Reactions Around Baseball to the Joe Maddon News

When Joe Maddon left the Tampa Bay Rays, it sent shockwaves through everyone even remotely connected to the team. However, that was only the start. Maddon’s departure has affected teams around baseball a great deal, even in ways that we could not have seen coming. Let’s find out exactly how.

As you may now, Rays Colored Glasses is part of the FanSided network of sports websites, and there are sites for all 30 MLB teams. That makes things nice and easy as we hope to get a window into what every MLB fan base thought of the Joe Maddon opt-out. We’ll go site by site, see what they had to say, and insert some comments of our own.

Arizona Diamondbacks- Venom Strikes

Atlanta Braves- Tomahawk Take

Alan Carpenter wrote about how Maddon leaving may increase the likelihood of a B.J. Upton trade to the Chicago Cubs. The reason: as we’ll hear more about below, the Cubs are considered a favorite to sign Maddon, and Maddon was able to get the most out of Upton in Tampa Bay.

As Tomahawk Take notes, any trade of Upton for (fellow ex-Ray) Edwin Jackson would center more around Mike Minor heading to the Cubs than the presence of Upton. However, having Maddon around to help Upton would be a decent tiebreaker if nothing else. Maybe a trade is slightly more likely now.

Baltimore Orioles- Birds Watcher

Domenic Vadala discusses how Maddon bidding adieu to the Rays certainly is a favor to the rest of the AL East and may put the Rays’ future in question. We’ll see how much losing Maddon and Friedman will really affect the Rays, but the rest of the AL East must have had a grin on their faces nonetheless when they heard the news.

Boston Red Sox- Bosox Injection

More of the same negativity about the Rays’ future here from Conor Duffy. It’s not as though we can blame him and Vadala–just like we here at RCG will keep being optimistic about the Rays, they will keep being negative. My one second rebuttal to Duffy, though, is that the Rays’ rotation isn’t just good, it’s excellent, the bullpen will rebound in a big way in 2015, and Tropicana Field exaggerates the Rays’ offensive struggles. Please don’t call the Rays’ offense “anemic” for a 96 OPS+ in 2014 that was 14th in baseball (Boston was 22nd).

Also, the Red Sox are absolutely not signing Maddon, says Cam Hasbrouck. Well, Maddon is better than John Farrell, but I agree with Hasbrouck that it’s a little crazy to get rid of a guy one year after winning the World Series.

Chicago Cubs- Cubbies Crib

Here’s where it gets good. First, Nicholas Blazek had a knee-jerk reaction to the move, talking about the Cubs going after Joe Girardi when they already had a manager but also experiencing failure with previous big-name skippers Dusty Baker and Lou Piniella. Jacob Misener subsequently noted that the Cubs have not issued a public statement supporting current manager Rick Renteria.

Blazek then called signing Maddon “a savvy business move” for the Cubs and noted how Maddon could help the Cubs land James Shields this offseason and David Price after 2015. Maddon can only do so much to sway those ex-Rays aces, but you have to imagine that would be an awesome feeling for them playing under their old manager once again. Juan Pablo Aravena adds that Maddon would be a great mentor for Jorge Soler, Javier Baez, and the Cubs’ other youngsters.

Chicago White Sox- Southside Showdown

Cincinnati Reds- Blog Red Machine

Cleveland Indians- Wahoo’s on First

All these three central team sites had was a simple piece by Stephen Forsha about Maddon leaving the Rays. Nope, the ripples of Maddon’s farewell to the Rays did not get everywhere.

Colorado Rockies- Rox Pile

Maddon is not coming to the Rockies according to Jacob Hammond, but it would be scary for them if he went to the Dodgers, says Hayden Kane. I don’t wish ill on the Rockies (and the D-Backs), but it would be fun if Maddon, Bruce Bochy, and Bud Black were in the same division.

Detroit Tigers- Motor City Bengals

Maddon isn’t coming to the Tigers. Good to know.

Houston Astros- Climbing Tal’s Hill

Kansas City Royals- Kings of Kaufffman

Some James Shields love here, but nothing on Maddon.

Los Angeles Angels of Anahiem- Halo Hangout

Ryan Ritchey doesn’t want Maddon in the AL West. That is understandable.

Los Angeles Dodgers- Lasorda’s Lair

Scott Andes reminds Dodgers fans not to go too crazy about the Maddon news. I’m sure Andrew Friedman would have loved it if Don Mattingly had been fired before he arrived, but instead, the Dodgers will have to deal with the manager who helped them to 94 wins for another year. What a pity.

Miami Marlins- Marlin Maniac

Milwaukee Brewers- Reviewing the Brew

Minnesota Twins- Puckett’s Pond

The Twins are the only team in baseball who currently have a managerial opening. Collin Kottke unsurprisingly dreams of Minnesota getting Joe Maddon. The odds seem pretty low, but it can’t hurt the Twins that they are are the only team that can interview Maddon without drawing any controversy. Actually, a Minnesota baseball team will not be interviewing Maddon–oh wait, that’s the St. Paul Saints.

New York Mets- Rising Apple

Danny Abriano was exhilarated when the Mets were mentioned as a suitor for Maddon before his heart was broken when the team publicly endorsed Terry Collins. Maddon replaced Collins once before (albeit on an interim basis), but he apparently won’t be doing so again. I was pretty surprised too when I heard that the Mets were not interested in him.

New York Yankees- Yanks Go Yard

Believe it or not, this site has a piece on the Yankees possibly pursuing Derek Shelton, but nothing on Maddon. Rays fans, you may now be amused.

Oakland Athletics- Swinging A’s

Philadelphia Phillies- That Ball’s Outta Here

Joe Maddon will not be heading to the Phillies now, but he could be an option after next season. It will be interesting to see whether Maddon already has a job by then.

Pittsburgh Pirates- Rum Bunter

San Diego Padres- Friars on Base

Maddon isn’t coming to San Diego, but Matt Mirro thinks that Rick Renteria could be if Maddon joins the Cubs. At some point a change must be done, but Black is a well-regarded manager in his own right and I’m not sure I buy that.

Seattle Mariners- Sodo Mojo

San Francisco Giants- Around the Foghorn

St. Louis Cardinals- Redbird Rants

Maddon grew up a Cardinals fan, but he will not be the team’s bench coach.

Texas Rangers- Nolan Writin’

The Rangers aren’t a player for Maddon after they recently hired Jeff Bannister for their manager position, but Tim Bogar could be a managerial candidate for the Rays. It’s questionable whether Bogar is as good of a candidate as Dave Martinez, but expect him to get an interview at the very least.

Toronto Blue Jays- Jays Journal

The Jays probably won’t seriously pursue Maddon, but they may give him a brief look, says Kyle Franzoni. I’m not sure why the same isn’t true for 15 other teams in baseball.

Washington Nationals- District on Deck

Nothing here, and that’s how we’ll finish. The overall reaction was pretty surprising: only seven sites expressing any real interest in Joe Maddon as their team’s manager. There were also several interesting pieces talking about reverberations from Maddon’s departure from the Rays, but that number seems amazingly low. I guess more fan bases are satisfied with their managers than you would think.