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As you may have heard here or there, Joe Maddon is free from the Rays and is now on the open market.
The rumor is true: Joe Maddon has opted out of his contract, which would've expired after 2015. This ends his 9-year tenure as Rays manager.
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) October 24, 2014
So now he’s coming to the Dodgers, right? Well, that certainly has to be the leading possibility at the moment, but there are indications that it might not be so clear cut.
Just last week, Andrew Friedman emphatically stated that Don Mattingly was his guy, and there were multiple reports that a reason for that was Mattingly had favor with Dodgers ownership.
Will Don Mattingly manage the Dodgers in 2015?
Andrew Friedman on Oct. 17: "Definitely."
— Eric Stephen (@ericstephen) October 24, 2014
Friedman on Mattingly, one week ago: "I'm going into it with the mindset that we're going to work together for a long time."
— Eric Stephen (@ericstephen) October 24, 2014
But that’s not damning for the Maddon speculation, because people lying about individuals under contract isn’t exactly news. I mean, Maddon himself just gave a statement relatively recently saying that he was committed to the Rays.
What’s a bit more concerning is that, according to Jon Heyman, Los Angeles isn’t an option for Maddon at all, and Friedman is committed to Mattingly like he said.
early word: maddon not considering LA an option at all. he understands friedman is committed to mattingly.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) October 24, 2014
maddon could have opted out immediately after friedman left. word is, there were some "contentious" days since.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) October 24, 2014
Then, just moments ago, there’s this from Ken Rosenthal.
Source: Maddon NOT heading to #Dodgers.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) October 24, 2014
And Maddon himself claims he doesn’t quite know what he’s gonna do yet.
Maddon said he has nothing lined up at this point after leaving #Rays. Said he would prefer to manage in '15 but could still stay involved
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) October 24, 2014
Hopefully that’s all just smokescreen like many of the comments given to the press have been, but just the inkling that Maddon may not end up with the Dodgers makes me a bit sad and anxious.
Oh yeah, there’s the question of whether the Dodgers should even want Maddon. For me, that’s an easy yes, especially due to his familiarity with Friedman. But we can get more into that later should the rumors of Maddon to the Dodgers pick-up steam or should he actually ink a deal.
For now, enjoy the rampant speculation.
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Update
Joel Sherman chimed in to shut down Maddon to the Dodgers rumors.
Two officials told me Maddon is not going to #Dodgers. They are sticking with Mattingly.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) October 24, 2014
Dylan Hernandez got a quote from Friedman himself on the matter.
Andrew Friedman: Don Mattingly will manage the #Dodgers next season. Joe Maddon's availability won't change that.
— Dylan Hernández (@dylanohernandez) October 24, 2014
And Ken Gurnick has got the whole quote from Friedman.
“As I said last week, Joe and I enjoyed a tremendous relationship working together in Tampa Bay and I wish him nothing but the best wherever his next stop will be,” said Friedman, Maddon’s close friend and former boss with the Rays. “However, nothing has changed on our end and Don Mattingly will be our manager next season and hopefully for a long time to come.”
I guess this means nothing, but it’s an awful lot of respected people saying no go.
