We have two new coaching hires confirmed by Cubs insider Sahadev Sharma in The Athletic on Wednesday.

First, Andy Haines is returning to the Cubs to serve as a minor league hitting coordinator, the same role he had in 2016 and 2017. Haines has been coaching at different levels in the game for 20+ years and was most recently the hitting coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He also has a connection with Craig Counsell as Haines was the Milwaukee Brewers' hitting coach from 2019-21.

The Cubs have also hired Drew Hedman as their new assistant director of hitting. Hedman will be replacing Will Remillard, who left the organization earlier this offseason to join Terry Francona's staff with the Cincinnati Reds.

Hedman has previously worked as a scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks and then became the team's run production coordinator prior to the 2020 season. Hedman was eventually bumped up to assistant hitting coach on Torey Lovullo’s staff after the Diamondbacks fired a couple of hitting coaches during the 2021 season.

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Earlier in the offseason the Chicago Cubs reportedly hired new third base coach Quintin Berry and now Craig Counsell is adding another former coach from his Milwaukee Brewers days to his coaching staff.

Bleacher Nation had the note on the new addition and he's a familiar name with previous Cubs ties as well. According to ESPN's Jesse Rogers, Andy Haines will be working for the Cubs in some capacity in 2025.

Jesse Rogers has reported on the radio that Andy Haines – formerly a hitting coach for the Cubs, Brewers (under Craig Counsell), and Pirates – was returning to the Cubs, but the position was not yet known.

Haines was most recently the hitting coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates, serving in that role from 2022-24. Prior to that stop, Haines was the hitting coach for Counsell and the Brewers from 2019-21, which came after his one-year stint on the Cubs' MLB coaching staff as an assistant hitting coach during the 2018 season under Joe Maddon.

Haines played his college ball at Eastern Illinois University and after graduating he immediately stepped into the world of coaching. After a few years as a college assistant, Haines managed summer ball in 2003 and 2024 before becoming a hitting coach in Independent Ball the next two years. The Illinois native was the manager of the Windy City Thunderbolts in 2007, and then joined the Miami Marlins organization in 2008, first as a hitting coach in Rookie Ball.

After eight years, including seven as a manger in the minor leagues with the Marlins, Haines was hired by the Cubs as a minor league hitting instructor. After a pair of years in that role he was promoted to the big-league staff with the Cubs and then Counsell poached him, naming Haines as Milwaukee's hitting coach in 2021.

As of now there's only one clear open spot in Counsell's staff and that's first base coach, the position left vacated after the Cubs parted ways with Mike Napoli. However, you'd think that Haines was brought back to work as some kind of hitting assistant rather than being a first base coach.

We also don't know what role Jerry Weinstein will have with the Cubs. The hall of fame coach announced he was joining the Cubs organization earlier this offseason as well. The Cubs have not yet announced their full coaching staff under Counsell for 2025.

Quintin Berry Comes Over from Brewers

The Chicago Cubs are reportedly hiring Quintin Berry to handle a few responsibilities on the north side beginning in 2025. Berry, 39, had been a coach with the Milwaukee Brewers from 2021-24, which obviously included three years working alongside current Cubs manager Craig Counsell.

According to The Athletic's news article on the planned hiring, Berry will be the third base coach for the Cubs while also working with players as a base-running coach. The former MLB player previously served as the first base coach during his tenure on Milwaukee's coaching staff.

Prior to his first-base coach duties with the Brewers, Berry spent two seasons as Milwaukee's outfield and base running coordinator.

More details from The Athletic here.

Following the end of their 2024 season the Cubs announced a handful of prominent coaching changes, which included dismissing first base coach Mike Napoli and third base coach Willie Harris.

In 2024, the Brewers led MLB in "base running runs above average" according to Fangraphs at 19.7. The Cubs were tied for fourth, but at 10.7 that was nearly half as productive as the Brewers.

You could probably argue that the players' ability matters most when actually discussing a team being better at any aspect of the game, but at the very least Berry has plenty of experience throughout his baseball career that will hopefully translate into a better all-around base running team from the Cubs moving forward.

Berry spent time with 14 organizations throughout his pro career and appeared in the majors with five different teams: Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Brewers. You might remember Berry being with the Cubs in the final month of the 2015 season, serving as the team's top pinch-running option. He was on the Wild Card Game roster and later replaced an injured Addison Russell on the NLCS roster against the New York Mets.

The Brewers have run the NL Central for the nearly the past decade and they've done it by always winning at the margins and doing the little things better than other teams. That includes being a great base-running team and hopefully Berry's wisdom can help the Cubs.