Levine: Maddon Saddened By Renteria Firing
By Bruce Levine-
(CBS) -- Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said on Monday that former manager Rick Renteria took his firing and the Joe Maddon hiring like a true professional. The unique fire-and-hire was a business decision Epstein said was made out of loyalty to the Cubs organization over Renteria.
The 52-year-old Renteria will collect all of the remaining $2 million on his three-year contract as he steps aside for Maddon, who said he wasn't happy about the circumstances of his hiring.
"I feel badly about it," Maddon said after being asked about Renteria. "I honestly feel bad about it. When this whole thing started to heat up a little bit, the only thing that was a negative was that. I expressed that (to the Cubs bosses). I definitely want to give him a phone call once all of this dies down. He is one of the guys. He might be one of the first guys I want to call."
Maddon and the Cubs were being sniped at during the weeklong process, for what others in baseball thought was "dirty pool" in pushing another manager out. Some think Maddon hurt his own reputation by agreeing to the deal that pushed Renteria out.
"I heard that (Renteria) was really gracious in his understanding and how he handled it," said Maddon, who left the Tampa Bay Rays. "That is pretty impressive."
The 60-year-old Maddon, who will be paid five times Renteria's yearly $1 million contract, said he was guilt-free after talking to enough of his friends before accepting the job.
"It was not my job to gauge how organizations run their (business) or how people wanted to view it," Maddon said. "My responsibility was to exercise my option, opt out -- and I did that -- then see what happens after that. Now it has happened, and I do want to talk to Rick."
Renteria has numerous suitors in the baseball community that already want to talk to him about working in 2015, according to industry sources.
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.
