Chicago Cubs Officially Announce Coaching Staff For 2012 Season

Read More: Colorado Rockies, Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs

It has been a busy off-season for the Chicago Cubs, and now the Cubs have announced that new manager Dale Sveum will be joined by pitching coach Chris Bosio, first-base coach Dave McKay and bench coach Jamie Quirk Hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo and bullpen coach Lester Strode will remain in their positions, while former bench coach Pat Listach will transition to third base coach. 

Here are the tweets from the official Twitter account of the Cubs' front office:

#Cubs today announce the 2012 coaching staff. Chris Bosio joins as pitching coach; Dave McKay as 1st base coach; Jamie Quirk as bench coach.

— Chicago Cubs (@CubsInsider) December 16, 2011

Pat Listach shifts from bench coach to 3rd base coach; Rudy Jaramillo continues as hitting coach; Lester Strode continues as bullpen coach.

— Chicago Cubs (@CubsInsider) December 16, 2011

The biggest news of the day is still the fact that the Cubs have submitted a competitive bid for star Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish and are awaiting the results of the bidding process, but this is still an interesting bit of Cubs talk for the day as well.

Here is what SB Nation's Cubs blog, Bleed Cubbie Blue, had to say about a few of the moves:

Jamie Quirk becomes bench coach. There's been some criticism of this move because Quirk supposedly was "demoted" the last three years to "just" a bullpen coach -- I prefer to look at it as getting a bench coach who served on a World Series team (2007 Rockies) under Clint Hurdle. Quirk doesn't have managerial experience, but six years as Rockies bench coach, to me, is a pretty good qualification.

I'm a little less sure about Chris Bosio as pitching coach. He has quite a bit of minor league pitching coach experience, but only a tiny bit more major league coaching experience than the exiting pitching coach, Mark Riggins: just one season (2003 with Tampa Bay under Lou Piniella) and two months as Brewers pitching coach in 2009. Obviously, he and Dale Sveum know each other from that, and they were also Brewers teammates as players from 1986 to 1991.

For more updates on Chicago sports, stay tuned to SB Nation Chicago. For more in-depth coverage of the Cubs, head over to Bleed Cubbie Blue. Also, check out MLB Daily Dish forCubs rumors and transactions.