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#pounditFriday, March 29, 2024

Cubs not addressing Joe Maddon’s contract until next year

Joe Maddon

The Chicago Cubs are not planning to address Joe Maddon’s contract status until late next year.

Maddon is entering the final year of his contract as the Cubs’ manager and set to make $6 million in 2019. Managers typically don’t like to enter the final year of a contract without an extension in place, but Maddon and his agent appear to understand the circumstances.

Cubs president Theo Epstein told the Chicago Sun-Times’ Gordon Wittenmyer that he wants to see how 2019 goes before addressing the situation.

Epstein called the 2019 season a “pivotal” one for the Cubs and said that they could be ready to make big changes if things don’t go well.

If the Cubs have a great season next year, it seems like they would be inclined to retain their core players and leadership, such as Maddon. If things don’t go well enough, they might want to bring in a different manager. And if the season becomes a disaster, who knows how many changes they could make.

A previous report suggested there is occasionally a tense relationship between Maddon and Epstein. Despite that, they have teamed for great success the past four years. The team has won the NL Central twice, won their first World Series in over a century, and reached the playoffs all four years. However, losing in the NL Wild Card Game is not a satisfactory result for Epstein, which is why he is not committing to Maddon beyond next season.

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