Cubs manager Joe Maddon won’t return next season
Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon will not be back with the team next season after it failed to make the playoffs for the first time in five years.
Maddon and Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein announced the move before the team’s season finale at St. Louis. Maddon’s contract expires after today’s game.
The change in the dugout begins what could be an active offseason for the Cubs, and Maddon once again becomes one of baseball’s top free agents.
While Maddon is out after five seasons, he is tied to Chicago forever after managing the Cubs to the 2016 World Series title for the franchise’s first championship in 108 years.
Chicago also made it to the NL Championship Series in 2015 and 2017, but it faltered in September each of the last two seasons. The Cubs finished third in the NL Central this year.