NEWSLETTER
There it is! The Chicago Cubs have their new bench coach to serve under new manager Craig Counsell, and they’re keeping the Padres pipeline open, apparently.
Old friend Ryan Flaherty is back. Britt Ghiroli with the scoop:
I say old friend because Flaherty, now 37, was originally drafted by the Cubs back in 2008, and worked his way up the system until the Orioles poached him in the 2011 Rule 5 Draft. He would go on to have a relatively long run there as a utility man, before playing for the Braves and then the Guardians, and then hanging ’em up after the 2019 season.
Since then, he’s been something of a very well-regarded up-and-coming coaching prospect, immediately going into the Padres’ scouting and player development infrastructure, then onto the coaching staff, and then serving as a bench coach under Bob Melvin just a few years after he’d retired. That’s quite fast to get a job like that, which is why he was seen as one of the favorite to take the big chair with the Padres this time around, even at his young age.
That is all to say, assuming Flaherty is a good fit with the rest of the coaching staff – and it would seem he will be, otherwise Craig Counsell wouldn’t have selected him – this is a great get. Gotta love adding some hungry talent to the coaching staff, and a guy who served under Bob Melvin is all the better.
Also? Flaherty played college ball at Vanderbilt before he was drafted, and you know who else was on that team? Cubs GM Carter Hawkins.
More coming soon, including the eventual announcement on the rest of the coaching staff.
