In a move Tuesday morning, Cubs hitting coach Bill Mueller has resigned after one season.
First reported by CSN’s Patrick Mooney, comes after Cubs President of baseball operations, Theo Epstein, said that the coaching staff would be returning for another season during last week’s state-of-the-team address.
This comes as a surprise to Cub fans, but sources close to the situation, claim that Mueller had been considering leaving.
Mueller has not said why he chose to resign, but speculation is that his relationship with assistant hitting coach, Mike Brumley, played a factor. The two previously worked together in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization in the late 2000s. Brumley was recently reassigned and is currently exploring his options.
Other sources have added that being closer to his family was another reason for Mueller’s resignation.
The Cubs have said that they plan on hiring an experienced hitting coach. Those hurt the chances of Manny Ramirez taking over. Ramirez has not said that he plans to retire and will report to winter ball, but there is still thought that he may become the assistant hitting coach after a successful year at Triple-A Iowa, where he received positive reviews. Epstein claims that he will not consider Manny until he retires.
This will be the Cubs forth hitting coach in the past four seasons. Epstein fired Rudy Jaramillo in June of 2012, and James Rowson took over for the remained of the season. He was then given the full time job in 2013, but with the struggles of Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro, was replaced by Mueller.
According to Jesse Rodgers of ESPN Chicago, the Cubs are already close to finding a replacement for Mueller.
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