Joe Maddon will be announced as the new manager of the Chicago Cubs on Monday in news that shakes up the MLB landscape this off-season. His agent says that Maddon left the Tampa Bay Rays over financial differences.
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The Chicago Cubs got their man. They fired incumbent manager Rick Renteria and landed a huge hire by coming to terms with former Rays’ manager Joe Maddon.
The timetable of the hiring still has some people skeptical, however. Initial reports indicated that the Rays could request that Major League Baseball look into potential tampering charges to see if the Cubs were in contact with Maddon before he officially opted out in Tampa Bay.
Trying to get out in front of those accusations, Maddon’s agent Alan Nero was interview by Jim Bowden on Sunday morning. Nero claims that the Rays lost Maddon because they would not pay him enough money and that the Cubs waited to contact Maddon until it was appropriate.
Alan Nero told us that Joe Maddon was willing to stay with the Rays at UNDER market value…Rays just weren’t willing to pay @MLBNetworkRadio
— Jim Bowden⚾️🏈 (@JimBowdenGM) November 2, 2014
Alan Nero said he negotiated 5-6 days w/ Rays re:Joe Maddon before opting out. He was willing to stay @Rays for MUCH less @MLBNetworkRadio
— Jim Bowden⚾️🏈 (@JimBowdenGM) November 2, 2014
Rays were NOT wiling to make Joe Maddon a top 5 paid Manager in Baseball @MLBNetworkRadio
— Jim Bowden⚾️🏈 (@JimBowdenGM) November 2, 2014
Alan Nero told us that the Cubs would not talk to them until they had a copy of his opt out clause & permission from Commish Office XM 89
— Jim Bowden⚾️🏈 (@JimBowdenGM) November 2, 2014
Correction…Rays were not willing to pay Joe Maddon half of what they paid James Loney and Ben Zobrist this year
— Jim Bowden⚾️🏈 (@JimBowdenGM) November 2, 2014
In short: Maddon and Nero went on the offensive here and made sure to place the blame squarely on the Rays. That also gave them an opportunity to get out in front of potential tampering charges.
There are two sides to every story, of course, and you better believe we will hear the Rays’ version of what happened in the coming days.
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