Cubs hire Coomer as analyst for WGN Radio

Ron Coomer will join play-by-play broadcaster Pat Hughes as the analyst on Cubs' radio broadcasts beginning with the 2014 Spring Training schedule.

Chicago media columnist Robert Feder reported Thursday that Coomer got the job and will replace Keith Moreland, who decided he wanted to stay close to his Texas home. The Cubs and WGN Radio made the move official on Friday.

"We're thrilled to have Ron Coomer join the WGN Radio Cubs broadcast team," WGN Radio sports director Dave Eanet said in a statement. "His humor, knowledge and lifelong affinity for the Cubs make him a natural to team up with Pat in the booth for Chicago's very own."

Coomer, 47, played for the Cubs in 2001, batting .261 with eight home runs and 53 RBIs. He was working for FOX Sports North and KTWN radio in Minneapolis. He played six seasons with the Twins.

Coomer was asked via Twitter if that was him in a suit near the Tribune Tower last week in downtown Chicago, and he admitted it was, adding, "Happy to be coming home." He grew up in the Chicago area.

"What a great homecoming for Ron," Crane Kenney, the Cubs' president of business operations, said in a statement. "I enjoyed getting to know Ron during the process and am a fan of his work in the Twin Cities. His knowledge of the game is vast and he will be a great complement to Pat in the WGN booth."

Feder reported that Coomer agreed to a two-year contract with WGN Radio, which had trimmed the choices to Coomer and Todd Hollandsworth, who has a morning show on MLB Network Radio and handles the Cubs' pregame and postgame shows on Comcast SportsNet Chicago.

After his baseball career ended, Coomer opened a baseball facility in Orland Park, Ill., called On Deck Baseball Academy.