Congrats to John Baker, Who Was Just Hired Away to Run the Pirates Farm System

A huge honor and promotion for John Baker, who’d been serving as a Cubs coach and mental skills coordinator for the last few years.

He’s off to join the Pirates org:

Sources: John Baker has been hired as Pirates' farm director. A former player, Baker was previously a mental skills coach with the Cubs. Diverse and interesting background.

— Jason Mackey (@JMackeyPG) November 10, 2020

Baker, a former Cubs back-up catcher famous for scoring the winning run and being the winning pitcher on the very first John Baker Day, is pretty universally beloved, and he is presumably very good at what he does on the coaching side. The opportunity to be a farm director (one of the highest positions on the minor league side) is truly excellent, and you have to wish the guy well. You’ll recall that the Pirates are now run by Ben Cherington, whom Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer know well from their days together in Boston, so I reckon Baker got a really good recommendation.

We’ll always have John Baker Day:

Real ones remember. #JohnBakerDay@manbearwolf pic.twitter.com/azQfzRlsYQ

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 29, 2020

Chicago ❤️⚾️❤️ pic.twitter.com/twKUO8jPiT

— John Baker (@manbearwolf) November 10, 2020