CHICAGO -- After weeks of baseball-wide speculation and anticipation in Chicago, the Cubs made the hiring of manager Joe Maddon official on Monday, just shortly before he was introduced at a news conference on the North Side.The former Rays manager agreed to a five-year deal with the Cubs, who dismissed Rick Renteria on Friday after one season with the club. Maddon was introduced at a news conference held at the Cubby Bear bar near Wrigley Field, a location chosen because the ballpark was unavailable due to ongoing renovation work.
After three seasons focused on rebuilding, the Cubs shifted their direction to being more competitive with the hiring of Maddon, a two-time American League Manager of the Year who guided the Rays to six winning seasons in nine years in the tough AL East, reaching the World Series in 2008.Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein interviewed Maddon for the Red Sox job in 2003, but instead picked Terry Francona, who had more Major League managerial experience. Francona led Boston to two World Series championships.The Cubs dismissed Renteria after one season not because of anything he did, but because of what Epstein believes Maddon can do.
On Friday, Epstein said Maddon "may be as well suited as anyone in the industry to manage the challenges that lie ahead of us." Maddon became available when he took advantage of a clause to opt out of his contract with the Rays."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," Epstein said in a statement. "We decided to pursue Joe."Maddon, 60, spent 12 years at the Minor League level as a manager or instructor before being promoted to the Angels' Major League staff as a bullpen coach in May 1994. He continued his move up, becoming the first-base coach in 1995 and bench coach in '96. He never played in the big leagues after four Minor League seasons at the Class A level.The 2015 season will be Maddon's 41st in professional baseball, 22nd at the Major League level, and 10th as a Major League manager. He is the Cubs' first high-profile manager since Lou Piniella took over in 2007, and the third, following Dale Sveum and Renteria, to be hired by Epstein since he arrived in Chicago in October 2011.
Joey Nowak/MLB.com
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