The Chicago Cubs fired manager Rick Renteria early friday. This comes amidst a week of rumors that they were pursuing former Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon. And, the rumors are true, the Chicago Bears named Maddon their fifty-fourth manager in franchise history.
The Chicago Cubs made it clear from the beginning this week, manager Rick Renteria deserved another year as skipper.
But with the free agency of former Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon in play the Cubs began to question their loyalty to Renteria.
This week Chicago cubs president Theo Epstein released a statement saying loyalty will only take you so far in Major League Baseball (via ESPN):
"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.
"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."
Today the pursuit was up.
With the firing of manager Rick Renteria early Friday, the Chicago Cubs announced the hiring of former Tampa Bay Rays Joe Maddon as their fifty-fourth manager.
The owner of the Tampa Bay Rays, Stuart Sternberg, explained that the franchise did everything in its power to keep Joe at home, but in the end couldn't make him stay (NY Daily News):
"Joe Maddon has exercised an opt-out in his current contract, a contract which was not scheduled to expire until after the 2015 season.
"We tried diligently and aggressively to sign Joe to a third contract extension prior to his decision.
"As of yesterday afternoon, Joe enabled himself to explore opportunities throughout Major League Baseball."
In the six years in Tampa Maddon, Joe achieved above average success.
During his tenure the Rays won over seven-hundred games and reached the 2009 World Series.
The Rays lost the series in five games, but even a World Series lost would be welcomed for a franchise that hasn't reached the big game since 1945.
