By Brittany Ghiroli, Sahadev Sharma and Dennis Lin

Ryan Flaherty will be named the bench coach of the Chicago Cubs under new manager Craig Counsell, a league source confirmed Wednesday.

Flaherty spent the last year in the same role under Bob Melvin with the San Diego Padres. He had a year remaining on that contract but was given permission to interview for other positions once the Padres named Mike Schildt as their manager.

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Flaherty is a well-liked coach who many expected to take over in San Diego after Melvin left to manage the San Francisco Giants. A favorite of Padres general manager A.J. Preller, the Padres blocked a request by the New York Mets to interview Flaherty for their open bench coach position in January 2022. It was clear then that Flaherty, 37, was valued highly and viewed as an up-and-coming coach.

Not much turnover was originally expected for the Cubs coaching staff, but that was before the Cubs hired Counsell and fired David Ross earlier this month. While some staff is expected to return, bench coach was always viewed as a spot for likely turnover.

Andy Green, who was bench coach during Ross’ four years at the helm, was offered the choice of another role on the coaching staff or a front office spot with the Cubs. Instead, he’s joining the Mets front office to lead player development under new team president David Stearns.

With Green’s departure and Counsell’s former bench coach Pat Murphy being selected as his replacement in Milwaukee, there was no obvious candidate for Counsell’s bench coach. But after speaking with Counsell a few times, Flaherty quickly became the leading candidate, and then the choice, for the job this week.

After a four-year career at Vanderbilt where he overlapped with current Cubs GM Carter Hawkins, Flaherty was drafted by the Cubs in 2008. The versatile infielder spent four years in their organization before being selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the Rule 5 draft. Flaherty spent the next six seasons with the Orioles before wrapping up his eight-year career with stints in Atlanta and Cleveland. Soon after his retirement, he was hired by the Padres as an advanced scout and development coach.

What Flaherty brings

Flaherty was not a true bench coach in San Diego — that role belonged to associate manager Ryan Christenson — but he held the title because he was uniquely valued by Preller and others in the organization. Flaherty, who had a year left on a three-year Padres contract, built strong relationships throughout the clubhouse, in addition to his longstanding friendship with franchise third baseman and former Orioles teammate Manny Machado. As offensive coordinator, he led a group of hitting coaches and oversaw offensive game planning.

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The Padres, of course, were a significant disappointment on that side of the ball in 2023. While the bulk of the blame rested with the players, many of those same players and former Padres have praised Flaherty for his knowledge, work ethic and attention to detail. Flaherty also was well-liked because of an apparent lack of ego, and some team members had pushed for him to become manager after Melvin’s departure to San Francisco.

Flaherty ended up losing out to Shildt in part because of his youth and lack of managerial experience. There also were questions about whether he would be able to walk the fine line between being a first-time manager and remaining Machado’s friend. Preller and the Padres did hope to retain Flaherty as a coach on Shildt’s staff, but they could not justify blocking him from a clear promotion with the Cubs. — Dennis Lin, Padres staff writer

Counsell’s coaching staff

Counsell has moved slowly in confirming who will return to the Cubs staff and what changes will be made, but that’s by design. Counsell did not have the Cubs on his radar until an early November call from Jed Hoyer led to a shocking five-year, $40 million deal to manage in Chicago. The quick turnaround meant Counsell had done little research on the Cubs, particularly on the coaching staff, which has led to this very deliberate process.

As previously reported by The Athletic, the expectation remains that hitting coach Dustin Kelly and pitching coach Tommy Hottovy will be on staff and keep their roles. John Mallee should slide into the assistant hitting coach role that was vacated when Johnny Washington departed for the Los Angeles Angels. Others may return as well, though titles could shift. — Sahadev Sharma, Cubs staff writer

(Top photo of Flaherty: Matt Thomas / San Diego Padres / Getty Images)

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