By Josh:
This season was and still is an interesting one when it comes to ethics in baseball.
For months there were debates about the ‘unwritten rules’ of baseball. Should a player bunt to try and break up a no-hitter? When can you throw inside and when can’t you?
The steroid/performance enhancing drugs issue has continued to be in the forefront of everyone’s mind, even now as the season has ended and ARod has officially returned to baseball.
There were numerous discussions, including one held on the 9 Inning Know It All Facebook page, about pitch counts for young ball players.
Now a brand new discussion on ethics in baseball begins as the Chicago Cubs did something that I felt crossed a line. They openly negotiated with a ‘free agent’ manager to become their manager while they already had a manager still on staff.
Joe Maddon was officially announced as the manager of the Chicago Cubs, which forced the firing of Rick Renteria, the manager of the Cubs who still had two years left on his three year contract.
Before I get into my thoughts on this I want to ask a simple question. What if after going through negotiations, that were very public, Maddon decided to go with another teams offer? What would the Cubs have done? I would assume that they would have kept Renteria as their manager, but if I was Renteria and the team I had coached for one year went out and started negotiating with my replacement while I was still under contract I probably would think twice about coaching that team.
As for Maddon, does he not realize that if the team is willing to do this for him, they probably wouldn’t have any problem doing it to him if he doesn’t make the Cubs a playoff team in the next two years.
Okay back to my thoughts on this.
I have no doubt that Maddon is and will be a great manager. He will take the young players in the Cubs system and will probably turn them not only into a playoff team but a World Series contender. For the Cubs this is a great hire.
It still stinks of something foul to me. Did the Cubs tamper with Maddon while he was still under contract with the Rays? The Rays think so.
I think this sets a bad precedence for managers in the game. Now if you don’t succeed in your very first year with a team they may just start negotiating with other managers to replace you even while you are under contract.
The thing I really think people should look at is Epstein has now hired three managers in three years. His track record seems to indicate he is just grasping at straws and hoping the one he grabs is made of gold.
Time will make us forget what happened here, unless Maddon loses, then it will be brought up day after day.