The Cubs have announced the firing of manager Rick Renteria. The move doesn’t come as a large surprise, given recent reports that the team has agreed to terms with Joe Maddon to become their new manager. Renteria had completed just one season of the three-year contract he signed to become the Cubs’ manager last offseason.
Within the press release announcing the move, Cubs president Theo Epstein made the following statement:
“Today we made the difficult decision to replace Rick Renteria as manager of the Chicago Cubs. On behalf of Tom Ricketts and Jed Hoyer, I thank Rick for his dedication and commitment, and for making the Cubs a better organization.
Rick’s sterling reputation should only be enhanced by his season as Cubs manager. We challenged Rick to create an environment in which our young players could develop and thrive at the big league level, and he succeeded. Working with the youngest team in the league and an imperfect roster, Rick had the club playing hard and improving throughout the season. His passion, character, optimism and work ethic showed up every single day.
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.
Last Thursday, we learned that Joe Maddon – who may be as well suited as anyone in the industry to manage the challenges that lie ahead of us – had become a free agent. We confirmed the news with Major League Baseball, and it became public knowledge the next day. We saw it as a unique opportunity and faced a clear dilemma: be loyal to Rick or be loyal to the organization. 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.
While there was no clear playbook for how to handle this type of situation, we knew we had to be transparent with Rick before engaging with Joe. Jed flew to San Diego last Friday and told Rick in person of our intention to talk to Joe about the managerial job. Subsequently, Jed and I provided updates to Rick via telephone and today informed him that we will indeed make a change.
We offered Rick a choice of other positions with the Cubs, but he is of course free to leave the organization and pursue opportunities elsewhere. … We have clung to two important ideals during our three years in Chicago. The first is to always be loyal to our mission of building the Cubs into a championship organization that can sustain success. The second is to be transparent with our fans. As painful as the last week was at times, we believe we stayed true to these two ideals in handling a sensitive situation. To our fans: we hope you understand, and we appreciate your continued support of the Cubs.”
Kinda in bad taste to hire a new one before you fire the old one.
They haven’t technically hired a new one yet.
I doubt that really matters to Renteria and the rest of the world watching. Not a class move by the Cubs organization. The fact that there were negotiations ongoing with Maddon should never have been allowed to get out. Or they should have just fired him first without hedging their bets.
It was Maddon’s agent that let the cat out of the bag and they weren’t gonna fire their manager until they had a replacement in hand.
Teams do it all the time. It’s a better way to conduct business. Fire person A, hire person B. Not the other way around.
They haven’t hired Maddon, and the Cubs have been in discussions with Renteria about this since last Friday. It’s not like he was blindsided. People running with 1/3 of the facts and not understanding sports business… comment wasteland incoming.
Theo was not in the market for a new manager. Maddon became a surprise FA and made it clear that he was prepared to sit out 2015, if he didn’t get the right situation. You don’t fire your manager if you are NOT looking for a new one and then not until you have an agreement in place. Everything went as it should given the situation.
90% of people who say the Cubs were wrong to do this to Renteria, probably couldn’t have named the Cubs manager on August 31st of this year.
90% of people who watched the playoffs probably didn’t know who Ned Yost was until Game #163.
Dale Sveum
A new skipper for the Titanic didn’t change things much…
Captain Edward Smith was the one and only Captain of the Titanic.
Yeah, the analogy doesn’t even make any sense.
He might be talking about William Murdoch.
The Cubs are a sinking ship? I think if you said that to any baseball analyst, you’d be politely showed the exit.
maybe, but the cubs still have a long way to go before they aren’t the titanic
I know Joe Maddon is considered one of the best managers in the game but Renteria did a very good job with the Cubs in 2014. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, this move was unnecessary.
Good manager with players, not a great in-game tactician. He’ll get another chance
You know, this wouldn’t be the first time the Cubs will have gone for a marquee name manager. I’m thinking of Louuuuu Piniella here (and to some degree Dusty, I guess). I have to wonder, given their history (and despite recent ownership and front office makeovers), what impact will it have on the team going forward?
With that said, I still find the whole execution of this move tacky, tacky, tacky.
And who were the Cubs’ managers the last 3 times they made the playoffs?
Renteria did a good job with developing players, but his in-game management could use some work (lineups, bullpen usage, pointless sac bunting). That said, it was his first season managing, and a learning curve is to be expected.
I liked Renteria, and would have been happy to see him at the helm in 2015, but as Theo said, “the organization has priority over any one individual.” I don’t think anyone is happy about what this means for Renteria but the Cubs had to make the best move for the organization, and grabbing one of the best (if not the best) manager in the business falls into that category.
Are people gonna be upset if they sign John Lester and demote Edwin Jackson? Jackson is still under contract, still has a “job” if you will. I fail to see a lot of differences in that.
Well, Edwin Jackson was a terrible pitcher last year while Renteria was not a terrible manager. However, Renteria is not as good a manager or a name (to bring in FAs) as Maddon.
And when Maddon makes the same in games moves they will be hailed as genius… that just didn’t work out. That’s baseball you know.
I completely disagree. It seems like the Cubs orginization handeled it appropriately (kept in contact with him and let him know up front their intentions) and Maddon is one of the best managers in the game (and could be considered one of the all time greats) This team is perfect for him because that is all he has done with the Rays – had to manage propsects and he is damn good at it. This will most certainly help the Cubs odds of pringing in the right ace type pitchers to help solidify the team. Cubs have a real shot of making a splash in a year or 2 into the playoffs.
I notice you’re a Rangers fan.
Anybody else think it would be a little funny if Maddon took a job somewhere else?
That would be hilarious.
Ehhhh…didn’t they officially hire him as their manager like 2-3 days ago?
No, they haven’t officially hired him yet. Why does everyone think they officially hired him before letting Renteria go? They will announce the hiring Monday.
All I can say is, “Wow.” I knew I’d see this coming, but I really didn’t know how it would be handled and how the announcement would come out. I wish Rick all the best, and I hope this doesn’t derail his managerial ambitions in anyway.
On a side note, did anyone notice how there weren’t many managerial controversies this last year for the Cubs?
Wonder how Renteria feels about it? Of course, he won’t say anything negative about the Cubs, but I’d be pretty burned after they gave me a vote of confidence to then be fired a week later.
Who knows? He’s entitled to be angry. I don’t think being angry and honest about it would reflect negatively on him at all. You have to feel for the guy.
They didn’t give him a vote of confidence, so….
“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.”
Announcing Rick was coming back in September, and giving a vote of confidence when the best (or one of) managers in the game became available are dramatically different things. The Cubs were silent since Friday, unlike the Dodgers, Cardinals, etc. who all gave their managers “votes of confidence.”
Uhhh how is it different? I met with the guy after the season ended and told him he deserves to come back after doing such a great job, but that’s just my way of telling him he doesn’t have the job. I would find these things quite confusing.
They gave him a vote of confidence, then they essentially rescinded it. It’s still a vote of confidence.
Epstein is like a robot. Its a stream of management cliches and politically correct monologue.
He was kept in the loop of what was happening the entire time.
Sorry, I said this once already but they did Renteria wrong.
Totally agree. Told him that he did good things, then another guy is available and they say “Oh well you good, but we want this guy.” Maddon is a really good manager, but honestly, I don’t think he’ll have much success with the Cubs. They play in a division that usually has 3 or 4 teams who compete for the division title each year. They’ll have to be really good to win a division title. They have talent, but I feel as if ego gets in the way of that.
Just my opinion but it shows a lack of class on Maddon’s part as well. You just don’t interview for a position when someone still occupies that position. Maddon should have said don’t talk to me until their is an open managerial position. He shares part of the responsibility for the way this was done.
As I’ve said before, you really have to wonder how long this has been in the works. With the way everything went down, it would seem that negotiations have been going on in the shadows, with Renteria still on board. Business or not (and I have heard all the arguments), that’s just tacky.
So should free agent players not talk to teams who already have a full 25-man roster?
Sorry, we already have a guy who says he plays that position.
Except most job interviews work that way. And Renteria gets 1.8 million over the next two years to do nothing. It’s not like they threw him out on the street.
Yeah, the AL East was a cakewalk and the Rays spent TONS of money.
I’ve always said if the Blue Jays were in another division, they’d compete…
In my mind if they wanted to replace Renteria they should have terminated his services and then began negotiations with Maddon. The fact that they waited until Maddon had agreed to a contract and then let that info be out there for a while, and then fired Renteria reflects very poorly on the organization.
If they terminated Renteria and didn’t land Maddon, the Cubs would look worse than they do now. The lesser of two evils.
No they wouldn’t. They would look like a club that took a chance and lost. Now they just look like a club that wants to have its cake and eat it too.
Maddon is an upgrade at manager. To fire your manager because you’re interviewing one makes no sense. I’m not saying what’s ethically right or wrong, I’m saying what’s good business is to keep your B manager until you 100% have the A one.
Good business requires ethics.
Good ethics are nice to have, but aren’t required. Nike is doing quite well with it’s sweatshops.
Marc, sorry but 2 wrongs don’t make a right.
I’m not talking ethics, since those lines are crossed constantly. Business-wise, this makes perfect sense.
Again, I disagree. The ends do NOT justify the means.
So the Yankees should not pursue a 3B because A-Rod has been reinstated and is under contract? No. If you can improve, you do so.
Marc, you are grasping a straws to try and justify and unjustifiable position. Your comment isn’t worthy of a response.
Yet you responded…
If you say so.
Actually, it’s a pretty perfect analogy. How is the situation he outlined any different except for the names involved, or the fact that in one case we’re talking about players and in the other we’re talking about managers (not seeing why that should make a difference)?
A Yankee fan talking about ethics in sports…….wow…..just wow.
Yep, you may find it hard to believe but even Yankees fans have a right to their opinion. And whether you like it or not or are willing to admit it or not the way the Cubs handled this situation is just plain wrong.
How dare the Cubs sign their manager before a better one unexpectedly becomes available…
Yes, how dare the Cubs show commitment to their pre-existing manager?
The team did NOTHING wrong.
If you say so.
Shawn, it’s a good thing you said so.
So Billy Beane insulted two of his starting pitchers, when he traded for Samardzija and Hammel?? What part don’t you get? Do you get the part that the Cubs were NOT looking for a new manager and Maddon suddenly opted out of his contract? How about the part that since they were NOT looking for a new manager, it made no sense to fire the guy you have until you get , the better guy (who suddenly became available), to agree? You are trying to compare this situation to that of Gibson, Gardenhire and Porter, who were all recently fired and you just can’t.
Please understand. The Cubs were NOT looking to replace Renteria. If dumping Renteria had been the plan the whole time, they would have fired him when the regular season ended.
Exactly. Then the upgrade of Maddon became available, they landed him, and made Renteria obsolete for their organization.
If they were planning on sticking with Renteria had Maddon not been available, they should have stuck with Renteria and allowed teams with REAL managerial vacancies to interview Maddon. That’s the ethical thing to do. Giving Renteria the boot when that wasn’t the plan was just plain disgraceful, “good baseball move” or not.
Also, the only team without a manager is the Twins and there is no way they give Maddon $5 million a year.
It’s a little trickier than termination. They could have attempted to reassign him within the organization… To special asst. to the gm..etc.
Cubs were in an interesting spot. I think Maddon being available sped up the process a bit…I think they’d have moved on from Renteria as they turned the corner on the field…to a Joe Girardi. Renteria might have been aware of that process.
From the reports I am reading, Renteria was n the loop the whole time and this move was NOT a shock to him.
Nice statement from Epstein. It’s a tough spot, but ultimately the Cubs front office has a responsibility to get the best man available. Hope Renteria lands on his feet.
Karma can be an ugly, ugly thing, Theo …
That is, if karma is an actual thing that has real consequences.
So in Theo’s future lives he might get paid to not work? Like the opportunity that RR has now?
Or RR can double his income by landing another gig.
Did the Cubs already sign a contract with Renteria for 2015? If not they should be required to pay him in 2015 anyway after publicly committing to him for the 2015 season.
Manager salaries are guaranteed, so they still have to pay him.
I know they are guarantied but was he already under contract for 2015?
Yup.
Thanks
He’s got two years left on his contract. The Cubs are on the hook for it.
And I thought they were going to have two managers after coming to terms with Maddon…Non-story.
Renteria will be a manager again by 2016, if not sooner as a mid-season replacement. He did a nice job. I hope he spends a year as Hurdle’s bench coach in Pittsburgh – and maybe succeeds Hurdle. As far as the Cubs go, I can’t blame them for going after Maddon, and the letter posted seems to state the case well.
While I do think the organization made a good baseball decision, I still feel like Renteria is a valuable manager and will definitely hold that position elsewhere soon enough. I loved his positive attitude and the way he treated his players.
what a bunch of flip-floping by the cubs
Would be nice to see Rick beat Maddon in the WS2016 with the twins…(or any other team) 🙂
In a few months, this whole saga will be forgotten. I personally don’t get the voices expressing special concern for Renteria. This was a business decision (made transparently) and a good one that should have big positive implications for the organization. It shows free agents that the Cubs will do what it takes to win.
Theo’s statement said it well: 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.”
No different than say, chasing Russell Martin to replace Wellington Castillo. I agree this is an upgrade and glad they are doing it.
People see it differently because its managers. Players have a certain lifespan that everyone knows. Nobody is going to be shocked if a much better player comes along and you take that guy over a worse player. People feel differently when it comes to managers. I don’t know why it’s “different”, but this rubs a fair amount of people the wrong way (probably, the overwhelming majority of people outside of Chicago).
Because it’s an unusual situation and people have a difficult time understanding that while unusual, it’s no different from player assets in the long run.
would you really take Sandberg over Maddon?
No. And I haven’t said I have a problem with it. I’m just explaining why I think some do have a problem with it.
That’s a pretty reasonable and candid statement about the situation.
Handled with zero class by the cubs.
Handled perfectly – you just don’t like the outcome. There’s a difference.
Telling someone their job is safe one week and casting him aside like a bag of moldy oranges the next? Plenty to love about that!
Cast aside, with the remaining amount of his contract to be paid in-full. Tough gig. Also, he can increase his income by managing elsewhere.
Things change in business. You understand as a manager your job is safe until it isn’t. The Cubs gave a no name bench coach a shot to manage on one of the biggest stages in baseball, and he did a fairly good job with it. Good enough to boost his value and give him future opportunities. Good enough even to come back to the club to fulfill his contract.
The best manager in the game then opted out of his contract. The Cubs could have gone right to Maddon and started negotiating, but instead flew to San Diego to discuss the situation with their coach and be transparent and honest with him. They ended up hiring Maddon and offered Renteria a spot in the front office, or told him they’d release him and let him pursue work elsewhere if he’d prefer.
They’re giving him a glowing recommendation after giving him his shot to manage not just any team, but the Cubs. He’s going to find more work, and soon, and he’s going to make more with his new team than he did with the Cubs. It’s probably bittersweet for him, but I guarantee you Renteria understands the process, appreciate the transparency, and really thanks the Cubs for the shot to manage and prove himself to all the other teams. The sad fact is, he’s a solid manager – he’s just not Maddon.
Yeah and still gets the entire contract paid to him. He isn’t some guy who got laid off from a 20K job. Do you know him personally? He’s a millionare. Do you feel pity for his ego or something?
Happens all the time.
Judging by the comments on this board, the Cubs are not allowed to cut Edwin Jackson (even though he will still be paid) and sign a better pitcher because he’s under contract. Guess all those Cubs fans can forget about signing Lester or Shields since they aren’t allowed to pursue free agents.
Face it people, this is a business. Rick Renteria might end up being a great manager, but right now, there aren’t many (if any) that would say he is a better manager than Joe Maddon. The Cubs feel they are on the cusp of contending and that Maddon is better suited to push them over the top so they made a change. They are still paying Renteria, they aren’t bashing him to other teams or the press, they offered him another job in the organization or permission to take his services elsewhere while still being paid and he took it. So they said he would be back – how many owners/GM’s have given coaches a public backing only to fire them months later (or earlier than that). It happens all the time!
Like it or not this is a perfectly legitimate move that they had every right to make.
Exactly! Managers and Players are assets. If you can improve you do.
I’m wholly on board with the Cubs being forced to keep Edwin Jackson in their starting rotation – as I’m sure most of the rest of non-Cubs fans in baseball are, too.
So I’m sure that as a Phillies fan you are completely on board with Ryan Howard as the starting first baseman for the next two years and he should be replaced under no circumstance.
Then again with Amaro as the GM I’d say its a safer bet that Howard is given an extension rather than be replaced…
Nah, let’s just stick with your original example.
Your example doesn’t properly describe the situation. This is as if Edwin Jackson had an all-star season (not going to happen I know), the Cubs publicly committed to him as their ace for the coming season and then released him several weeks later.
Its not the change that bothers me, its first the fact that Renteria had success in his first season and second that the Cubs had already committed to him publicly. Some of us just dislike dishonesty.
Renteria is more like a Travis Wood. Solid peripherals, and some potential, but leaves a lot of room for improvement (which he may or may not make).
Let’s not act like Renteria was anything more than a great motivator and a below average in game manager.
It was not dishonesty. When they made those statements Joe Maddon was the manager of Tampa. These were events they were unaware was going to unfold.
1) Isn’t there some kind of ‘Rooney Rule’ in MLB as far as going through the appearance of interviewing minority applicants? I guess not. 2) For all the Cubs apologists on here, appearance is everything, and no this was not handled well. Maybe with today’s media it’s impossible to keep things under wraps, but Rick should have been let go or ‘reassigned’ first, then announce a new one.
The Cubs still haven’t spoken a word about hiring Maddon. You can’t stop the media from breaking stories, unfortunately.
They haven’t announced anything regarding. So he has been let go, and was offered to be reassigned before they announced a new one. Why is this so hard for everyone to comprehend?
It’s difficult to ask us to be dumb about “no announcement yet”. Whenever’s someone’s asked me to be dumb, I haven’t liked it for some odd reason.
There is…essentially. All clubs are supposed to interview “minority candidates” for managerial jobs and above (I think that’s where it starts). But like the 2 below me said, they haven’t announced anything yet. The tricky part is going to be the small window they’ve left themselves (and for their sake, I’d hope they already had an interview set up – although it would have been purely for show) because they have already announced a press conference for Monday (that speculatively is announcing Maddon as the new manager).
For all those fans here that are trying to justify the way the Cubs handled this hiring of Maddon and the firing of Renteria and look upon Maddon as the “second coming or as the Cubs great savior”. At best even with Maddon the Cubs are no better than a 4th place team in the NL Central. Oh they might make it up to the #3 best in the NL Central by the time Maddon’s rumored 5 year deal is done but as for any postseason hopes….dream on. Heck Epstein may be gone before Maddon.
Please explain what they did wrong, other than you not liking they got a better manager?
Read my comments below. They pretty much explain my position.
Oh I’ve read them, they make no sense. I find it quite hypocritical that a Yankees fan, the kings of free agency, has a problem with the Cubs signing a free agent manager.
Your comment about how bad the Cubs are going to continue to be, in the face of every major baseball pundit saying how close they are to not only contending for the playoffs but the World Series, shows that you’re simply upset the Cubs improved.
If that’s what you got from my previous comments then you missed my entire point. I don’t care if they improved, stayed the same or went backwards with this hiring. Let me make it as clear as I can here and now. I don’t like the way they handled the situation plain and simple. As I said in my very first comment “they did Renteria wrong.”
Now you are free to disagree with my assessment but no amount of back and forth on your part will change my mind. Or for that matter what would appear to be the opinion of others here as well.
Yankees fans become a little butt chapped when another team picks up the best available at any spot.
Yeah… I’ll make a bet that the Cubs don’t finish worse than the Yankees in any of Maddon’s years managing, and are in the playoffs by 2016 at the latest if you’d like.
If you say so.
It’s a matter of personal opinion. On whether you feel that a baseball organization should be run as a cutthroat business or a social club (or somewhere in between). It’s a individual decision that each person draws a different line on. Nobody is really right or wrong here – just which side of the line the Cubs decision fell on for you.
You do realize that the Cubs were only 3 games out of 4th, last year……..right? Are you implying that they will play worse in 2015?
They finished 9 games behind the 3rd place Brewers in 2014 and 15 games behind the 2nd place Pirates. Hence my comment they are no better than a 4th place team
Do you expect everyone else in that division to get worse while only the Cubs get better?
The Cubs played .500 ball from May through the end of the year. They also have around 70 million to spend to just keep a mid tier payroll on par with St. Louis. If you think anyone in that division can improve as quickly as the Cubs, you’re not paying attention.
Why do the Cardinals, Pirates and Brewers have to improve as quickly as the Cubs? They are already better than them and in the case of the Cardinals and Pirates and to a slightly lesser degree a lot better than the Cubs.
Because a team that can play .500 ball as is with 60-70+ million to spend will be hard to keep up with in the next 2 years no matter how big your head start may have been (which contrary to your belief, isn’t as big as you might think).
You act as if the Cubs are going to be the only team signing and competing for players. There are 29 other MLB teams all or at least most of them with money to spend. Many of them competing for the same players the Cubs will be looking at. Having the money and getting the players do not necessarily go hand in hand.
The Brewers are regressing and the Reds are losing it,,,,,,,,,,,,,yeah, I can see them jump 2 teams. They were 3 games out of 4th WITH Jackson and Veras. If those two were not on the team in ’14, they would have already be a 4th place team.
The flip side is they don’t have some of the players who helped them win.
They played better AFTER they made the trades. Imagine if they didn’t have Jackson and Veras
And here it is, the awkward firing that’s not because of any wrongdoing.
Rick Renteria still get the money they owe him & can still get another coaching job elsewhere, probably not big league manager this season..
The Cubs not only had a chance at an experienced, successful manager, but they found one that is a devotee of statistical analysis. That fits him in perfectly with the FO’s way looking at baseball. Add in that he’s one of the top 5 managers in baseball today, and it’s hard to find fault with the Cubs for what they did.
The Cubs job may have been the perfect position for Joe, and Joe the perfect manager for the Cubs. Add in the way the fans love to have fun at Wrigley and around Chicagoland, and this is a win, win, win that will prove to be an exciting story for all MLB fans.
Is he a devotee of scouting analysis? How about coaching? Can someone be a devotee of everything?
But,but, but,but..still after all the ‘so’ called nice things they said about him….. they still told him: Hey Rick, you are outta here!
It’s sort of like when the Corleone’s told Tom Hagen that he was out.
You’re out, Tom….
You’re out, Rick…
The Cubs were very excited when they signed Lou Piniella to be their manager. Lou couldn’t make it happen and he quit towards the end of the season to head back to Tampa. I hope the same fate doesn’t happen to Joe Madden.
Lou and Maddon are completely different people and completely different managers. They have very little in common besides the fact that both are older white men who went from managing the Rays to the Cubs.
Two different owners and teams
A week or so ago I posted that Terry Francona has had a great affect on the Indians production and turnaround the past 2 years. I got a reply stating that managers somehow don’t count, and a number of people gave that comment a thumbs up.
So why do the Cubs let a manager go that they admit did a fine job? And why are there so many comments about the situation here?
Most people are arguing about morals. Others are arguing about bad karma.
The main thing people dont get is that baseball is a business and the business world is ever changing
It’s not that a manager has nothing to do with the outcome of a game, it’s that it is very minimal. That doesn’t mean that an organization shouldn’t want the best at the position.
The Cardinals are one of the teams I follow closely.
I find it hard to believe that someone can follow the Cards, see what Metheny has done in the playoffs and in critical in-season games, and talk about a manager being very minimal.
I agree Matheny is not a good manager. Yet the Cardinals have went to three straight NLCS and a World Series with him as manager. Doesn’t that kind of work for the manager having a minimal impact. I mean, how good do you think the Cardinals really are?
“be loyal to Rick or be loyal to the organization.”
Apparently good faith is only as good as the “organization.”
There is no loyalty in sports. If you think you have what you believe is a better player, coach, or player in hand, you make a change. Brutal, but it’s always been that way. Loyalty doesn’t win games.
Then how do you explain Fredi Gonzalez’ tenure with the Braves?
Hopefully for Maddon’s sake a “better” manager doesn’t opt out after next season.
Those who have participated in the other discussions know I’m luke-warm on how Renteria was treated. However, this is a classy statement and if they handled everything the way the statement indicates it seems that they at least handled things as best they could.
I hope Rick chooses to stay with the Cubs.
I think with the way he handled a young team last season, Minnesota should at least consider him.
I know his next two years salary is guaranteed. If he’s hired as a coach, say, and his salary is lower, are the Cubs on the hook for the whole thing, or do they make up the difference if he’s being paid less than he would be as their manager?
Rick would get the check from the new team and a check from the cubs. So he can make alot of money at once if hes hired.
This is the sort of thing to point out when people say players have no loyalty.
A bush league move.
Theo said all the right things/honest truth in his statement
I hear there is an opening for a manager in Tampa Bay.