Cubs’ Joe Maddon wants to be Rick Renteria’s ‘friend’

Speaking on a Chicagoland radio program Friday, new Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon spoke on several facets of the past month’s whirlwind of events – including the fallout between the now-former Rays skipper and the man he replaced, Rick Renteria.

According to Maddon, reaching out to his predecessor has proved unfruitful to this point.

"“I did try to call Rick and I left him a message,” Maddon told the Kap & Haugh Show on Friday morning. “But I have not heard back so that’s where that is that. I’m just looking forward to the moment when I can speak with him, and when I do speak with him I just want him to understand exactly where I’m coming from with this whole thing. And really have him understand that I wasn’t trying to take anyone’s job. It’s just the way it turned out and it was an organizational decision, opposed to me personally."

The Cubs signed Maddon to a five-year, $25 million shortly after he left Tampa Bay, which prompted the Rays organization to push Major League Baseball to pursue tampering charges against Theo Epstein’s front office in the Windy City. However, so far, nothing has come to pass from the investigation. Renteria, meanwhile, has flown under the radar since his firing after the first year of a three-year contract with the Cubs.

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Madden also told The Score Friday that he was impressed by the first-year skipper last year when the Rays played the Cubs.

"“I thought he did a great job last year when the Rays played the Cubs. The one thing I always gauge is how hard the other team plays, and I thought the Cubs played it hard from opening pitch to the last one and I was always impressed with that as well as the youth. So that’s a reflection on the manager. My brief window of being around him last year I thought he did a wonderful job.”"

Despite the respect Maddon has for Renteria, it’s clear to see why there may be bad blood between the two. Madden saw his name tied to one destination more than any other – Chicago – and the rumors proved to be true with Epstein opting to blur the moral lines (at least in the opinion of some) by hiring the 60-year-old Maddon.

"“We saw it as a unique opportunity and faced a clear dilemma: be loyal to Rick or be loyal to the organization,” Epstein said in a statement after the hiring was announced last month. “In this business of trying to win a world championship for the first time in 107 years, the organization has priority over any one individual. We decided to pursue Joe.”"