Chicago Cubs: League says team did not tamper in Joe Maddon hiring

After months of speculation, Major League Baseball announced the results of its tampering investigation regarding the Chicago Cubs’ hiring of former Tampa Bay Rays’ skipper Joe Maddon this winter – clearing the Chicago front office of any wrongdoing.

Maddon, who emerged as one of the best minds in all of baseball while leading the low-payroll Rays to the World Series and numerous 90-win campaigns over the past decade, utilized a near-completely unknown clause in his contract.

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The said clause essentially allowed Maddon to leave the Tampa Bay organization should GM Andrew Friedman depart – which he did when he joined the Los Angeles Dodgers as the team’s president of baseball operations last fall.

The five-month investigation by the league essentially centered around whether or not Chicago investigated Major League Baseball rules by contacting Maddon while he was still under contract with the Rays, weighing his options. Of course, the former two-time AL Manager of the Year signed with Chicago, inking a five-year, $25 million deal – making him one of the league’s highest-paid skippers.

Of course, once the Cubs fired former skipper Rick Renteria, the rumor mill was ablaze with links between Chicago and the then-Rays skipper. On Wednesday, Maddon told the Chicago Tribune that he was ready to move on and put the issue behind him.

“We’re all glad that’s in the rear view mirror right now and very grateful it turned out the way that it did,” Maddon said. “Let’s just move on and continue to play baseball. That’s pretty much where I’m at.”

Maddon has led the Cubs to a hot 12-7 start heading into Wednesday’s series finale against Pittsburgh at Wrigley Field, the team’s best start in years. Now that the guise of the club potentially losing a draft pick or a player to Tampa Bay, look for the skipper and his team to re-focus on the task at-hand: bringing postseason baseball back to the Friendly Confines.

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