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Mark Loretta

Cubs To Hire Andy Green As Bench Coach

By Jeff Todd | November 8, 2019 at 7:19pm CDT

Former Padres skipper Andy Green will be named the new bench coach for the Cubs, per Jesse Rogers of ESPNChicago.com (via Twitter). Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweeted that Green was expected to be tapped after he was linked to the job through reports earlier this week.

Green becomes the top lieutenant under new Cubs manager David Ross, who is turning over a major portion of his staff. Last year’s bench coach, Mark Loretta, will leave the Chicago organization, Heyman adds via Twitter. Loretta, like Green, came from San Diego.

It seems the Cubs preferred to provide Ross with an experienced manager at his right hand, as this’ll be his first-ever season in charge of a dugout. Green helmed the Friars for almost four full seasons and also did the in-game decisionmaking before that in the minor-leagues.

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Latest On Cubs’ Bench Coach Position

By Connor Byrne | November 6, 2019 at 12:48am CDT

Mark Loretta recently finished his first season as the Cubs’ bench coach, but with a new manager at the helm, it could end up as his last. Loretta is under consideration to retain the bench coach position, but they’re interviewing other candidates for the job, per Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic (subscription link). Former Padres manager Andy Green is among those “on the team’s radar,” Mooney and Sharma write.

Loretta’s a former major league infielder who spent significant time in the Padres’ front office after his playing career ended in 2009. He jumped ship for the Cubs last offseason to join Joe Maddon’s staff, but the Cubs parted with the latter after a campaign that fell shy of expectations. Although Loretta was among those who interviewed with the Cubs to replace Maddon, they instead wound up hiring one of their former players, David Ross. Loretta also interviewed for the managerial opening in San Diego, where he’d have replaced Green had he landed the job. However, the Padres chose Jayce Tingler over Loretta and other candidates.

The bench coach hire figures to be especially important for Ross, as he’s a first-time skipper who possesses no coaching experience in MLB. Green has totaled almost four years as a big league manager, having led the rebuilding Padres until they sent him to an early exit this past September. Before joining the Padres, Green managed in the minors and spent a year as a third base coach with the Diamondbacks.

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Latest On Padres’ Manager Search

By Anthony Franco | October 23, 2019 at 6:50pm CDT

18:45 pm: San Diego Union-Tribune scribe Kevin Acee cautions that Loretta’s late entry into the interview pool was mostly the result of previous scheduling issues, and the club’s sit-down with the former second baseman is not expected to lead to his hiring (link). Although the club met with Loretta on Saturday, GM AJ Preller traveled to the Dominican Republic on Monday and met with Jayce Tingler, whom Acee still characterizes as the favorite for the job. According to Acee, Preller has been described as consistently “pushing” Tingler, a position somewhat at odds with San Diego players and ownership figures who would prefer a more experienced candidate.

10:16 am: In a bit of a surprise, the Padres “very recently” interviewed Cubs bench coach Mark Loretta for their managerial vacancy, reports MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). The Friars were believed to be down to Braves third base coach Ron Washington and Rangers Field Coordinator Jayce Tingler, but Loretta could perhaps have cracked the door open for a change in direction.

Washington and Tingler remain the favorites, Heyman notes, so perhaps this is simple due diligence on San Diego’s part. That said, Loretta worked in San Diego’s front office for almost a decade before taking over as Chicago’s bench coach this season, so he no doubt has strong ties to many people who will ultimately make the final decision.

Loretta is more well-known for his 15-year MLB playing career. He logged over 1,000 innings at each infield position in a career that took him to five different organizations, including a three-year run in San Diego, where he was most productive. Loretta has no managerial experience and is relatively new to the coaching ranks, but his combination of playing and front office experience makes him a natural candidate for interviews. Loretta was previously in the running for the Cubs’ managerial job, which went to his former teammate David Ross.

You can keep tabs on all the managerial rumors around the league here.

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Cubs Launch Managerial Interviews

By Jeff Todd | October 8, 2019 at 7:08pm CDT

Oct. 8: Girardi will interview tomorrow, Gonzales further reports, with Ross slated to interview later in the week. Venable, meanwhile, interviewed for the position yesterday.

Oct. 4: The Cubs have begun formal interviews as they seek to identify their next manager, the team informed reporters including Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune (via Twitter). First-round interviews will carry into next week, at least.

First up for a chat was Mark Loretta, who served as the club’s bench coach under departing skipper Joe Maddon. Loretta had his interview yesterday. As previously reported, first base coach Will Venable will also get a chance to petition for the job. He’s slated for a sit-down next week.

Another previously reported candidate for the position, David Ross, will also get his first formal managerial interview next week. The veteran backstop-turned-analyst has long been speculated as a candidate.

Ross is not far removed from being an in-uniform veteran presence, but has never held a coaching or managing position. Loretta and Venable each have coaching experience, but neither has ever managed.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Cubs will also look at more experienced candidates. President of baseball operations Theo Epstein has said he’d “have a greater comfort for someone handling the role before.”

Joe Girardi is about as experienced as any managerial candidate, having helmed the Marlins for one season before a decade-long stint with the Yankees. He’s also slated to chat with Epstein and company next week.

Indication has been that the Cubs will look far and wide for candidates. If so, it would stand to reason that other names will still pop up for first-round interviews. The existing slate, after all, isn’t exactly an exotic group in terms of background. Two are former Chicago catchers while the others were in Cubs uniforms in the just-completed campaign.

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Mark Loretta Comments On Cubs Opening

By Dylan A. Chase | October 5, 2019 at 10:59pm CDT

After interviewing this week for the open Cubs managerial seat, Mark Loretta made several comments to a Chicago-area radio station on Saturday that offered insight into his hypothetical strategy for improving the club’s on-field product. Speaking to 670 The Score, the former bench coach for Joe Maddon identified bullpen pitching, defense, and team-wide strikeouts as main areas of focus, were he to land the manager’s job on the North Side (link).

“We have three or four areas where we need to improve,” Loretta said. “We certainly had trouble in the bullpen early and late in the season. The defense, for sure, I think it could have been much better. On the offensive side, we struck out way too much.”

Additionally, Loretta–who played in parts of 15 seasons in the majors–seemed to hint at a lack of structure under the recently ousted skipper Maddon, who has long been considered to be a “player’s coach”.

“We have had a lot of optional hitting practice and fielding practice,” Loretta said. “That’s something we should take a look at as well to see if that actually makes sense. There are certain training times when players need to be on their own. Team concept and team-building exercises and getting together in practice more often are very valid.”

For what it’s worth, the 48-year-old Loretta is not the only in-house coach who might have up-close insight into how the Cubs can improve on 2019’s disappointing 84-78 final result. David Ross–who is described by 670’s Bruce Levine to be a “frontrunner” for the manager’s job–will interview in the coming week, as will first base coach Will Venable; Joe Girardi is also expected to interview, though he is said to also have a keen interest in the open Mets posting.

Loretta formerly worked as a special assistant in the San Diego front office, after a sneakily illustrious playing career split between the Brewers, Astros, Padres, Red Sox, and Dodgers. Team sources from the Padres have indicated that Loretta, a longtime Southern California resident, is also a candidate for the open Padres seat.

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Latest On Cubs’ Managerial Opening

By Connor Byrne | October 1, 2019 at 10:25pm CDT

The Cubs parted with manager Joe Maddon last weekend, but it’s possible they’ll turn to one of his former underlings to steer the ship in 2020. Bench coach Mark Loretta and first base coach Will Venable are officially candidates to become the team’s next manager, per Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. They join the previously confirmed David Ross as in-house possibilities to succeed Maddon.

President of baseball operations Theo Epstein suggested Monday that hiring someone with previous managerial experience would be a plus. However, nobody from the Loretta-Venable-Ross trio has managed in either the majors or minors up to now.

The 48-year-old Loretta, a two-time All-Star during his tenure as a major league infielder, is coming off his first season on Chicago’s coaching staff. Loretta previously worked as a special assistant with the Padres, who hired him upon his retirement in 2010.

Still just 36, Venable isn’t far removed from a respectable run as a major league outfielder with the Padres, Rangers and Dodgers. Venable retired to join the Chicago front office in September 2017, though the team changed his role to that of a coach a couple months later.

Loretta, Venable and Ross are among a seemingly large group of candidates to take over as the Cubs’ next manager. Epstein said Monday he and his front office cohorts are assembling a “broad list” of names as they work to recover from an awful finish to the 2019 season.

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Cubs Hire Mark Loretta As Bench Coach

By Ty Bradley | January 2, 2019 at 3:52pm CDT

Per a team announcement, the Cubs have hired former big-leaguer Mark Loretta to become the team’s new bench coach.

Loretta, 47, has spent much of the last decade in the Padres front office after retiring from the game in 2009.  Though he has no formal experience on a coaching staff of any kind, Loretta did manage the Israeli national team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic qualifying round.

In his 15-year major-league career, the two-time All-Star appeared in over 1700 games for seven different franchises, slashing a respectable .295/.360/.395. Oft-lauded for his game savvy and high baseball IQ, Loretta will join a progressive staff in Chicago, filling the vacancy left by Brandon Hyde’s departure to become the new Orioles manager.

In a joint release, the club also announced that former MLB righty Bob Tewksbury will become the team’s new mental skills coordinator. Tewksbury, 58, had served in a similar capacity for the Giants and Red Sox over the last few seasons.

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Mark Loretta Retires

By Tim Dierkes | January 25, 2010 at 4:08pm CDT

Infielder Mark Loretta has retired to take a position as special assistant to the Padres' baseball operations staff, tweets MLB.com's Corey Brock.

Loretta finishes with a .295/.360/.395 line in 6,558 plate appearances across 15 seasons for the Brewers, Astros, Padres, Red Sox, and Dodgers.  He mainly played second base, but also logged significant innings at the other three infield positions.  Loretta appeared in two All-Star games and finished ninth in the NL MVP vote in '04, when he hit .335/.391/.495 for the Padres.  According to Baseball-Reference, Loretta banked $29.4MM in his career.

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Odds & Ends: Rangers, Hudson, Loretta, Pence

By Zach Links | January 23, 2010 at 9:31pm CDT

More Saturday linkage..

  • Ty Wigginton of the Orioles will likely see his number of at-bats decrease after the team's signing of Miguel Tejada and Garrett Atkins.  Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com says that the 32-year-old could be a trade candidate in Spring Training.
  • The sale of the Rangers to Chuck Greenberg's group is complete and an announcement is forthcoming, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan.
  • Phil Wood of MASNSports.com understands the Nats' pursuit of Orlando Hudson, but not their reported interest in Orlando Cabrera.  Hudson is reportedly seeking $9MM per season whereas Mike Axisa estimates that Cabrera can be had for $3MM.
  • Veteran infielder Mark Loretta is expected to retire this week and take a job with an unspecified major league club, writes Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.  The 38-year-old, who spent 2009 with the Dodgers, has a career .754 OPS.
  • Brian McTaggart of MLB.com writes that signing Hunter Pence to one-year, $3.5MM deal makes sense for Houston.  McTaggart senses that there is some kind of a groundswell of support by Astros fans to lock up the 26-year-old, but the club still has three years of contractual control to make such a deal happen.
  • Signing Brad Penny saved money for the Cardinals, writes Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  While it may seem as though Penny's $7.5MM deal is similar to Joel Pineiro's two-year deal that will pay him an average of $8MM per season, the extra year on Pineiro's contract didn't fit into the Cards' budget.
  • Due in part to the team's overload of left field options, top Reds prospect Todd Frazier could see some time at shortstop this season, writes John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer.  Frazier played shortstop in his time at Rutgers University but was moved to the outfield as he was considered to be "too big for the spot."  GM Walt Jocketty said that there will be open competition for the role of starting shortstop, though Fay says that it will likely go to the light-hitting Paul Janish.
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Dodgers Sign Jamey Carroll

By Mark Polishuk | December 18, 2009 at 5:20pm CDT

The Dodgers signed veteran infielder Jamey Carroll to a two-year deal, as first reported by ESPN's Buster Olney.  Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports specified the contract's value as $3.85MM.  Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times says there's another $500K in incentives.  Carroll reportedly drew interest from eight teams this winter.

Carroll hit .276/.355/.340 in 358 plate appearances with Cleveland last season, playing mostly as a second baseman but also seeing significant time at third base and in the outfield.  His versatility makes him particularly attractive to the Dodgers, since they stand to lose multiple infielders to free agency and Carroll would fill any number of holes on the bench or in the starting lineup should Blake DeWitt struggle as the everyday second baseman.

Where did the cash-strapped Dodgers get the money for Carroll?  Hernandez notes that the infielder's funds came from the money GM Ned Colletti saved by shipping Juan Pierre to the White Sox.  Colletti quickly spent about half of the Pierre savings on Carroll.

This post has been rewritten by Tim Dierkes.

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