As first reported by Jon Heyman, the Chicago Cubs have agreed to hire former Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon to become their new manager, pushing Rick Renteria out after just one season with the North Siders.
Maddon exercised an out clause in his contract with Tampa Bay earlier this week, representing the end of an era where the Rays took one of the lowest payrolls in baseball and turned that into multiple post-season berths and a World Series appearance in 2009.
Now, with the Cubs on the verge of a talent explosion, Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein has the man he hopes will finally bring a World Series title to Chicago.
The move is not wholly unexpected. Maddon’s success as a manager meant that if he ever left Tampa Bay, he would be in high demand. With Andrew Friedman leaving his GM post in Tampa Bay for the big chair with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Maddon’s own exit from Tampa brought ideas of a reunion on the West Coast.
Instead, the Cubs, who feature the best collection of young talent in all of baseball, will have a manager known to do anything and everything to help his club be successful at the helm. There is no doubt that Maddon’s success in working with Friedman played into Chicago’s decision to hire him. Epstein’s time at the helm of the Boston Red Sox saw an analtyics-based outfit help the team to two World Series titles, and considering Maddon’s acceptance of what Friedman was trying to do, Epstein is hoping for similar magic to occur at Wrigley Field for a long time to come.
What does this mean for Renteria? Well, nothing has been confirmed about his place on the team going forward, but chances are like most other situations of this magnitude, he will be offered a chance to stay on in some capacity, either as a member of Maddon’s coaching staff (if Maddon offers him a spot) or as an assistant of some kind at the Major League level.
The Cubs are a sexy candidate to make a huge leap in 2015 with their incredible amount of young talent, and a guy like Maddon will help that team make that leap even quicker than anticipated. This is the best possible hire for the Cubs, and a true coup for Epstein and his staff.
