The speculation of manager Joe Maddon joining the Chicago Cubs now has some more clarity. Sources say the two sides could reach a consensus by Friday, especially since the Minnesota Twins, one of two teams with a manager vacancy, have yet to contact Maddon since he opted out of his contract.
Maddon's availability has apparently changed the Cubs' entire plan. Weeks ago they were set on keeping current manager Rick Renteria when team president Theo Epstein spoke with reporters. He said Renteria would "absolutely" be back with the team next season because the "coaching staff did a great job this year," according to ESPN Chicago's Jesse Rogers.
But thanks to Maddon's finely printed opt-out clause, he left the Rays and is now seemingly the perfect fit for a Chicago Cubs team that mirrors the Rays in terms of drafting and development. But unlike the Rays, the Cubs have some spending power, which has Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer ready to purchase some big name pitching free agents to improve their starting rotation. Acquiring a manager like Maddon to guide a young and talented team is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it looks like the Cubs are working to get it done.
"Major-league sources say the Cubs, who have been in discussions this week with free-agent manager Joe Maddon, could have an answer by Friday," writes Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. "Either they will land Maddon, finding the perfect manager for their multiyear rebuilding mission, or they will have swung and missed, leaving them with a mess on their hands with incumbent Rick Renteria."
However, this comes as no surprise, because the Cubs pursued Yankees' manager Joe Girardi last year but couldn't lure him away from New York. It could potentially become a mess, but Renteria issued a statement and doesn't seem too concerned about the team's interest in Maddon.
"I was hired nearly a year ago to be the Chicago Cubs manager," Renteria said in a statement released by his agent. "Notwithstanding all the speculation, I continue to focus my offseason preparation on achieving the goal we established from the start: bringing a championship to Chicago."
If the Cubs do strike a deal with Maddon, he's likely going to command an annual salary of $5 million, especially since his alleged reason for leaving the Rays was due to an impasse in discussions regarding his contract extension. Rays president Mathew Silverman told the media that he was "very comfortable" with the financial offers made to Maddon and that they were "very generous." And not only will the Cubs be paying a high price for Maddon if they sign him, they'll also have to pay out the final two years of Renteria's contract (he signed a three-year deal last November with club options for 2017 and 2018).
What's even worse news for Renteria is that the Minnesota Twins, who are one of two teams in the MLB (besides the Rays) without a manager, have had "zero contact" with Maddon or his agent since the manager opted out of his contract last Friday, according to Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. It looks as if Minnesota is working to decide between infield coach Paul Molitor, Class A manager Doug Mientkiewicz and Boston Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo. One of the reasons they reportedly haven't contacted Maddon is because his salary requests aren't in their budget.
If the Cubs can ink Maddon to a contract as early as this week, Epstein's goal of winning the NL Central in 2015 may not actually sound as crazy as it once did.
