The Chicago Cubs will officially make Joe
Maddon their new manager on Monday and got rid of their current one on Friday,
with the team dismissing Rick Renteria after just one season.
The Cubs announced Renteria's firing in a press release that included the
club's acknowledgement of its intentions to hire Maddon, who became available
after opting out of his contract with the Tampa Bay Rays last week.
Shortly after the release was issued, the Cubs confirmed that Maddon has
agreed to become the team's new manager and will be formally introduced during
a press conference scheduled for Monday.
"Last Thursday, we learned that Joe Maddon -- who may be as well suited as
anyone in the industry to manage the challenges that lie ahead of us -- had
become a free agent," Cubs president Theo Epstein said in a statement. "We
confirmed the news with Major League Baseball, and it became public knowledge
the next day. We saw it as a unique opportunity and faced a clear dilemma: be
loyal to Rick or be loyal to the organization. In this business of trying to
win a world championship for the first time in 107 years, the organization has
priority over any one individual. We decided to pursue Joe.
"While there was no clear playbook for how to handle this type of situation,
we knew we had to be transparent with Rick before engaging with Joe. (General
manager) Jed (Hoyer) flew to San Diego last Friday and told Rick in person of
our intention to talk to Joe about the managerial job. Subsequently, Jed and I
provided updates to Rick via telephone and today informed him that we will
indeed make a change."
Renteria produced a 73-89 record in his lone season on the job, an improvement
over the 66 and 61-win totals Chicago totaled in two years under predecessor
Dale Sveum. The 52-year-old was offered another position in the Cubs'
organization but is expected to decline.
Epstein had publicly declared that Renteria would be back for 2015 following
the conclusion of this past season, but that was before Maddon suddenly and
unexpectedly opted out of his contract with the Rays. His availability
prompted Epstein, who nearly hired the 60-year-old to manage the Red Sox in
2004 while then in charge of Boston's baseball operations, to switch
gears and attempt to bring the two-time American League Manager of the Year
into the fold.
"Rick deserved to come back for another season as Cubs manager, and we said as
much when we announced that he would be returning in 2015," said Epstein. "We
met with Rick two weeks ago for a long end-of-season evaluation and discussed
plans for next season. We praised Rick to the media and to our season ticket
holders. These actions were made in good faith."
Maddon brings outstanding credentials to his new employers, having guided the
low-budget Rays to six consecutive winning seasons and four playoff
appearances from 2008-13. That remarkable run began with an unexpected trip to
the World Series in 2008.
Prior to that 2008 breakthrough, the Rays had never won more than 70 games in
any of their first 10 seasons of existence.
Over nine overall seasons with Tampa Bay, Maddon amassed a 754-705 record.
