David Ross fell asleep by 8 p.m. the night before Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer showed up at his door to fire him. Ross hardly ever goes to bed that early, but his Sunday had been full. He also had no reason to believe he was about to lose his job as Cubs manager.<\/p>\n
When Ross awakened at his home in Tallahassee, Fla., he noticed a bunch of missed calls from Hoyer. He had scheduled a Zoom meeting with his coaches<\/a> for that day, Nov. 6, 2023. He also was in the process of hiring a catching coordinator.<\/p>\n \u201cI was busy working,\u201d Ross said. \u201cI was in the middle of it.\u201d<\/p>\n He called back Hoyer, who asked him, \u201cAre you home?\u201d<\/p>\n Ross said he replied yes.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I\u2019m at your front door,\u201d Hoyer said.<\/p>\n \u201cI was like, \u2018I\u2019m fired,\u2019\u201d Ross recalled.<\/p>\n The Cubs\u2019 dismissal of Ross, coinciding with their signing of Craig Counsell to a record five-year, $40 million contract, was a shocking, humiliating turn for the club\u2019s former backup catcher, who was carried off the field by his teammates after the Cubs won the 2016 World Series.<\/p>\n But two years later, Ross wants to hop right back on the managerial merry-go-round.<\/p>\n \u201cBadly,\u201d he said in a telephone interview Tuesday. \u201cIt\u2019s an itch that hasn\u2019t gone away.\u201d<\/p>\n Ross, 48, said he was not called to interview for one of the managerial openings last offseason, when the Cincinnati Reds, Miami Marlins and Chicago White Sox made changes. This offseason, four jobs (Texas, Minnesota, San Francisco, Los Angeles Angels) already are open. Three more (Baltimore, Washington, Colorado) could become available if those teams decline to retain their interims. At least two others (Atlanta, Houston) also might be in play.<\/p>\n Ross is not the only former manager seeking a new opportunity. Former Miami manager Skip Schumaker is the leading candidate to replace Bruce Bochy in Texas. Rocco Baldelli, fired by the Twins, might get calls. And all four managers fired during the regular season \u2013 Colorado\u2019s Bud Black, Baltimore\u2019s Brandon Hyde, Washington\u2019s Davey Martinez and Pittsburgh\u2019s Derek Shelton \u2013 told USA Today\u2019s Bob Nightengale<\/a> they want another chance.<\/p>\n The Cubs hired Ross after the 2019 season even though he had no previous coaching or managing experience. Ross took over for Joe Maddon, who five years earlier replaced Rick Renteria in a prior example of the Cubs dumping a first-time manager for a more experienced, accomplished hand.<\/p>\n In four seasons, starting with the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, Ross\u2019 record was 262-284. During that period, though, the Cubs mostly were rebuilding. And in Ross\u2019 final season, the team finished 83-79, staying in contention until the final weekend after falling 10 games under .500 in June.<\/p>\n \u201cIt didn\u2019t feel like my job was in jeopardy at any time,\u201d Ross said. \u201cIt never even entered my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n Ross said he still roots for his former Cubs players, Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson, Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki, to name a few. His firing, he said, \u201cgets in my craw once in a while.\u201d When asked if he was upset with Counsell for taking his job, he initially laughed, unsure how to answer.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a good question. I battle it all the time, go back and forth on that,\u201d Ross said. \u201cYou feel like you\u2019re a part of this special fraternity of managers. But he also got offered $8 million (a year) for five years, you know?<\/p>\n \u201cThe way it went down sucked. I\u2019ve had so many people say the same thing . . . about how I got screwed. I don\u2019t look at it like that. But a lot of people like it a lot less than me. I don\u2019t know where I stand on that.\u201d<\/p>\n As Ross recalls, Counsell was the first person he called after Hoyer fired him. He said he told Counsell there were a lot of great people in the Cubs\u2019 organization. Counsell thanked him. The conversation, Ross said, lasted perhaps 15 to 20 seconds.<\/p>\n \u201cI try to put myself in his shoes and what would I have done? I don\u2019t know that I would have done it like that, if I\u2019m being honest,\u201d Ross said. \u201cBut everybody\u2019s got different ways they look at things. It is what it is. I\u2019m a very big believer in things happen for a reason. God\u2019s got a plan for me in my life. I try to believe in that, hold onto that, trust that.\u201d<\/p>\n