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UPDATE: Feel free to read this article, but the Cubs have hired someone else as bullpen coach:
Former Phillies pitching coach Chris Young will be the Cubs next bullpen coach. Before getting an in-uniform job with Philly, Young was a pro scout with the Astros and Padres.
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) November 7, 2019
Dana LeVangie is not a baseball name I’d been familiar with, before now.
LeVangie served as the Red Sox pitching coach under manager Alex Cora in 2018 and 2019, but was removed by Boston from that role at the end of the 2019 season.
Now, he is being considered for a coaching position with the Cubs:
Cubs have interviewed ex Padres manager Andy Green and ex Red Sox pitching coach Dana Levangie for coaching positions, Green, 1st reported by @PJ_Mooney, would be for bench coach. Mark Loretta also could still return in that role.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 6, 2019
Per Rob Bradford of WEEI radio in Boston, LeVangie’s interview was for the bullpen coach spot:
The former Red Sox pitching coach -- who was reassigned to the pro scouting department after the 2019 season -- has interviewed for the Cubs bullpen coach position according to a major league source.
LeVangie’s progression through the Red Sox organization was similar to Lester Strode’s with the Cubs. Selected by Boston in the 14th round of the 1991 draft, he played six years in their organization as a catcher, then became the big-league team’s bullpen catcher, a position he held for six years. Then he spent the next eight years as a Red Sox scout, followed by a pair of seasons as Boston’s bullpen coach in 2013 and 2014.
Ah, ha. Those coincide with the years that David Ross played for the Red Sox.
It seems clear that Ross wants to put his own stamp on the Cubs’ coaching staff and hiring someone he worked with for two seasons in Boston makes a great deal of sense, not to mention the fact that LeVangie worked under Theo Epstein for Theo’s entire time with the Red Sox.
While nothing’s been officially announced yet regarding LeVangie, all the above facts lead me to believe that he’ll be the Cubs’ next bullpen coach. As always, we await further developments.