure. As you can imagine, Maddon is kind of in his own world, anyway, and won’t be worrying about what people are writing or saying on the radio.

Sharma: Depending on how this staff looks next season, there could be some distractions on the bench. Hell, has already gotten some managerial love with an interview in Texas and in Los Angeles, and we know this front office is a big fan of what he has to offer. If that edge is added to the clubhouse, how will that/those player(s) react to Maddon’s laid-back message? Especially knowing that there’s a chance he’s only around for one more year? Or does Maddon tweak his message at all to bring that sense of urgency back from April on? We heard a lot of players defend Maddon after the team’s loss to Colorado in the wild-card game. I don’t expect that to change in 2019, but if it does, that story is going to be a headline for a while.

Dolan: The inevitable first distraction will come about when the new hitting coach is hired, because it will restart the questions to Joe about his disdain for launch angle, and we know what Theo thinks about that. Then there’s the Addison Russell situation to deal with, even if he never actually comes back to play for them. Then, there’s the real chance that one of the players finally tells him that his “put the art in baseball” thing last year was really, really stupid.

I don’t think Joe will be all that fazed about being in the last year of his deal, but as fans start to spiral deeper and deeper into “What if the Cubs are like the ’85 Bears?” and ‘only’ win one” panic mode, every weird bullpen move, quirky lineup and Binny’s commercial will be overly scrutinized. I think it would be really interesting if a team like the Rangers hired Brandon Hyde and the Cubs were able to go back to their “up and coming manager” short list from last year and hire a guy like Raul Ibanez or that fella who finished runner up on Dancing With the Stars a couple of years ago. How would Joe handle having his successor hanging out in the dugout, when he clearly isn’t remotely close to driving off in his RV to retirement. Did you guys know Joe has an RV?

4. What can the Cubs do this offseason to be a top-level playoff threat in 2019? Give us four moves. You can be realistic or wildly optimistic.

Mooney:

Don’t overthink it: Pick up the options for Cole Hamels and , hope Bryant gets healthy and non-tender Addison Russell. Don’t overreact (like when the Cubs fired Mallee). Bring back , or at least add a couple of edgier veteran personalities to the clubhouse. Oh, yeah, sign Manny Machado or Bryce Harper.

Sharma: This is probably wildly optimistic in the sense that a couple of these moves happening are realistic, but all of them? That would be a grand-slam winter. First of all, go get a veteran backup catcher who can spell Contreras, who led baseball with 1,109 2/3 innings caught. I think ideally they’d like to get a lefty bat there, but that may not be possible. I’d say one who has superior defense and knows how to handle a staff would be a priority, with René Rivera and Martín Maldonado topping the list.

After that, go get a left-handed reliever who can share closing duties with Brandon Morrow. Zach Britton and Andrew Miller are available via free agency, but they both might have their best years behind them. I say with a likely shuffling of the offense coming and trades being made, one of them should be to try and snag Sean Doolittle from a team that may be looking to reload if Bryce Harper walks.

Speaking of Harper, instead of bringing him in the fold, the Cubs add Manny Machado. (Am I the first to suggest that move?) Imagine an infield of a healthy Bryant at third, Machado at shortstop (his defense has been significantly better at that position with Los Angeles), Báez at second and Rizzo at first. My lord, that’s scary for the opposition to think about. Then add in Contreras bouncing back? That’s how you fix an offense.

And looking for a little edge and some depth to the outfield? This one is a little out there and completely depends on how much he’s willing to take on a deal, but how about adding Andrew McCutchen? Sell him on the fact that this team can get him that ring he craves and start him about 110 times in favorable matchups. He had a 115 wRC+ in 130 games with the Giants this year and then in 25 with the Yankees, he posted a 149. If he hit anything in between there, it would be perfect for the Cubs. He also has hit .310/.416/.484 at Wrigley Field, so the reporters who love asking incoming free agents “How excited are you to play at Wrigley Field?” would have a legit angle.

Dolan: What’s the use of Tom Ricketts filling Wrigleyville with family-owned upscale tourist traps, and bending over backward to stay under the luxury tax in 2018 if not to blow it out of the water in 2019? Bryce Harper isn’t just the biggest name in free agency, he actually is an easily defensible fit in a Cubs lineup that suddenly needs some more punch. Sign Harper for right field and move Jason Heyward into a center-field platoon with Almora.

The qualifying offer was $17.4 million last year, and the Cubs can retain Cole Hamels for one year at “just” $20 million, which seems a true value and also a complete no-brainer. Of course, they can also use the Rangers’ $6 million to buy him out and try to re-sign him for two years at a lower annual value. Either way, just keep him. The luxury of having your rotation settled before the second week of November is worth it. Plus, he clearly has something left in the tank, and he’s just so damned handsome. Oh, and I’m lumping re-signing Jesse Chavez in this second move, mostly because I like to Tweet out the Lou Diamond Phillips picture from Young Guns every time he pitches.

Treat Brandon Morrow like a set-up man, and go get another closer. Sure, it’s easier said than done, but Morrow hadn’t been the epitome of health before the Dodgers rode him like a donkey in the 2017 playoffs, and not surprisingly he broke down in 2018. If he’s healthy next year you’ve got a great problem on your hands. If he gets hurt again, you’re covered. But if you get to September and you’re running out guys like Jorge de la Rosa and Jaime García to close games you have clearly failed.

Lastly, we have come to a crucial point in the Cubs’ not-quite-a-dynasty. With Russell leaving a big hole in the middle of the field the Cubs need to pick a position for Báez and acquire somebody to play the other spot.

Shortstops are hard to come by, and they could trade out of the Schwarber/Happ/Almora troika for a second baseman. It would also be nice if that guy had true on-base skills so Joe can stop “stunt casting” the leadoff spot. They could just give the job to David Bote and hope that pitchers forget the only pitch he could hit last year was a fastball at the knees. Or, they could go big and try to find a Luis Valbuena type to play second. Oh, who am I kidding? There are no Valbuena “types.” There’s just one. He hit exactly .199 each of the last two seasons for the Angels, so clearly he’s been saving up his hits. Who knows, maybe he’s too busy running a gas station and trying to become the Venezuelan George Bell? The top guys in the free agent market are sea-level DJ LeMahieu (bad) and underwater Brian Dozier (really bad). You know what they could really use? A Gleyber Torres type. Oh, never mind.

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The Athletic Thoughts on the next hitting coach and where the Cubs go from here By Patrick Mooney

Cubs manager Joe Maddon was for launch angle before he was against it … or something like that. If you are a little confused about the mixed messages being sent about this team’s offensive philosophy, well, you are not alone. It apparently came through in the exit interviews with players after a 95-win, one- and-done playoff season. It ultimately got hitting coach Chili Davis fired, the first step in what should be an offseason of change.

That kind of miscommunication goes at least all the way back to the end of Dale Sveum’s tenure in 2013, the dark days of the Wrigley Field rebuild, the year the manager threatened to send Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro to Triple-A Iowa. Sveum — a former hitting coach with his own ideas after a 12-year playing career in the big leagues — wasn’t always on the same page with Theo Epstein’s front office about how to build a large-scale, -style lineup. Even people who’ve worked together before don’t always know what they’re getting into, and player development can be wildly unpredictable.

It’s also a reflection of the impossible job description — hitting is harder than ever with standard-issue 100-mph velocity, specialized bullpens, defensive shifts, video databases — and the cutthroat nature in this business. Epstein once observed that being the Cubs hitting coach is like being the drummer for Spinal Tap.

After ’s one-and-done season in 2014, the Cubs hired John Mallee, who did exactly what they wanted with their young hitters, blending the science he learned in the ’ laboratory with a positive attitude and a strong work ethic. Mallee — the son of a Chicago cop and a Mount Carmel High School graduate — went 3-for-3 in trips to the National League Championship Series and earned a ring.

But it wasn’t enough to keep his job after the Cubs struggled against the Washington Nationals and during last year’s playoffs. The Cubs framed it as Davis was uniquely qualified, the only hitting coach who would compel them to get rid of Mallee, and Chili happened to become a free agent when the Red Sox fired manager John Farrell after back-to-back 93-win seasons (and first-round exits).

Davis also did exactly what the Cubs outlined when they initially hired him — stressing situational hitting and focusing on a mentality instead of data — and lasted 50 weeks on the job.

With all that in mind, a look at where the Cubs go from here:

• Anthony Iapoce knows Mallee’s hitting program, the personalities in the clubhouse and how this organization works. Iapoce spent three seasons as a special assistant in player development — the years the Cubs spent first-round picks on Kris Bryant (2013), Kyle Schwarber (2014) and Ian Happ (2015) — and oversaw the club’s minor-league hitting program during that time. Iapoce jumped from there to hitting coach for the Texas Rangers, a franchise now in flux after firing manager .

• Eric Hinske has also been mentioned in rumblings now that the are transitioning to the post-Mike Scioscia era. Hinske — Mallee’s assistant for three years at Wrigley Field — just completed his first season as the lead hitting coach for , and the rest of the 80- 82 Angels. Hinske played for the 2007 World Series-winning team that Epstein built in Boston and played for Maddon on the 2008 team that won the American League pennant. As a coach, Hinske’s suggestion to crowd the plate helped Rizzo become a more dangerous left-handed hitter. After signing a $184 million contract, Jason Heyward remembered how much Hinske, as a veteran player, helped him through his rookie year with the , and paid for the coach’s season-long hotel suite on the road in 2016.

• Andy Haines has to be a consideration, even if it means staying on as assistant hitting coach, though the Cubs weren’t ready to confirm Maddon’s entire 2019 staff when they released the Davis news on Thursday night. Haines is organized and personable and similar to Iapoce in that he came out of the Marlins’ system, worked closely with Mallee and spent the previous two seasons as the Cubs’ minor- league hitting coordinator. Haines would be particularly valuable if the Cubs tried to hire a big-name, former player without much coaching experience for the lead job.

• Mike Bryant … just kidding, even though KB’s dad was ahead of the curve with launch angle, teaching kids in Las Vegas and helping create a baseball prodigy. Remember, this offense will automatically improve over a full season with a healthy Bryant, and the Cubs are dealing with professionals who should already be their own best hitting coaches.

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Chicago Tribune 5 potential candidates to be the Cubs' next hitting coach By Mark Gonzales

Return of the launch angle?

Revival of the clutch hit?

The next Cubs hitting coach will try to maximize the skills of an offense that has yet to reach its potential despite winning the 2016 World Series.

Here’s a look at five potential candidates, listed in alphabetical order, to become the Cubs’ third hitting coach in three seasons after the dismissal of Chili Davis on Thursday:

1. Andy Haines Current job: Cubs assistant hitting coach.

Background: Haines, 41, worked closely the last two seasons with former hitting coaches John Mallee and Chili Davis, so he has vast knowledge of the batters’ strengths, weaknesses and tendencies. He managed for seven seasons in the Marlins farm system (2009-15), and one former Marlins executive believed Haines was overdue for a major-league coaching position that never crystallized. Haines left the Marlins to join the Cubs player development staff as minor-league hitting coordinator.

2. Eric Hinske Current job: Angels hitting coach.

Background: Hinske’s future is in the hands of the next Angels manager, but he might be able to smooth the rough edges Cubs hitters have shown over the past two seasons. The Cubs hired Hinske before the 2014 season as their first-base coach and liked having a coach not far removed from a 12-year playing career. Hinske, now 41, was careful not to interfere with Mallee’s teachings during three seasons as assistant hitting coach. He did form an instant connection with Anthony Rizzo. Nevertheless, it would be tough for a coach of Hinske’s talents to join a staff as tenuous as the Cubs’ with manager Joe Maddon entering the final season of his contract.

3. Anthony Iapoce Current job: Rangers hitting coach.

Background: The status of Iapoce and other Rangers coaches won’t be determined until a new manager is hired. Iapoce, 45, served as a special assistant to the general manager/player development with the Cubs from 2013 to ’15. He’s familiar with many of their young hitters, including Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Willson Contreras and Albert Almora Jr. Iapoce worked for three seasons as a roving minor-league coordinator with the Blue Jays (2010-12) and was the hitting coach for the Marlins’ Class A Jupiter affiliate in 2008 and ’09. The Rangers finished 14th in the American League this season with a .240 batting average and 1,484 strikeouts.

4. Current job: None.

Background: He was released Oct. 1 after three seasons with the Diamondbacks (2016-18) but did his best work with the Red Sox (2007-12), for whom Cubs President Theo Epstein served as general manager during Magadan’s first five seasons. The Red Sox led the majors in pitches per plate appearance (3.94) during Magadan’s supervision, and the Diamondbacks set a franchise record in 2017 with 220 home runs and tied a National League record with 10 players with at least 10 homers. Magadan, 56, also served as Padres hitting coach from 2003 to ’06 after a 16-year playing career that featured one season with the Cubs (1996).

5. Kevin Youkilis Current job: Cubs baseball operations assistant, brewery owner.

Background: Family and business obligations make Youkilis’ candidacy a long shot. But Youkilis, 39, spends extensive time around the team in spring training, evaluates hitters in preparation for the amateur draft and has the respect of a few batters. He understands the importance of reaching base with great frequency and hitting for power after a 10-year playing career curtailed by back problems. Youkilis is destined to be a major-league coach or manager.

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