Cubs Hitting Coach Withdraws From Mets' Job Opening

The Chicago Cubs will have a completely different team next season. 

Obviously, the Cubs’ core will all return. Pete Crow-Armstrong, Alex Bregman, Dansby Swanson, and Nico Hoerner will all be back for the 2027 season. All four of those players are under contract for the next few years. 

However, the North Siders are expected to lose several key free agents. Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki, Tyrone Taylor, Michael Conforto, Carson Kelly, Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, Kevin Gausman, Clay Holmes, and David Peterson could all find new homes this offseason. 

The Cubs definitely can’t re-sign each of those free agents. It’s increasingly likely Suzuki might not return since he will have a big market. Rumors suggest Gausman may want to return to Toronto, and Cubs insider Patrick Mooney believes the writing may be on the wall for Imanaga in Chicago. 

While there will be several changes on this Cubs team before next season, the one thing that won’t change is the coaching staff. 

Craig Counsell will return as the manager. Tommy Hottovy will return as the team’s pitching coach, and Casey Jacobson will return as the team’s assistant pitching coach. Dustin Kelly will certainly return as Chicago’s hitting coach after helping lead this offense to some of the best marks in baseball. 

The only coach who was in talks to leave was assistant hitting coach John Mallee. Mallee was considered one of the candidates to take the open hitting coach job with the New York Mets. The Cubs hitting coach was set to interview for that job. 

However, Mallee has reportedly turned down that job. Jesse Rogers of ESPN reported that the longtime hitting coach will not take the Mets' job opening and will instead stay in Chicago as the team’s assistant hitting coach. 

With Mallee set to return for the 2027 season, the Cubs will have their top pitching and hitting coaches, plus their assistants, back. Getting him back is obviously big news. He was instrumental in making Chicago’s offense one of the league's best this past season. 

Remember when Swanson went through that terrible slump from early May to mid-June (.137 batting average with one home run) and then miraculously got hot at the plate by hitting .306 with nine home runs across 32 games from June 17 to July 27? Swanson credits Mallee for helping him break out of that slump. 

Do you know the hitting coach who worked closely with Crow-Armstrong to help him unlock his full potential? That was Mallee. 

Mallee withdrawing from the Mets’ opening is big-time news for the Cubs.