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While the Cubs were in Cincinnati this past weekend playing the Reds, Joe Maddon talked about his future and was pretty confident that he’d be back for a couple more years in Chicago.
MLB.com wrote about Maddon, who came short of saying he expects to get a new contract with the Cubs following the 2019 season.
And the accomplished manager expressed that his optimism remains high that the Cubs will re-sign him when the time comes to make that call.
“It’s very high, yeah,” Maddon said. “Very high. Very, very high. I’m operating in that I believe we’ll be together for a couple more years at least.”
Now, after an off day in Philadelphia, 670 The Score’s Dan Bernstein revealed that according to a source the Cubs aren’t happy that Maddon discussed his contract status to the media.
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If you remember back to last winter, Theo Epstein announced that the Cubs would not be giving Maddon a contract extension heading into the final year of the manager’s deal. Any negotiations would take place later in 2019, or after the season. Epstein made it clear that Maddon’s contract status wouldn’t be addressed one way or another during the season.
Apparently the Cubs and Maddon had a handshake agreement or some kind of understanding that he wouldn’t talk about his contract either and that’s why they’re not happy after his latest comments.
But here’s the thing, this really doesn’t sound like a huge deal. Bernstein did his job, got some attention, but the segment on his show didn’t even end before he even downplayed his own report.
Bernstein starts off by saying that “the Cubs are pissed,” and then a couple minutes later he says, “I’m not saying guys are slamming doors in the offices right now. They were a little surprised that it was as starkly stated and that it came from him and not the agent in the middle of the season. I guess a little disappointed. They thought was a bilateral agreement that they were the only ones sticking to this pledge of you’re not going to talk about it during the season.”
You can listen to the entire discussion below. The Maddon conversation begins at 9:50.
