I admit that I have found myself hoping for Joe Espada to get the job. He seems to have been a really impressive candidate. I am actually a little surprised that he did not get the job.
I seem to trust Theo more than some others here, both in general and specifically in terms of his statements that Ross' role in 2016 and his relationship with players would, if anything, be a negative consideration because of the need to move on from the past. I have to believe that Ross was convincing enough in his interviews (and his work with the Cubs over the last few years) that Theo became convinced that he was an even better match for this group than Espada.
None of us know whether or how much interaction Ross may have had over the last couple of years with the analytics guys, including the pitch lab. It assume that Theo has reason to believe that he will work well with those guys and in implementing their work. I don't believe Ross would have gotten the job if Theo had not been convinced of his ability to merge the R&D and analytics work into the game planning and implementation.
In terms of his game management and specifically use of the bullpen, I recall that he expressed surprise at Joe's decisions during game 7 in 2016, but brushed off his disagreement by saying that the end result was what mattered. I remember finding that interesting at the time. Anybody else remember this?