Chicago Cubs: Three takeaways from the David Ross press conference

Chicago Cubs: David Ross has been preparing for this.

Right away at the press conference, Ross addressed the fact that he doesn’t have managerial experience. However, throughout the conference, he spent a lot of time explaining why he is ready to manage the Chicago Cubs.

Really, Ross started preparing for this role long before his playing days were over. Particularly as a backup catcher, he had many chances to learn from several great managers, which he talked about on Monday. It seems that Ross has wanted to manage for quite some time and that he views his hiring by the Cubs as the culmination of years of preparation.

"“I’ve been a part of a lot of winning teams,” Ross said. “I know what winning looks like. There are things I’m going to expect out of the players, out of myself, that entail winning. Some of those things come with respect, trust, commitment, effort, hard work and accountability. These things are important to me. My players can expect that from me, and I will expect that from them.”"

While the former backstop doesn’t have managerial experience, we can’t discount both his playing career and his experience working in the front office over the past three years in preparing him for the job. At the press conference, he pointed out the fact that he’s had a chance to see lots of different aspects of running a major league ballclub since he retired as a player.

This isn’t to say that Ross doesn’t have some learning to do. In fact, he admitted this during the conference. He seems willing to put in the time and effort required to do the job well.