Joe Maddon's fate as Cubs' manager was immediately sealed after 2016 World Series

Given the nature of how the Chicago Bears lost to the Washington Commanders on Sunday, there's been renewed attention paid to the fact that Bears' head coach Matt Eberflus tends to not hold the coaching staff accountable for their self-inflicted mistakes.

In talking about the lack of accountability from Eberflus, Matt Spiegel of 670 The Score shared as story from Chicago Cubs' Spring Training in 2017. The Cubs were fresh off winning the World Series in 2016 but the team's front office wanted to send a clear message to the team before getting started with the next season.

Joe Maddon's refusal of Cubs' front office order doomed him for the rest of his tenure.

It's been well documented that by the time Maddon's tenure with the Cubs reached its final season in 2019, there was a clear rift between the veteran manager and the team's front office. That rift was created immediately after Game 7 of the World Series in 2016. Ultimately, the Cubs won the game, and that is what matters, but it was in spite of Maddon's managerial decisions. Between pulling Kyle Hendricks, not giving Jon Lester a clean entrance into the game, or relying on Aroldis Chapman, who was running on empty, Maddon did not follow the blueprint that the front office laid out for the game.

It was an instance of Maddon not being able to get out of his own way. When talking about the downfall of the Cubs' core that won the World Series, lack of accountability has been the common denominator. It's the same accountability that has been reference since Willson Contreras departed for the St. Louis Cardinals' organization.

Maddon holding himself accountable for his World Series managerial miscues likely would not have shifted the outcome of the Cubs' World Series core. Having said that, it may have helped avoid the complacency that set in for the Cubs' roster after the World Series win in 2016.