(670 The Score) That it ultimately ended up actually being David Ross being tabbed as the Cubs' new manager after all this time comes as little surprise to anybody paying attention to the club's dynamics over the past year or so, but his hiring affirms that the baseball business is going to be done differently.
The same was probably going to be true were Joe Espada or Mark Loretta named as Joe Maddon's replacement in the managerial seat, this obvious dismantling of silos and removal of walls that separate the dugout from the higher offices. That's just the game, now.
It's another step toward streamlining and synchronizing the entire process of development and deployment, operating with as few cross-currents and conflicting motivations as possible in pursuit of another World Series title. The manager will be more an instrument of the front office than ever, or perhaps the very term "front office" itself needs reconsideration to the extent that we used it to describe a clear demarcation from the uniformed roster level that increasingly ceases to exist.
Though how well Ross does is entirely up in the air, the changes inherent in the move aren't.
You will hear the pejorative term "puppet" thrown around by those either unaware or willfully ignorant of how so many bright MLB organizations are choosing to set up the structure of the baseball side, with the manager trusted to assemble the pieces and move them around in a way consistent with a cohesive plan and on the right side of percentages that decide runs produced and prevented.
Cubs executives Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer are handling most of the granular baseball stuff, in other words, and it will be on Ross to see to what can't be quantified: the day-to-day relationships and psychological upkeep of the clubhouse. The bet is that he's the one best-equipped to connect in that regard with so many that he has known so well while establishing himself as an authoritative truth-teller.
Epstein knows well enough to be more than ready for the questions that he's sure to get about how real the interview process was and why he and Hoyer settled on their own friend and close professional associate of the last three seasons. The troika has watched a ton of Cubs baseball together over that time and must by now possess a largely shared aesthetic and approach to tactical decisions.
The good questions will be how the hiring of such a familiar face makes good on the commitment to the best ideas and practices from around MLB, particularly after a highly anticipated restructuring of their player development department resulted in all internal promotions. What's more is Epstein's stated desire to move past living in the afterglow of 2016 and then making one of the avatars of that team the most visible member of the organization.
Count on Epstein to be prepared to sufficiently address all of those concerns, just as he has now clearly opted to take on even more responsibility for the performance of the Cubs. There's now far less diffuse responsibility than there once was, with this more his team than ever.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's Bernstein & McKnight Show in midday. You can follow him on Twitter @Dan_Bernstein.
