By Anthony Caruso III
Posted: October 29th, 2014 at 5:40 PM EST
The Chicago Cubs pulled a situation that the Milwaukee Bucks did earlier this summer. With a manager already under contract, the Cubs will have a new manager next season.
The Cubs are expected to hire Joe Maddon, who left the Tampa Bay Rays this past Friday. He’ll replace Rick Renteria, who will now become available after having two years left on his contract.
Joe Maddon (Getty Images)
It is not clear how much Maddon will be paid by the Cubs. Last off-season, the Cubs attempted to hire New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi from the franchise and they were prepared to pay him $5 million per season.
Maddon was making a little less than $2 million annually with his Rays contract. He decided to opt-out when the contract negotiations stalled on a new contract.
Theo Epstein, Cubs President, interviewed Maddon in 2003 to be the Boston Red Sox manager before the job eventually went to Terry Francona.
Epstein has reportedly been a long-time admirer of Maddon. Now, he’s finally got his man, as the Cubs continue to rebuild.
The 60-year-old was the Rays manager from 2006 through the end of this past season. He also was a two-time American League Manager of the Year in 2008 and 2011.
This past season, Maddon guided the Rays to a 77-85 record and a fourth place finish in the American League East. The Cubs were tied for the fourth-worst record in the National League with a 73-89 mark tied with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Only the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies had worse records. The D’Backs were 64-98, while the Rockies went 66-96.
