It took the Chicago Cubs 108 years to win their most recent championship. It took them less than three years after that to dismiss the manager who led them there.
Joe Maddon, who guided the Cubs to their long-awaited World Series title in 2016, will not return as manager next season, the team announced on Sunday in St. Louis. Theo Epstein, the Cubs’ president of baseball operations, made the announcement in an informal news conference with Maddon before the Cubs’ final game of the season at Busch Stadium.
“We both agreed that it’s time and that this type of change is a win-win,” Epstein told reporters, adding of Maddon: “There’s going to be a bidding war for his services, and there should be. He’s in a great position.”
Maddon, 65, said he hopes to manage three to five more seasons, which makes him a high-profile free agent for several managerial vacancies. The Kansas City Royals, the San Diego Padres and the San Francisco Giants will all have new managers next season, and other teams — including the Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies — might also make a change.
Maddon has reached the postseason eight times as a manager, four with the Tampa Bay Rays and in each of the last four seasons with the Cubs. But this year’s Cubs team entered Sunday’s action at 84-77, with 15 losses in their first 26 games this month. They will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2014, the year before Maddon’s celebrated arrival.
“We’re both going to move on, the Cubs are going to flourish, hopefully I get a chance to do this somewhere else, but there’s no tears shed,” Maddon said. “It’s a good moment for everybody, and we’re both excited about our futures.”
Epstein has been discouraged by the Cubs’ failure to build off their 2016 championship, believing that the roster — despite a strong core of young position players and solid veteran starters — has somehow been less than the sum of its parts.
Maddon also earned $6 million per year, matching the retiring Bruce Bochy of the Giants for the highest manager’s salary, in an era in which M.L.B. managers are being paid less and less.
Epstein could follow the industry trend of hiring a former player with no managing experience, like the Cubs coach and longtime major league infielder Mark Loretta or the special assistant David Ross, a popular former catcher who also works for ESPN. Another intriguing name for the Cubs could be the MLB Network broadcaster Joe Girardi, a former Cubs catcher who led the Yankees to the 2009 World Series title and is eager to resume his managing career.
“I think we’re at a point where we just need a little bit of change and something new, and that’s natural,” Epstein said. “That’s the natural way of change, and if you embrace it the right way, it’s good for all of us.”