Chicago Cubs: Joe Maddon says he knew he didn’t want to come back

Chicago Cubs: One door closes, as another one opens

At the end of the day, there’s no disputing what Maddon and Epstein accomplished together over the last half-decade. There was a time in the not-so-distant past where PECOTA projections suggesting a Wild Card berth for the Cubs would be celebrated. Not anymore.

"“There was just, you can say, philosophical differences,” Maddon said of Epstein. “But he and I are still good friends. And I like the man a lot. It was just time for him to get someone else and time for me to work somewhere else. That’s all. A five-year shelf life in Chicago is almost equivalent to five to 10 somewhere else. At the end of the day, man, there’s nothing to lament there. That was the most successful five years that the Cubs have ever had.”"

Epstein revamped a ton of the organization’s internal structures this offseason – and replaced Maddon with a former player in David Ross who spent the last few years working under Epstein. Ross is his own person, sure, but you have to think Epstein will pull a lot of strings in 2020.

Meanwhile, Maddon has his eyes set on one more journey – one that he hopes ends with him hoisting another Commissioner’s Trophy in November at some point in the next three years, bringing the Angels another title before he climbs up into Cousin Eddie and rides off into the sunset.