Free-agent manager Joe Maddon doesn’t have many viable options if he wants to manage a ballclub in the 2015 season.
Three teams (Houston Astros, Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks) have already hired managers, and that really only leaves him with a few choices. The Minnesota Twins are the only club with an actual job opening, but that would be a downgrade from his previous stint in Tampa Bay. The Chicago Cubs, with all the young talent and large payroll, seem to be the favorites to land Maddon at the current time, and the possibility of landing the savvy manager would likely be enough for Theo Epstein to give Rick Renteria the boot (even though he did a solid job this past season). In addition, both Sandy Alderson and Fredi Gonzalez are feeling the heat, and the Mets and/or Braves could be looking for a new skipper in the near future as well.
But Maddon will be patient and methodical in his search—which is no surprise given his style as a manager. He is prepared to take a year off if he doesn’t find the right fit, according to his agent, Alan Nero (via Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press).
“There’s no deadline,” Nero told 670 The Score during an interview on Saturday morning. “We’re going to go about our business and be very careful to not get out of sorts with this. If someone comes at us full force and the situation is right, Joe’s looking for a big challenge. He’s looking for an organization that’s committed to win. If those elements are together and the talent for them is quick, we’ll make it quick. If not, he’s prepared to take a year off.”
Maddon’s agent also discussed how thin the market is for managers at the current time.
“Respectfully, there’s only one job opening, and that’s Minnesota,” Nero said. “Any team that would have interest would have the delicate situation of considering to let their current manager go, so it’s really important for us not to sensationalize this because it’s not fair to the reigning manager. There’s quite a bit of interest.”
Nero specifically touched on the Chicago Cubs’ current manager situation as well.
“Obviously it’s a possibility,” Nero said. “Whether it’s this year or next year or beyond, it’s certainly a possibility. But we haven’t gotten into those talks with anybody yet…I actually had conversations with about 15 GMs (Friday), some of them wondering if Joe would take a high-level front-office position,” Nero said. “It’s kind of funny that Tony La Russa is in command of the (Arizona) Diamondbacks right now. We’re open to anything and everything, and certainly the Cubs would be on our radar. We have great respect for that organization. It would be up to them when they’re ready to talk about it and ready to pursue it.”
So it looks like Maddon isn’t ruling anything out, but he’s also not going to jump at the first offer he sees, either. This will be an interesting story to follow in the coming weeks as the rumor mill heats up.