MESA, Ariz. — Before the hubbub and ceremony of the first day of full-squad workouts Monday, Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts took the coaching staff out to dinner the night before.
‘‘I haven’t spent much time with Tom,’’ new manager Craig Counsell said. ‘‘So just to get to spend some time with him and really understand him and his family’s history a little better was a lot of fun for me.’’
The process that led to Counsell’s hiring was too condensed for him to get to know the Cubs’ owners before signing on. But Ricketts was one of the few who knew about president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer’s plan to pursue Counsell before the team fired sitting manager David Ross.
‘‘I thought David Ross was a very, very good manager for us,’’ Ricketts said Monday. ‘‘I think he had a good year last year. And we expected to go forward with him when the season ended.’’
Ricketts even said Ross was ‘‘our guy’’ during the last series of the season. Coincidentally, that series was against Counsell’s Brewers in Milwaukee.
The Cubs didn’t interview Counsell in October, when he was still under contact with the Brewers. That would have required them to get permission from their National League Central rival. But when Counsell hadn’t signed anywhere by Nov. 1, the Cubs saw their opening.
‘‘Jed came to me with the idea that we should probably talk to him,’’ Ricketts said. ‘‘Craig is considered one of the best managers in baseball, and you’re always trying to look to get better at every position, including manager. So when Jed approached me, I was very much in favor of pursuing those discussions. And we’re really happy it turned out the way it did.’’
All-Star Game coming?
In his spring-training news conference last week in Florida, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters the Cubs and Blue Jays are candidates to host the All-Star Games in 2027 and 2028.
‘‘We’re trying to get an All-Star Game at some point pretty soon,’’ Ricketts said. ‘‘There’s a few things we have to work out with the city. And we’ve gotten snagged, but I think we’re getting closer. And we’ll hopefully know more pretty soon. But it’s not as simple as it looks. A lot of teams want the All-Star Games. They are big economic drivers for the city but not easy to get.’’
Most of the concerns the Cubs have to iron out with the city are security-related, Ricketts confirmed.
The Cubs last hosted the All-Star Game in 1990.
Cubs add Peralta on minor-league deal
The Cubs and outfielder David Peralta agreed to terms on a minor-league deal with an invitation to major-league spring training, a source confirmed.
The addition doesn’t eliminate concerns about the Cubs’ offense, but the team has been looking to upgrade against right-handed pitching, and Peralta has a career .289/.343/.474 slash line against righties.
Peralta had surgery to repair a flexor tendon in his left arm in October. Playing through injury might have affected his offensive production in the second half of last season with the Dodgers.
