Former Cubs manager David Ross is interested in a return to managing, the ex-skipper told Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. “It’s an itch that hasn’t gone away.” Ross has been out of baseball for the past two years after getting fired by Chicago following the 2023 campaign.
Ross spent four seasons at the helm in Chicago. He had no previous managing experience prior to taking over for Joe Maddon after the 2019 season. Ross led the Cubs to an NL Central title in the shortened 2020 season, but the squad was dispatched by the Marlins in the Wild Card round. Chicago failed to reach the playoffs for the final three years under Ross. After back-to-back seasons well below .500, Ross led the team to 83 wins in 2023, but they fell a game short of a Wild Card berth. The Cubs moved on that offseason, choosing to hand Craig Counsell a record five-year, $40MM deal.
The jump from player to manager without a previous coaching gig was a bit surprising, but Ross was a familiar face in Chicago. He spent his final two seasons as a player with the Cubs, winning a World Series in 2016. The photo of Ross being carried off the field by his teammates was an iconic image following the curse-breaking victory.
Ross relayed to Rosenthal that he was not interviewed by the Reds, Marlins, or White Sox during their managerial searches ahead of the 2025 season. He added that there were conversations about bench coach positions, but nothing came to fruition. The Athletic had previously reported that the Yankees and Orioles had shown interest in Ross for bench coach roles since he’d been fired by the Cubs, but the former catcher preferred a managerial position if he were to return to the dugout.
This offseason presents plenty of opportunities. With Brian Snitker stepping down this week, there are now a staggering eight managerial openings around the league. The Twins and Giants fired their managers at the end of the regular season. The Nationals, Orioles, and Rockies did so during the season (though none of those teams have firmly declared that their interim skipper won’t be back). The Rangers and Bruce Bochy are parting ways. The Angels chose not to retain Ron Washington, who stepped away midseason due to heart surgery. The team also announced that interim manager Ray Montgomery, who took over for Washington, will not be back.
Ross isn’t the only former manager in search of a new home. Bob Nightengale of USA Today wrote last month that Brandon Hyde, Derek Shelton, Bud Black, and Davey Martinez are all looking to land skipper positions after getting fired during this past season. Rocco Baldelli, Bob Melvin, Bochy and Washington were all let go at the end of the year.
I know this article is about David Ross but Derek Shelton believing he could get a manager job is so funny
We will always have the Speed Hitter
I like David Ross. Hope he gets it.
I am surprised he has been unemployed for two years.
Yea, he got shafted. Played the hands he was dealt to par.
Catchers, and former catchers, are always the smartest and best-looking players in the game and should be highly sought after for every coaching, managerial and front office position.
Ross absolutely deserves another chance and so does Ricky Renteria. They both basically got shafted by their bosses because a supposedly better option came along. Both of them should be considered for the job openings this year. They both made chicken salad out of chicken ___ but never got to sample the result. Dial them up.
Made chicken salad out of chicken? What else are you supposed to make it out of?
Chicken salad is mostly soy these days
Back in the 90’s it was mostly HGH. So much better.
Wade Boggs would know his chicken! 😉
Wouldn’t that be soy salad ?
Maybe he meant chicken poop but the sh word I’m guessing he’s all over the place
You missed the “________” it’s made chicken salad out of chicken poop
“They both basically got shafted by their bosses because a supposedly better option came along”
Like when Hoyer got rid of Renteria for 2016 WS-winning manager Joe Maddon?
Yeah exactly. Not saying it didn’t work out. Just saying Renteria never did anything to get fired. He deserves another shot. I think he would have been a great option for the Pirates with a young club but they already picked the wrong guy so there’s that. And the Club Maddon had should have played in more than one.
Reads like he has had 3 ? Didn’t get to interview stage ?
Not a positive sign if that’s the correct interpretation.
I was just thinking of Renteria. Twice guided a team out of a rebuild only to get fired. Rockies next?
And Renteria got the shaft by Theo and Leo Getz or rather both Cubs and Whites Sox. If that’s what you were referring to though, my bad I just woke up.
Getz wasn’t GM yet when Ricky was fired. Wouldn’t have mattered anyway. Jerry wanted Tony at the helm.
Exactly right.
Yes I know but any chance to say Leo Getz is a plus even though I actually did get his name wrong.
Aloha Unclemike, totally agree with you. We can argue who is a better manager separately from how those two, renteria and ross were treated. It didn’t speak well of the organization. Of course the excuse is that there was no other way, it’s just business but we need to remember these are people and relationships are important. Even the Athletic said that while jed had said to ross his position was safe, he was secretly negotiating with cc on his massive deal, then showing up at ross’ front door in fl to tell him he was fired. The optics just didn’t look good. I hope both former Cub managers get an opportunity if they seek it. Mahalo!
Please come to Boston for the springtime.
But if gets the Rockies job, he can “live up in the mountains where they have a lot of room.”
Ramblin’ boy why don’t you settle down…Denver ain’t your kind of town.
Sox should move on from that potato head, Cora but John Henry is enamored with him. So Boston can continue with “meh” seasons and the occasional first-round exit in October.
Let It Be—Agreed. However, after making the playoffs you know that they will retain him.
Looking more and more like Boone saved his job again for awhile anyway.. Yankee fans can thank Schlitterer. LOL
Kid is pitching his butt off. What an effort!
Impressively he did it in the pressure cooker set on high heat.
Hope I didn’t over do the metaphor?
Nope.
So I put it to you guys. Is Hank going to be like George and clear out the FO? Or is Hank OK with close and no cigar and Cashman and Boone are safe? What’s ole Hank gonna do? Do they have to win the WS? I put it to the Yankee fans, I’m curious.
Business as usual if things don’t work out this month. Go get them next year. I’m OK with an org that doesn’t need to go through a boom-bust cycle like most other teams.
Ha ha. There’s many that would be better than ok with that.
Is Hank even involved in those or any decisions? I thought it was Hal calling all the shots?
Hank died in 2020.
Hank died in 2020
Guess my first question should have been which Steinbrenner is running them now? LOL
Ahh yes George Costanza. Not sure what he did for the Yankees but I’m sure he did his part getting the Boss his morning coffee
If you’re going to blame him for the loss you’d have to credit him for a 2 games come behind elimination situation that’s been done only twice since the WC been in play. Just my opinion. Plus he’s imbedded into that family it seems?
Carter Hawkins would be perfect for the Yankees then. No one really knows what he does for the Cubs but he’s without a doubt a Yes Man to Jed Hoyer and Tom Ricketts. It doesn’t help that Jed and Tom themselves are also yes men to Joe Ricketts.
That’s every manager. No front office is going to hire a loose cannon and when they do they don’t last long. The Ozzie Guillen days of baseball are long gone.
Nobody misses those days more than me. But a manager’s job now is to sell the players on the front office’s philosophy. So it’s yes men all the way.
It’s wild how people here don’t understand what a manager does in today’s baseball.
Any manager that is fired the gm and analytics department should be as well otherwise why bother your going to hire someone very similar.
Renteria fired himself from the South side with his choices/moves made in the playoff series vs Oakland. I still would have rather had Renteria as manager on the Northside vs Maddon. Cubs won in spite of Maddon.
Ross was replaced not due to incompetent management but due to CC’s interest in the job/Cubs money. Ross is a better manager than some of the others mentioned in the article.
Renteria made one bad choice in his first playoff series and deserved to be replaced by a drunk mistake? You gotta explain that one to me.
Yeah Ross might be a fine manager he just got boned by the timing. The Cubs parted out the championship roster right in the middle of his tenure.
And a 13 game losing streak after a combined no hitter in LA didn’t help either. None of them were gonna stay anyway. The one that hurt the most was letting Kyle Schwarber go for nothing. Jed has since admitted that was his biggest regret.
If I was a betting man, I’d bet Ross or Walt Weiss will be the Braves next manager. I’d prefer Ross in that situation to mix stuff up, but honestly I want Skip Schumaker really bad as our manager. He’s a perfect fit to take the culture to a new lvl without drastically changing decades of tradition. Ross is the next best option from all the candidates I currently see available
Any of those would be a good choice for the Bravos.
John Gibbons hasn’t been talked about but AA has hired him before
He’s a good manager on a rebuilding team, that’s it, at best.
Brandon Hyde welcome to Colorado!
Whatever happens this is shaping up to be the best post season of baseball I’ve seen in a long time. All of these games so far have been well played and interesting. Baseball could get some fan support back if they’re not stupid enough to ruin it by going on strike next year. Let’s see how smart they really are.
It’s refreshing to see you so positive.
Uncle Mike is on the pink cloud. It helps when the Cubs are winning.
Odds are it will be a lockout, not a strike next year. There’s a difference. But I get that you’re against a work stoppage.
They must avoid a lockout or strike at all cost. It would not be good for baseball if either one happened.
Genuinely surprised by all the sentiments expressed by people wanting David Ross to be their next manager. I just don’t get it.
And, hey, don’t get me wrong, I’m not a hater, not even a little bit. David Ross was an integral member of the Cubs team that broke the curse in 2016, so I have nothing but love for the guy and hope he does well.
But I found it odd that the Cubs hired him in the first place, figured it was mostly a way of the Ricketts trying to coast off the 2016 good vibes as they went about dismantling the team to save some money, so why not get a manager on the cheap too. And though Ross did a credible job as manager- better than most would expect- there was nothing particularly special he did that should be generating all this hope by fans that he become their team’s next manager. Bench coach? Sure. I could see him thriving as a bench coach. But all this enthusiasm to hand Ross the steering wheel? What’s up with that? Dude hasn’t even been in baseball the past couple years.
There’s certainly front offices that want a guy who will follow their scouting plan and keep vibes up in the dugout. Won’t surprise me if he gets a shot again.
I bet one of the rebuilding teams will give him a shot.
looks like this is the year to return to managing. Just by virtue of the number of vacanices: 8!! Surely someone will be interested
Hopefully the Reds will have the courage to fire Tito and hire one of these guys…
I can’t remember a sports signing I was so excited about that turned out to be so bad…
People on the outside won’t see it as they’ll just look at his resume and the fact the Reds made the playoffs for the first time in forever but he was actually horrendous this year in just about every decision he made…
Huh?
Eight teams looking for a manager. How many give him an interview?
Sometimes taking a step back away from a job has a positive affect when you get a second chance on a different team. Ross has had two years to reflect on how his tenure in Chicago went. I think he’d be worth another opportunity to manage a new team…
I could see Ross in Washington or Minnesota
Really good guy but provided no evidence to suggest he should get another shot.
Need Rocco in DC to help with the young core
I’ve seen his name tossed around about the Braves job. I could definitely see it. They tend to go with one of their own. Former backup catcher. Big buddies with Tim Hudson and Chipper Jones. A lot of ties there
I believe he will get another shot. Unfortunately it won’t be with a team that has a chance to win. Probably the Rockies haha
Ross helped guide the Cubs through some uneven times. The roster was changing, Jed Hoyer was taking over for Theo as VPOBO and there was the pandemic challenges. He appeared, to me anyway, as a steady manager who dealt well with the challenges and issues around the organization. Yes, he deserves another opportunity.
I guess that depends. Are you talking about Alan53 the poster you’re talking about or Allen53 the poser who pretends to be him and tries to steal peoples identities? At least Alan posts his own opinions whatever they are.
He sure lives rent free in your head
San Diego on line 2
He deserves it, and it seems as though there’s going to be several openings.
Nationals or O’s could definitely use him.
Mets should hire him to be the bench coach. Once they fire at the middle of the season next year, Ross can take over
Ross is a drunk joke. He fell into the Cubs job
A drunk joke? Sure… Why did the drunk potato pass out at the bar? Too many vodka shots!