I was having a leisurely Friday lunch when I happened to notice my mentions on Twitter exploding with a similar refrain dozens of times over: “I wonder what @BleacherNation thinks about these Maddon rumors.”
Naturally, I was like, “What Maddon rumors?”
Oh. This:
Sources: Manager Joe Maddon has exercised an opt-out clause in his contract and is leaving the Tampa Bay Rays immediately.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) October 24, 2014
My guess on Joe Maddon: He eventually winds up with the Cubs.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) October 24, 2014
Ok, the Cubs have to find out if Joe Maddon is interested. Hiring him would be a no brainer.
— David Kaplan (@thekapman) October 24, 2014
An unconfirmed rumour at exec levels of baseball has Joe Maddon going to the Cubs.
— steve simmons (@simmonssteve) October 24, 2014
For what it is worth, lots of folks in game predicting Maddon ends up with #Cubs — maybe sooner than later
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) October 24, 2014
Within industry, #Cubs viewed as a leading contender for Maddon. Renteria signed through 2016. Team could simply pay off rest of his deal.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) October 24, 2014
I could go on. This thing happened fast, and the Cubs-specific smoke billowed up immediately and prolifically. I find it particularly interesting that the guy breaking the scoop is also a guy guessing Maddon eventually goes to the Cubs.
For now, my response is limited, because I’ll need a lot of time to process the implications here. I’ll say this: the Cubs’ manager is Rick Renteria, and he was successful in his charge in 2014. The Cubs have expressed confidence in him, and he’s under contract for 2015. Joe Maddon is believed by most to be a very rare commodity, and perhaps the kind worth pursuing regardless of how it may be perceived, given the existence and success of Renteria. Perhaps.
But maybe Maddon takes a year off from managing, and it’s not something that has to be decided immediately. Or maybe Maddon follows Andrew Friedman to the Dodgers, despite their protestations to the contrary. (In fact, my gut says: how could that not happen? It seems too perfectly obvious, and maybe these Cubs rumors are something of a leverage play.)
I can’t answer these questions for sure, and I don’t want to speak out of turn just yet on how the Cubs should proceed. This is certainly extremely interesting, though, and I can’t imagine the Cubs will let this hang in the air for too long without taking an official position.