Getting to know former Cubs fan favorite, Team USA manager Mark DeRosa

13 members of the Chicago Cubs organization are set to take part in next month's World Baseball Classic - led by the likes of Pete Crow-Armstrong, Alex Bregman, Seiya Suzuki, Jameson Taillon, Javier Assad, Matthew Boyd and Daniel Palencia - but the Cubs ties don't stop there.

The man calling the shots on the top step of the dugout, Mark DeRosa, spent two of his 16 years as a big-league player on the North Side, helping lead the Cubs to back-to-back NL Central titles in 2007 and 2008. Serving in a super utility role after being brought in as a second baseman, the former seventh-round pick out of the University of Pennsylvania turned in two strong campaigns under manager Lou Piniella.

Mark DeRosa did a little bit of everything during his time with the Cubs

DeRosa did it all defensively, playing multiple games at first, second, third, right and left; and he did it while putting up above-average numbers at the plate, slashing .289/.373/.451, good for a 109 OPS+. He's brought that same mentality to the dugout, assembling a versatile roster that's eyeing a WBC championship for the first time since 2017.

“Building this team was never easy, but it was done with purpose and pride,” said DeRosa, “These players know what it means to wear USA across their chest, and we’re ready to go to work and bring the World Baseball Classic trophy back home.”

With one year left on the three-year, $13 million deal he signed following the 2006 season, the Cubs traded DeRosa to Cleveland for a package of players - including Chris Archer, a pitcher fans would fawn over for decades to come. From there, he continued his journeyman adventure. By the time he hung up his spikes in the fall of 2013, he played for eight different organizations.

Since retirement, DeRosa has been a staple in the game, doing color commentary work at times for the MLB The Show video game franchise and his role as a regular at MLB Network. He managed Team USA during its runner-up finish to Team Japan in the 2023 WBC - and one can't help but wonder if a gold medal this time around could put his name into MLB managerial conversations next offseason.