Cubs Positional Breakdown: Coaching

Manager: Lou Piniella
'Sweet Lou' has led the Cubs to three consecutive winning seasons.  The personality of a guy like Lou with his confidence, old-school style is a good fit for the Cubs after Dusty Baker completely messed up the talents that he did have.  Piniella becomes fiery at times, but the Cubs needed that to help them rebound in the drastic 2007 turnaround.  He is a numbers guy who knows who to trust and is very substitution savvy, playing guys at the right time.  A record of 265-219 as manager has gotten Cub fans behind him.  Two postseason appearance no shows can't be blamed on Piniella, as his top hitters (Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez) decided to hit in one of the worst three game stretches all season for each.  Piniella enters 2010 with a newfound depth from the minor league system and the same talent as when the 2008 Cubs were the best team in the National League (97-64).


General Manager: Jim Hendry
Hendry knows how to get a deal done.  Even after an NL-worst 96-loss season in 2006, Hendry refused to fall into rebuilding mode and instead continued to add to the winning nucleus that still remained.  Such players as Carlos Zambrano, Derrek Lee, and Aramis Ramirez could have been traded away for prospects for the future, but Hendry came right back with big signings and get the Cubs a worst to first finish in 2007.  He is also a player at the deadline, acquiring Ramirez and Kenny Lofton in 2003 in his most famed deadline deal.  While he may not be the best GM in baseball, he does know how to assemble a winning team and is not afraid to spend the money to do so.


Hitting Coach: Rudy Jaramillo
A hitting deity in the baseball world, Jaramillo has been known to take players one-on-one and analyse each swing, doctoring an individual prescription to best achieve success for each player.  Although Gerald Perry and Von Joshua were good coaches, Jaramillo is the best.  That one-on-one strategy will be key in getting Geovany Soto, Mike Fontenot, Alfonso Soriano, and others get back on track while just improving and getting the most out of everyone else.  Jaramillo's former teams in Texas were always among the league leaders in runs and any player from down there can tell you how good this guy is, notably Ian Kinsler, whose All-Star career was saved by his work with Rudy.  The 2008 Cubs were 2nd in MLB in runs, and guess who was 1st?  Watch for an offensive rebound in a big way in 2010.


Pitching Coach: Larry Rothschild
Until 2009, Cubs pitching staffs had led the league in strikeouts for eight consecutive years.  Eight!  That tied a National League record.  It took more than Kerry Wood, Mark Prior, Carlos Marmol, Rich Harden, and Carlos Zambrano to set that.  Rothschild has been very good coming out to the mound and calming a pitcher down, especially his relievers.  I think Rothschild and the Cubs were a were quicker than they should have been on hooking their starters in the later innings, I would hope that the wave has gone through them.  Kevin Gregg let a lot of games get away from the Cubs, part of the problems that plagued them early in 2009.  With a great staff of Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, Ted Lilly, Randy Wells, and the undecided 5th starter, Rothschild will once again lead a strikeout-plenty, wins-plenty group.


Owner: Tom Ricketts (and family trust)
Although I can't really grade the Ricketts versus the rest of the owners in baseball, I can tell you what an owner can do.  An owner can send a franchise in the right direction, hire the right personnel in the office, get more revenue from their venue, made additions and subtractions from the venue, just to name a few.  Ricketts has done all this and more already even before the beginning of his first season.  A new marketing campaign, extensive Wrigley Field renovations, lucrative Wrigley Field expansion projects, and a new hope in a historic franchise highlights the ownership so far.  The planned 'Triangle Building' and surrounding plaza, which will have player and fan benefits, will turn Wrigley into a state of the art facility while still keeping the old tradition that has made it famous.  I couldn't have drawn up a better time for all of this to happen, because with all of the talent already on the roster, the Cubs are ready to do big things, and right now.