Chicago Cubs: Maddon wants to see World Series champs take on the winner of the WBC

On Saturday, Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon has an interesting idea. When the WBC is held every four years, let the winner take on the World Series champion. Is that even a feasible plan? There’d be plenty to work through. But it’s an intriguing idea.

With his slogans, quirky antics and his out of the box thinking, Chicago Cubs’ skipper Joe Maddon is always thinking. And when you take a team that hasn’t won the World Series in 108 years and make them champions? You can get people to listen to you. So how about the winner of the World Baseball Classic taking on the World Series champion in a best-of-three?

It’s clear that the drive to create a bigger following of the WBC is there. Team USA advancing to the semifinals will help. And matching up the two winners in a three-game series? It’s actually so crazy that it just might work.

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“From a competitive perspective, with guys in shape [late in camp], I think that would be very interesting,” Maddon said. “You want your players amped up at that point, anyway.”

The phrase “world” champion is used frequently in sports, but it doesn’t really encompass the entire world. In most cases, it’s the United States and Canada, so “world” seemed to be fitting. But with the WBC we could be looking at a REAL World Champion. But there are still details to be hashed out if the idea goes any further.

Is it possible?

First off, the schedule. Maddon suggested a best-of-three, but a single game might work better. And then there’s the case of the Classic winner potentially having players of the World Series winner. If there’s a place that Maddon and GM Jed Hoyer don’t agree, this is the spot. Maddon said he wouldn’t mind playing against his guys (Javier Baez would be the only one left in this case), Hoyer didn’t agree.

“You want your own guys back, playing for you,” Hoyer said. “We should be as a group by now. [The Classic] ends about the right time where guys need to get back and start playing for their own team.

Outside of this little detail, I think Maddon is on to something. Giving baseball fans a true “World” series would be something I think could pull more fans into the WBC. I’ll be honest, I’ve only casually watched it over the last few Classics. But this season I’ve tried to stay up and catch more of it.

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There is, of course, the chance that the next time the Classic rolls around that the winner of the World Series won’t be as eager to play it. Maddon is all for it, but would someone like Mike Matheny or Bruce Bochy want to do it? Either way, it’s a fun thing to think about.