Man, there's a lot of news flying around today!
In what comes as a surprise to me -- and probably to you, too, after he exercised his contract option to stay in Chicago, Larry Rothschild accepted a three-year offer to become Yankees pitching coach starting next season. From a press release, here are statements from Rothschild and GM Jim Hendry:
"I’d like to thank Jim Hendry, the Ricketts family, Crane Kenney and the entire Cubs organization for their outstanding support and allowing me to pursue this opportunity with the Yankees," said Rothschild. "My reasons for pursuing and accepting this opportunity are personal and family-based, as the Yankees hold spring training in, and travel several times a year to, my hometown of Tampa. The chance to spend increased time with my family was something I wanted to explore and I am grateful for the opportunity to have done so.
"My nine years with the Cubs were tremendous and I’m proud of the pitching staff I leave behind. I wish Mike Quade, the Cubs and their great fans the best and look forward to returning to Wrigley Field in June."
"The Cubs would like to thank Larry Rothschild for nine years of service to this organization," said Hendry. "We understand his reasons for pursuing the opportunity with the Yankees and agree he is making the right decision by his family.
"My baseball operations staff and Mike Quade have already begun identifying candidates to replace Larry and expect to have a major league pitching coach in place shortly after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend."
So. Those of you begging for Rothschild to leave get your wish. Me, I thought he got too much blame when things went wrong, not enough credit when the pitchers were good. One thing we'll lose which is good to lose -- Cubs pitchers will stop nibbling. They'd get counts of 0-2 and then nibble. Can't stand that.
Who would you like to see as the new Cubs pitching coach? I don't have a personal favorite among coaches who are available.