With David Ross heading into the final year of his contract very soon, and with no one really wanting to do the lame duck thing again any time soon, it is time to work out an extension for the manager of the Chicago Cubs (or to dismiss him, but no one expects that).
That’s what is happening:
Cubs, manager David Ross in ‘preliminary talks’ on extension @NBCSCubs https://t.co/zlfuONl3nt
— NBC Sports Chicago (@NBCSChicago) October 2, 2021
“We’ve had some preliminary talks,” Ross confirmed this weekend, per NBCSC. He said he was mostly focused on the end of the season, though, and making sure the players and coaches were healthy and safe. “If I’m meant to get extended, I’ll get extended.”
I’m fine with Ross getting at least another year, even if I’m not necessarily banging the table for it. If you’re looking for a really strong opinion here, I don’t really have it. I just think it’s fine to extend him for another year. That’s as far as I go.
Keep in mind, even if he’s extended a bit, that doesn’t mean the Cubs are *actually* locking themselves into Ross for several more years – managers are fired all the time. But, since I don’t really want to see a guy out there “managing for his job” in a season that might have a whole lot of developmental focus, that means an extension is the right approach. Maybe it’s just another year tacked on, and then a team option for the year after that. I don’t know that it needs to be much longer than that at this particular point in time.
It’s still quite possible that Ross emerges as a fantastic manager. I think we just don’t quite know what he is yet on that front, since last year wasn’t much of a data point, and then this year was a mess. It’s possible he’s going to disappoint in the long run, but he did help steer the team through the pandemic is a reasonable successful fashion, and then seemed to handle the clubhouse reasonable well after the sell-off. Sure, I got frustrated by some playing time stuff after the deadline, but it’s hard to know how much of that was straight from Ross, and how much of it was a bigger organizational decision. Oh, also? Clearly the big league coaching staff, together with Ross, got a whole lot out of some fringy guys, and maybe it’s a repeatable skill?
There’s also going to be some “development” in Ross as a managerial prospect, so to speak. You allow for that. You take it all together, factor in his smooth relationship with the front office, and I’m fine with more time for Ross. I don’t really see a great reason to make a change this offseason, and, as I said, I don’t think a lame duck Ross is the right thing for the 2022 Cubs. So get a short-term extension done, and then let’s keep evaluating Ross next year.