Chicago Cubs Fire Manager Rick Renteria, Mention Joe Maddon As Reason
By Josh Hill
The Chicago Cubs will be hiring Joe Maddon in a matter of time, but first they had to fire their incumbent skipper Rick Renteria.
When Joe Maddon opted out of his contract with the Tampa Bay Rays, the Chicago Cubs were one of the first teams to perk themselves up form the offseason pastures they were grazing in. All that needed to be done was to fire their current manager, Rick Renteria, in order to make room for the hiring of Maddon.
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Mark Gonzalez from the Chicago Tribune reports that the Cubs have indeed done that. Renteria’s firing was announced by the club on Friday afternoon.
Cubs announce firing of Renteria.
— Mark Gonzales (@MDGonzales) October 31, 2014
According to Ken Rosenthal from Fox Sports, the Cubs look like they’re pretty much done with a deal that Joe Maddon will be the team’s next manager.
"Any moment now, Joe Maddon will be announced as the Chicago Cubs’ new manager. His former team, the Tampa Bay Rays, is convinced that the Cubs brazenly tampered with Maddon while he was still under contract, according to major-league sources. Others in baseball are appalled that Maddon is brazenly taking a job that belonged to one of his peers, Rick Renteria."
If you’re wondering if the Cubs are giving fans the runaround about the real reason Renteria was fired after his first season as manager, they’re not. In the press release announcing the firing of Renteria, the Cubs made specific and direct mention of Maddon as their top candidate for the job.
Theo on Joe Maddon in Cubs release. pic.twitter.com/oXgKFnyh4s
— jon greenberg (@jon_greenberg) October 31, 2014
The Cubs could announce Maddon as their next manager as soon as this afternoon, which means the new era of baseball in Chicago — one that isn’t like passing kidney stone — is finally upon north siders.
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