Is David Ross Getting Close to a Coaching Return?

As noted earlier, it has been exactly one year since we learned that David Ross was out as the manager of the Chicago Cubs. Though he was still under contract and had been praised once again by his bosses at the end of the 2023 season, Ross was broomed in favor of Craig Counsell, one of the best managers in the game. It said less about Ross’s performance than it did about Counsell’s availability, and the expectation was that Ross would have another job in baseball as soon as he decided it was time.

After collecting that final year’s salary on his deal with the Cubs, the question now is whether it’s time for Ross to return to the dugout. Ken Rosenthal reports that it could be happening:

“The Baltimore Orioles are interested in David Ross for their bench coach vacancy, according to sources familiar with the team’s process. Whether Ross would want the job, if the Orioles indeed offered it, is not known.

A year ago, Ross rebuffed the Yankees’ interest in hiring him to replace Carlos Mendoza as their bench coach. The Chicago Cubs had just fired Ross as manager to hire Craig Counsell. Ross, if he jumped back into a uniformed position immediately, only wanted to manage.

Might things be different for Ross a year later, now that the shock of his dismissal presumably has worn off? If so, the Orioles would seem a logical fit. Orioles manager Brandon Hyde was the Cubs’ first base coach when Ross was a catcher with the team in 2015-16, and the two remain close.

The Orioles created an opening at bench coach after firing Fredi Gonzalez along with co-hitting coach Ryan Fuller and major-league coach Jose Fernandez at the end of the season.”

Immediately, I think about why this report is out there. Who passed it along to Rosenthal, and to what end? Surely the Orioles could literally just tell Ross they’re interested if they’re interested. They wouldn’t need to go through a media report.

So does that mean it’s coming from Ross’s camp, letting other teams know he’s in the market to return to baseball, even if not necessarily yet as a manager?

Or is this coming from the Orioles not toward Ross, but instead to pressure someone else to take the bench coach job before they turn to Ross?

Or, did it simply get through the grapevine to Rosenthal without any motivation at all? Maybe there are some talks ongoing between the sides, nothing is decided yet, and it’s just newsworthy?

Honestly I hope it’s that last one, as I would like to believe Ross can find a gig he’d be happy with after a year to regroup. It’s not that I think the Cubs did him dirty – they had a chance to upgrade at manager, and they rightly took it – but I certainly don’t wish Ross anything but well. So if he wants to return to the game, and if a managerial gig isn’t immediately on the table, then I can think of worse jobs than being the bench coach to a friend on a very good young team.