Joe Maddon thinks he will manage Cubs for 'a couple more years at least'
In the final year of a five-year contract, Cubs manager Joe Maddon told reporters on Sunday that he is confident that he will return at the helm.
“I believe we’ll be together for a couple more years at least,” Maddon said, via the Chicago Tribune. “I know [the age of] 65 is a number, but isn’t it how you feel and how your energy is for that day?”
Maddon, who led the Cubs to their historic World Series victory in 2016, won 387 games from 2015-18 and has Chicago atop the NL Central this season. The Cubs have made the playoffs in all four seasons.
But contract talks with team president Theo Epstein have been tabled until after the season. Maddon has said that he would like to coach until he is 70.
Maddon said that an extension will not necessarily be dependent on wins and losses.
“If that was the case I think I would’ve signed the contract at the end of last season if it came down to wins and losses only,” he said.
Joe Maddon, 65, believes he can manage until he’s at least 70 and is “optimistic” he’ll be back with the Cubs. Says his fate not tied to wins and losses or else he’d already be re-signed. pic.twitter.com/cAVCuEZEu9
— Paul Sullivan (@PWSullivan) August 11, 2019
Maddon said that it is more about interaction and communication, which he thinks is working in Chicago. However, he did refer to himself as a “free agent” in November and would presumably have a few suitors if he chose to leave the Windy City.
Maddon managed the Tampa Bay Rays from 2006-14 before joining the Cubs in 2015. After the World Seres win, his five-year, $25 million deal was increased to $6 million per year.
The Cubs lost in the National League Wild Card Game last season.
“I’m not going to sit here and proclaim I’m looking to go elsewhere,” Maddon said. “That’s not true. It’s about whether both sides want each other, really. It’s like a marriage in a sense that they’d want me to be here and I’d want to be here also in return, and that would be the reason why you stay. It has to be mutual.”
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