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The Chicago Cubs seem like they will make some more changes to their coaching staff heading into 2025 and beyond.

Craig Counsell was positioned as the missing component that could extract the most from this club, which failed in 2023 when they missed the playoffs by one game, when he was hired by the Chicago Cubs on November 6 of last year.

That may be the case in the future, but this previous season was definitely not like that.

The Cubs struggled once more, hampered by early bullpen performances and injuries that left them in a hole they were unable to escape. The lineup struggled to generate runs as the relief crew got better.

Now that Counsell has committed to a long-term contract, Jed Hoyer and his front office are under pressure to provide the expensive captain with a competitive roster.

On the field, Chicago is anticipated to undergo changes, but Counsell’s coaching staff has already begun to undergo revisions after he spent 2024 in what is being called “observation mode” to determine what has to be done moving ahead.

Instead of making numerous changes to the personnel as one might have expected when he first signed his contract, he chose to retain many of the David Ross administration’s holdovers.

Counsell, however, has now made the decision that he wants to bring in his own coaches.

The Cubs have already fired assistant hitting coach Jim Adduci, bullpen coach Darren Holmes, third base coach Willie Harris, and first base coach Mike Napoli since the end of the previous campaign. Ryan Clausen and Keegan Knoll, coaches of strength and conditioning, will also not return in 2025.
Although that has already been made public, The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma, insiders, speculate that there may be changes in the kinds of positions that are filled and unfilled in the upcoming year and beyond.

“Counsell is still assessing applicants for the remaining available spots, mainly for the first- and third-base coaching posts… The Cubs believe they currently have a capable collection of game planners. More internal reorganizations and role changes are possible. Additionally, it doesn’t seem like all of the coaching staff positions from the previous season, including [Mark] Strittmatter’s former function, will be filled. According to the Cubs, there was some overlap and room for some duties to be combined.

Mark Strittmatter, who followed Counsell from the Milwaukee Brewers to Chicago, is thought to be the front-runner to take over as bullpen coach.

It’s fascinating that the Cubs are thinking about not filling the position if Strittmatter is promoted, even though it doesn’t seem like a particularly significant one in the big picture. He served as the Major League field coordinator last season.

Additionally, according to the sources, Kevin Poppe and Mark Weisman would be elevated from within to assume the roles of strength and conditioning.

Though Mooney and Sharma point out that the captain feels they need to improve overall on the basepaths, it is unclear who Counsell is considering for the open first and third base coaching positions.