Advertisement

Maddon leaves Tampa Bay Rays in sudden contract dispute (w/video)

 
Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon will be leaving the team. [Times files]
Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon will be leaving the team. [Times files]
Published Oct. 25, 2014

ST. PETERSBURG

What started as negotiations to extend an amicable and mutually beneficial relationship into a second decade instead ended in a shocking divorce Friday as Joe Maddon exercised an opt-out clause in his contract and left the Tampa Bay Rays after a successful nine-year run as their manager.

It was the second staggering loss for the Rays in the past 10 days, following the departure of executive vice president Andrew Friedman to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Matt Silverman, who took over last week as president of baseball operations, said the Rays will immediately begin a "deliberate and comprehensive" search for a replacement that will include internal and external managerial candidates, operating with no timetable but a sense of urgency, given a series of pending roster decisions. Current bench coach Dave Martinez and former Rays player Gabe Kapler are among the possibilities.

Maddon said money and opportunity were the reasons for the decision, one he described as "gut-wrenching, almost made you sick." Silverman said the Rays were both surprised and "disappointed" by Maddon's decision and felt it was based on more than the financial terms of their offer.

Maddon, 60, said he left without promise of a job elsewhere, but agent Alan Nero said he expects him to be managing in 2015. Though the Minnesota Twins are the only team with an opening, there was immediate speculation that a team would fire its current manager for the chance to hire Maddon, with the Chicago Cubs considered most likely. The Phillies and Angels could be possibilities. Friedman's Dodgers and the Mets said Friday they would not be making a change.

Maddon, who was signed through the 2015 season for an annual average of $2 million, said the break-up was the result of money — directly in terms of what the Rays offered, and indirectly in that he wanted to explore the open market at a time when his value is at its peak.

"I have been doing this for a long time," Maddon told the Tampa Bay Times. "I have never had this opportunity to research my employment on my terms. Never, never, never. I mean never. And I think anybody given the same set of circumstances would do the same thing."

Silverman, however, said the Rays felt they made "very generous" offers that were believed to include salaries in excess of $3 million, enough that Maddon would have ranked among the five top-paid managers.

"I do not think our financial offer contributed to Joe's decision," Silverman said on a conference call. "I feel very comfortable with how we extended and the contract that we put forth."

But with the top managers getting around $5 million, Maddon wanted more — for his family and his charitable endeavors, he said — and took advantage of the previously undisclosed opt-out clause, one he said he had forgotten Nero had included in his last extension.

The clause allowed Maddon the right to opt out if either Friedman, Silverman or principal owner Stuart Sternberg left the team. It gave him a two-week window to make the decision.

So even after Maddon said last week that he wanted to stay with the Rays and considered it "the best place in all of baseball to work," and after Silverman said he expected to work toward another deal to keep Maddon at the helm "for many more years," they found themselves on opposite sides of what at times was a contentious negotiation. At one point Maddon sought permission to talk with a few teams to see what the possibilities were, and the Rays said no.

Stay updated on Tampa Bay’s sports scene

Stay updated on Tampa Bay’s sports scene

Subscribe to our free Sports Today newsletter

We’ll send you news and analysis on the Bucs, Lightning, Rays and Florida’s college football teams every day.

You’re all signed up!

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore all your options

The Rays — operating "diligently and aggressively," Sternberg said — made an initial offer, Maddon (and Nero) made a counter offer, the Rays came back with a second offer, and at that point Maddon (and Nero) had enough and notified the team Thursday he would opt out.

"I could see we were still too far apart," Maddon said, "and then I'm running out of time" with four days left in the two-week window.

Maddon said he knows he could end up not managing in the coming season — though he could easily find a TV gig or "special assignment" work with a team — but was willing to take that risk for the opportunity.

"I can't deny there is a monetary component to it, absolutely there is," he said. "But in order to fulfill your wishes regarding family and whatever else, you have to take care of yourself first. It's not selfish. There is still a really strong altruistic component to me. But beyond that, it's about exploration. What is out there? I have this unique opportunity and I think it'd be foolish to not explore it."

Said Nero: "In the end it ended up not being just about the money. It was about a lot of things. It was about the opportunity."

The Rays will be more than interested observers in where Maddon ends up. If they feel he had been encouraged to leave by the promise of a deal elsewhere, they could file a tampering charge with the commissioner's office, which would make the breakup even more acrimonious.

Maddon gave no indication that his decision had anything to do with concern about the Rays' future (especially in Friedman's absence) or frustration with the annually small payroll or lack of progress in getting a new stadium (though he has mentioned that as the lone drawback to the job).

The news was stunning throughout the baseball world, none more so than to the Rays players, some of whom got text messages from Silverman minutes before the announcement.

"I was extremely shocked," pitcher Alex Cobb said. "Mostly for the fact that after Andrew left and hearing Joe's comments were pretty strong toward staying."

"I was very surprised, probably just like everybody else," said infielder/outfielder Ben Zobrist, the longest serving Rays player. "I really assumed he was going to manage at least one more year through his contract. I'm sure he's probably got something else in the works."

Maddon's departure leaves the Rays coaching staff in limbo. The seven coaches are all signed for next season, but a new manager typically gets to decide which, if any, he wants to keep. So, unless they get permission to look elsewhere (hitting coach Derek Shelton, for example, might be a candidate for the open Yankees job), they may have to wait and see what happens with the Rays, or if Maddon gets a job and wants to bring any along.

Maddon took over the Rays in 2006 — his first full-time managing gig after 31 years in the Angels organization — and led them to a 754-705 record, winning two American League manager of the year awards and making four trips to the playoffs in a six-year window before stumbling to a 77-85 record this season. He was known for his casual style, perpetual positivity, gimmicky themed dress-up trips and occasional clubhouse antics, and for his unconventional strategy. He was also popular in the Tampa Bay community, involved extensively in charitable work, and he is — and will remain — partners in a restaurant, Ava, opening next month in south Tampa.

Though surprised he left them, several Rays players said they will look back kindly at Maddon's time with them.

"Although I have not heard from Joe I'm sure that he has sound reasoning for his decision," third baseman Evan Longoria said. "He was able to accomplish something in his time with us that not many can say they've had success doing, complete cultural change and the belief in something new and innovative. I'm appreciative for the knowledge that he shared with me and the amount of growth I experienced playing for him."

Contact Marc Topkin at mtopkin@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Rays.