[外電] Cubs hire Joe Maddon as manager

看板MLB作者merchape (魔切婆)時間9年前 (2014/11/01 10:04)推噓24(25推 1噓 15→)

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The message was clear Friday to those in the Cubs’ clubhouse, especially anyone who knows Joe Maddon. “Hiring Joe in my opinion is a championship move, and they’re letting everyone know we’re going for it,” said Cubs reliever Wesley Wright, who played for the Cubs’ newest manager, Maddon, the final two months of 2013. In a move considered inevitable for the last week, the Cubs made official their highest-profile managerial hire in eight years on Friday, announcing the “firing” of manager Rick Renteria about two hours before announcing a Monday news conference to introduce Maddon. Terms of Maddon’s multiyear deal were not announced, but it’s believed he got at least close to the five years, $25 million he was said to be seeking – making him one of the three highest paid managers in the game and the highest in Cubs history. The biggest signing in Theo Epstein’s three years running the team came exactly one week after Maddon exercised an opt-out clause with a year left on his contract with the Tampa Bay Rays. In making the dual announcements Friday, the Cubs issued a lengthy statement on Renteria, whose sudden ouster just one year into a three-year contract is viewed by many in the industry as unjust. “We saw [Maddon’s availability] as a unique opportunity and faced a clear dilemma: be loyal to Rick or be loyal to the organization,” Epstein said in the statement. “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.” Epstein came close to hiring Maddon as the Red Sox manager 11 years ago before choosing the more experienced Terry Francona. “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. 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.” Cubs insiders say the sudden availability of a manager who represents the ideal fit for this phase of the team’s rebuilding process made it impossible to pass on a chance to hire Maddon – regardless of how it might look jettisoning Renteria after only one year and going through three managers in four seasons. Renteria was offered a chance to stay with the organization in another capacity, according to the statement. He turned it down. Renteria declined comment through his agent on Friday. Admittedly, “He deserved better, and we wish him nothing but the best,” Epstein said in the statement. Sources say Maddon has made no demands to bring any of his own coaches in, and a staff shakeup is not anticipated. No more than one or two new coaches are expected to join him. Despite wide speculation he could be targeting longtime Rays bench coach Dave Martinez – an ex-Cub interviewed last year for the managerial opening – sources suggest that is unlikely. Martinez is a candidate to replace Maddon in Tampa Bay and remains under contract there regardless. Maddon, a two-time manager of the year, oversaw the same kind of transition in Tampa Bay that the Cubs are trying to pull off, going from last place to the World Series in his third year there, 2008 – the first of five 90-win seasons. An innovative thinker, exceptional communicator and only manager to lead the low-budget Rays to a winning record, Maddon, 60, is a matchup-minded strategist built for the National League. Wright said he hated to see Renteria lose his job. But he also knows Maddon’ s value. “Just to see how relaxed and comfortable he was with what he believed in and brought to the table rubbed off on players,” Wright said. “There aren’t a lot of guys who aren’t players who can have as much impact on the game with what they do and how they prepare, to affect the entire team.” Industry sources say the Rays plan to file tampering allegations with major league baseball, believing their failure to sign Maddon to an extension this month was a result of the Cubs making their high-priced interest in him clear after Rays general manager Andrew Friedman took a team president job with the Dodgers. Freidman’s departure triggered a two-week deadline for negotiating an extension or allowing Maddon the option of becoming a free agent. Cubs officials vehemently deny communicating with Maddon before he opted out. A source close to Maddon said he made the Rays an offer to stay for far less than the Cubs eventually paid, and the Rays declined. 2015得冠軍!!!!!! --

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