Although nothing is confirmed, it is expected that former Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon will sign with the Chicago Cubs this weekend. The contract is believed to make Maddon one of the highest paid managers in the MLB.
The Cubs, as well as Maddon's agent, Alan Nero, have denied that a deal between the two sides is complete. This is likely because the MLB is sensitive to teams making such major announcements during the World Series. The Chicago Sun-Times wrote that the Cubs toned down talks of Maddon heading to the team earlier this week in fear they would upstage the World Series, which had the lowest rating in last 15 years of the event.
Nero said he has spoken with 10 teams about Maddon, so he's using that as a means of attempting to diffuse the ramped speculation that the former Rays' manager will join Chicago. But it doesn't seem to be working because two sources with knowledge of the situation told ESPN's Jim Bowden that the Cubs and Maddon have reached an agreement. But three team sources also told ESPN's Buster Olney that a deal is not in place. However, the consensus among all the sources is that the deal will be finalized and announced over the weekend.
Jon Heyman of CBS Sports was the first to report the news of Maddon ostensibly joining the Cubs. Heyman mentioned that the deal may be in the range of $5 million per year because that's the kind of money Maddon was looking for and it's also the current salary of Angels' manager Mike Scioscia, who is the highest paid manager in baseball. If this is true, Maddon will inherit a young and talented Chicago Cubs team and likely help the front office attract big name pitchers in free agency, who may include Jon Lester, Max Scherzer and James Shields.
News of Maddon heading to Chicago is not surprising. Although it was initially speculated he could make a move to the Los Angeles Dodgers and join former Rays' executive Andrew Friedman, the Cubs were always viewed as the most plausible option given their roster and management. President Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer have built the Cubs in a similar fashion that Friedman and Matt Silverman built the Rays. It only makes sense he joins the Cubs after his success with Tampa Bay.
Epstein left the Red Sox to work with the Cubs before the 2012 season and has been carefully constructing this team with young talent. This season alone they've called up prospects Arismendy Alcantara, Javier Baez and Jorge Soler to join young stars Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro. They still have third baseman Kris Bryant in Triple-A, who led the minors in home runs this past season, and he's expected to join the team in 2015. On top of that, Epstein has reiterated the club will seek talent outside the organization this offseason.
And they appear to have begun that search with Joe Maddon.