Maddon Close to Being Named Cubs Manager: Reports

Ever since Joe Maddon resigned as manager of the Tampa Bay Rays last week, the Chicago Cubs have been reportedly courting him to take over the reins of a team that has aspirations of competing for a division title in 2015.

Now, according to numerous reports, the team is close to bringing him aboard as manager to replace Rick Renteria. Early reports on Wednesday afternoon suggested that a deal was reached, but numerous reporters pumped the brakes on that story, while still giving hope to Cubs fans: 

Maddon, who led the Rays to four playoff appearances and to the 2008 World Series, resigned as manager of the team after GM Andrew Friedman left to become the President of Baseball Operations for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Maddon was considered by many to be a shoe-in to follow him to the West Coast, but when news broke last week that he had opted out of his contract with the Rays, the Dodgers decided to stick with Don Mattingly in the dugout. 

The New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies were also rumored to be interested in Maddon, but they quashed the rumor in short order. The Cubs however have not released a statement about the manager, suggesting that they are indeed in hot pursuit of his services. 

Maddon has a long track record of working with young players during his tenure in Tampa Bay, and his methods, while unconventional, clearly have caught the attention of Cubs brass. The manager was the runner-up to Terry Francona when Epstein interviewed candidates with the Boston Red Sox in 2003, and he has also been complimentary of the team and the organization as a whole. 

When asked about the Cubs' young talent before their series against the Rays earlier this year, Maddon weighed in on what he thought the team should do with Javier Baez, who had a bit of a rough season as he tried to get acclimated with the major league game. 

""I wouldn't tell him anything. You can only make them think, which is the worst thing you can possibly do today. If he can turn his mind off and just go play, that'd be the best thing. I'd just tell him to go up there and be himself and play to his strengths. Don't worry about all the data, video and that kind of stuff. It's not gonna help him."" 

Maddon's reputation as a guru for young players also translates to those players from Latin America. That is one of Renteria's big calling cards, but the bilingual Maddon has established a great rapport with players from Latin America, and he doesn't just concern himself with the community on the playing field. His work in his hometown of Hazleton, Pennsylvania to help establish dialogue iin a racially-divided town was profiled in the Tampa Bay Times in 2011

"With help from locals like his sister, his cousin, his cousin's husband and others, he has been planning the Hazleton Integration Project...Maddon was a popular kid around here and has gone on to do good things. People listen when he speaks. 

""We need," he told 560 focused faces, almost all of them white, "to absorb our Hispanic brothers and sisters."" 

With his in-dugout demeanor and his charitable and social work off the field, Maddon has become a fan favorite not just in the Tampa-area, but throughout Major League Baseball. Landing the 61-year old would be a massive coup for the organization, and their aggressive pursuit illustrates how serious they are about landing his services. 

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