Where does Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon stand?

Chicago Cubs fans have become quite accustomed to stories regarding Joe Maddon’s status as a “lame duck” manager.

Chicago Cubs Joe Maddon’s contract was a story during the offseason, and the hot seat has reached a boiling point with the Cubs desperately clinging to a playoff spot in the final weeks of the regular season.

Before Chicago’s Friday matinee against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Theo Epstein appeared on the Cubs flagship radio station and unleashed a scalding assessment of his team’s performance over the last “12 or 13 months.”

Epstein has never been one to shy away from criticism. He was straightforward about the team’s need to shake things up at the trade deadline. And he has repeatedly said that a failure to win this season will be met with significant changes to the roster.

But each new soundbite seems to put Maddon in the crosshairs as if the veteran manager is at the center of a Cubs team that has been under immense scrutiny since last September.