Things are running a little backwards this morning, as the Bullets are on the way and there will be a much more comprehensive Joe Maddon update soon. But Maddon’s agent, Alan Nero, was on the radio with Bruce Levine and Wayne Randazzo on The Score just now, so I wanted to update you on what he said.
Here are the paraphrased bits, and you’ll likely soon be able to hear a replay on The Score’s site (UPDATE: and here it is):
Joe Maddon was so committed to the Rays and the community and everyone involved, so the opt-out was something of a benign protection that if there was a significant change in the organization, Maddon wouldn’t be bound by a contract that was under market (because he was so committed).
There’s only one job opening, and that’s Minnesota. So it’s a very delicate thing, if there was going to be any other team involved, we don’t want to sensationalize this because there’s another manager involved. (Me: Folks who think the guys involved are not being sensitive and respectful – as much as possible – are mistaken. Everyone knows this is a difficult situation.)
Maddon is prepared not to manage in 2015. But there’s quite a bit of interest, because he’s right up there as one of the top managers in the game. If you’re committed to winning, you’d at least want to look into this.
It’s fair to say Maddon would be interested, in general, in the city of Chicago. Whether it’s this year or next year or beyond, it’s a possibility. The Cubs are on our radar. We haven’t had any specific conversations there. Lots of teams were calling yesterday about a high-level front office job for Maddon.
Theo Epstein is honest and a man of his word, and all of us have a great relationship with him and a tremendous amount of respect for him.
There is no specific timeline for getting anything done, and Maddon is prepared to sit out a year if there can’t be anything done.
Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here.
Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.
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