Rounding Third: Maddon won’t be short on options

Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) – Joe Maddon is now the most coveted free agent in Major League Baseball.

Maddon stunned the baseball world on Friday, as after nine years with the Tampa Bay Rays, he chose to exercise an opt-out clause in his contract, ending the most successful era in the team’s history.

“Joe Maddon has exercised an opt-out in his current contract, a contract which was not scheduled to expire until after the 2015 season,” Rays owner Stuart Sternberg said in a statement. “We tried diligently and aggressively to sign Joe to a third contract extension prior to his decision.

“As of yesterday afternoon, Joe enabled himself to explore opportunities throughout Major League Baseball. He will not be managing the Rays in 2015.”

Maddon, who earned $2 million last season, had managed the Rays since 2006, leading them to one World Series berth and five 90-win seasons.

Of course, this moves comes on the heels of Tampa’s executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman leaving to run the Los Angeles Dodgers’ baseball operations.

Maddon’s opt-out was actually triggered by the departure of Friedman.

Now before you go and try to put two and two together. Forget about it. At least for now, anyway. By all accounts Friedman is sticking with Don Mattingly as his manager this season.

Heavy emphasis on THIS season.

Even had Maddon stayed with Tampa he would have hung over the head of Mattingly. Now he’s going to hang over the head of not only Donnie Baseball, but every other manager who may be on the hot seat next season.

Heck there are probably a few teams out there who think they were set at manager who may be reevaluating things now with Maddon on the market.

Maddon has already told the Tampa Bay Times that he would prefer to manage this upcoming season. But, as we sit here on Oct. 24, there aren’t a whole of opportunities.

In fact, there’s just one, And you don’t think Maddon opted-out with the Rays to join another small market team like Minnesota do you?

As much as he may want to manage next season, chances are Maddon won’t. And he should take a year off. Go get a job on television and talk baseball for a year. Few people around the game enjoy speaking on the intricacies of the sport more than Maddon.

He’d be a perfect fit. There might be as big a bidding war for him on television as there will be for him as a manager.

After a year on TV, he’ll the pick of almost any managerial job he wants next winter.

Everyone just assumes it will be L.A., given his relationship with Friedman and the fact that he spent over three decades in the Angels’ organization. But there will be other options.

The Chicago Cubs are loaded with young talent. Maddon would absolutely relish the opportunity to be the one who ended the Cubs’ World Series drought.

Yes the Dodgers are still probably the leaders in the club house. But there will be plenty of options. And some we are not even thinking of or know about right now.

I mean, really, who’d have even thought the Rays would be looking for a manager at this point last year?

Boy talk about a rough few months for the Rays. Trade ace David Price for pennies on the dollar, lose the man who most credit with building the foundation of the franchise in Friedman and now lose arguably the best manager in baseball.

And the offseason hasn’t even started yet.

Categorized in: MLB