Joe Maddon Had No Idea He Could Opt Out Of Contract

The Tampa Bay Rays are looking to replace Joe Maddon after he abruptly left, but had it not been for the team telling him he could leave, he may still be with the team.

Joe Maddon is a free agent manager at the moment, as he opted out of the final year of his contract with the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday afternoon. But the story of how he came to opt out of his deal is bizarre and may even anger some Rays fans.

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Maddon apparently has absolutely no idea he could opt out of his contract before he decided to do so. The fact that he did almost as soon as he was told goes to show that the relationship with the Rays was over no matter what, but it’s interesting to note how we all got here.

According to Joel Sherman from the New York Post, the former Rays manager had no idea he could opt out of his contract — until the team told him he could.

Maddon said wasn’t aware he had opt out clause in pact if Friedman left and it was #Rays prez Silverman who told him
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) October 24, 2014

While the Rays would have been much better off keeping this information from Maddon, they did the right thing. They may have lost one of the best managers in baseball but the team is rebuilding and a move needed to be made.

That move may end up taking the Rays all the way to Canada and Montreal, but it was a good move regardless. You can’t always have nice things in baseball and the Rays rebuilding will start from the bottom up.

Either that, or they made the biggest mistake a franchise could in letting their skipper know he could leave if he wanted to.

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