CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs made staff changes immediately after the last game of the season, sources told The Athletic, informing a group of coaches that they will not return next year as manager Craig Counsell puts more of his imprint on the organization.
Following Sunday’s Game 162 at Wrigley Field, the Cubs cut ties with first-base coach Mike Napoli, bullpen coach Darren Holmes and assistant hitting coach Jim Adduci. The Cubs had been eliminated from playoff contention with a week left in the season, finishing with the same record (83-79) they compiled last year while David Ross ran the team.
After an injury-plagued season, the Cubs are also making changes to the high-performance staff that works directly with the players in areas like strength and conditioning, a development first reported by ESPN’s Jesse Rogers.
Things can evolve as the club goes through more offseason strategy sessions and other teams make personnel changes in October, but the current expectation is that the rest of Counsell’s staff will remain largely intact.
Napoli originally joined the Cubs as one of Ross’ coaches for the 2020 season. They had played together on the close-knit Boston Red Sox team that won the 2013 World Series. As a rookie manager, Ross needed someone with that kind of personal history and built-in trust. Napoli, who hit 267 home runs during his decorated career, still enjoyed the grind of preparation.
Holmes, a longtime major-league reliever, came into his first year in Chicago with a connection to Counsell and significant coaching experience with the Colorado Rockies and Baltimore Orioles. Adduci started his post-playing career with the Cubs with the title of assistant director/run production (2021-22) before joining their major-league staff for the past two seasons.
More details will be filled in as Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer is scheduled to meet with the Chicago media late Tuesday morning in the same Wrigley Field interview room where Counsell recently declared: “We should try to be building 90-win teams here.”
(Photo of Mike Napoli: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)
