Here’s the latest on former Rays manager Joe Maddon.
- In an interview with MLB.com’s Bill Chastain, Maddon explains why he decided to opt out of his contract with the Rays. Maddon says that, after the Rays informed him of his opt-out clause, they extended a new offer, but the two parties failed to find common ground. He adds that he currently has no employment offers and is “open for anything,” including sitting out for the year.
- Both sides thought they would agree to a new contract for between three and 10 years, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Ultimately, though, those negotiations fizzled. Maybe that was because the salaries offered (which would have reached just above $3MM annually) were too small, but Topkin writes that some within the Rays wonder whether another team might have reached out and expressed interest in Maddon. If so, that could lead to a tampering charge.
- Topkin also notes that team president Matt Silverman did not notify Maddon of his opt-out clause in an attempt to get him to leave and get a fresh start with a new manager, as some have speculated. Maddon’s agent Alan Nero was the one who had the opt-out clause included, so he was aware of its implications.
- There have been whispers that Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein recently traveled to Florida to meet with Maddon, although Nero denies that happened, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. Nero confirms, however, that he has had discussions with the Cubs and nine other teams. Nero also says that Maddon has received a number of job offers in broadcasting and in front offices, although Maddon is wary of taking a front office job with a team and creating speculation that he will ultimately replace that team’s manager.
Why would Tampa tell him about the clause? Just to be fair/honest? Did they owe him that… considering what happened?
If the window in the opt out closed… and Maddon was still under contract, they could have traded him for a prospect to get value for him, if they wanted to go in a different direction. By telling him, they lost this value.
hiding that information from him would have been negotiating in bad faith. And what do you think happens to the business relationship if he finds out later Silverman knew about the clause but choose not to mention it? Especially if they ‘traded’ him during that span?
in a way they did owe it to him. After 2 extensions and a world series appearance he’s earned at least honesty from them, regardless of how this ends between him and the Rays. I think Tampa telling him was the right move to make. a front office that doesn’t deal with it’s employees honestly isn’t the kind of organization people want to play for.
My point is their “honesty” (if you call it that) cost them.
If it was in his contract, his rep or himself, should have known that. They would not have been dishonest by saying nothing.
As an example…I left a company 3 days before becoming “vested” for a batch of stock options (which were based on a date when an investor gave money… something that was relatively hard to keep track of). I did not think it was my company’s obligation to tell me to quit a week later so I could cash in more options.
if honesty was easy it wouldn’t be a virtue. It’s usually not, which is why we look up to honest people in general.
And you stock analogy doesn’t really apply here, since it’s not a question of paying Maddon or not, it’s a question of negotiating an entirely new contract.
The analogy i would make make would be more like : if you had a vesting stock option 3 days away and your bosses instead tried to get you to sign a new employment contract that may have paid you a smaller bonus instead
How would you feel if you found out later your boss deliberately hid the information about the stock from you to save himself some money? Would you feel appreciated as an employee or would you feel cheated? And if you were the boss, would you rather have a bitter manager, or your good reputation intact when trying to hire the managers replacement?
Well said. Integrity is not free, that’s why it is so valuable.
Yeah, this can’t be anything more complicated than the Rays and Madden weren’t close so Madden decided to test the market.
I don’t believe that baseball organizations typically have the adversarial relationship between upper and middle management that often occurs within the public sector. Its also a small community as well. It’s a little hard to speculate without knowing the relationship that has existed in the Tampa front office.
Joe is a great manager and all but 5 years and 25mil commited to a manager is pretty steep. If he comes to your organization and players hate him that is a lot of dough to just fire him.
I looked up Bochy’s contract as an example. It appears he’s right at 5M per…but 5 years does seem long.
When did he get that extension though? Cause he has two rings and about to have a third, all in 5 years.
I believe before last season and it carries through 2016. It was at the same time they gave one to Sabean.
I really hope the Cubs can pick up Maddon. He’s got a great track record with young talent, obviously, and he stuck with Tampa through the good and the bad, but now he wants a pay increase, which he deserves. The Cubs can be that BIG MARKET team to attract good free agent pickups with Maddon at the helm. With all due respect to Rick Renteria, he makes a better bench coach than manager and lacks a certain quality as a manager. I can’t put my finger on it. Don’t get me wrong; I think Rick is a great guy with a great attitude, but watching the Cubs play in 2014 was just cringe-worthy at many points in the year. To me, he doesn’t have a certain gusto that makes a good manager a great manager. Joe Maddon has the perfect qualifications to take a Cubs team in the right direction. Remember back in 2007 when the Cubbies picked up Lou? He was that sparkplug the team needed to send a jolt throughout the entire organization. He was just what the team needed to take them over the top for what was a great stretch, I really miss those times…but now the Cubs have to make a pretty difficult job of hiring Maddon as manager and convincing Renteria to take a bench coach role, simultaneously, in a short amount of time, because this guy won’t be unemployed for long.
If I recall, when they hired Lou Pinella, they also spent around $400,000,000 in free agents and present player contracts. It certainly wasn’t the bunch of bozos Dusty Baker had to work with the year before. Even so, trying to buy a championship seldom works. See Dodgers.
Yeah, this is a tough one. If I were a coach, would I have second thoughts about coming to Chicago where your career might be ended because a bigger name is unexpectedly available? Maddon has done a great job with what he’s been given in TB and should have more resources at his disposal over the next several seasons at Wrigley. I agree that keeping Renteria around as a coach would be a good move for continuity in the coaching staff and maintaining the organizational approach to coaching. But, if I’m Renteria and I get dumped, do I want to work for the guy they thought was better than me? Would Maddon want to bring his own guys in? What happens with Bosio?
As a Cubs fan i just have to say if the choice is between Renteria and Bosio, or Maddon and Jim Hickey, i’d rather have the former. Bosio’s proven his worth over the last few seasons and i’ve never been a fan of Hickey.
Agreed on Bosio. Usually managers like to bring in guys they’re comfortable with, but the Cubs just hired Mallee and Dascenzo and seem to really value Bosio. As much grief as folks like to give GMs, I’m sure glad I’m not making this decision!
If as the story is being reported at this time is correct that Maddon’s agent Alan Nero had the opt-out included in his contract, and is the one that told him of such, how is there any thought of tampering? Even if it was Silverman that told him of this clause in his contract as originally was reported, how is there any thought of tampering?
Honestly Joe is worth that in $ but I don’t know who will pay that at this point.