San Francisco Giants: Top 7 candidates to replace Bruce Bochy
2. Joe Maddon
There’s been all kinds of speculation about what will happen with Joe Maddon at the conclusion of this season—his last season under contract with the Chicago Cubs.
We’ll find out, at some point today, whether or not the Cubbies have any interest in moving forward with Maddon, but it seems that the writing is on the wall. A missed playoff berth this year has left the fanbase questioning what needs to change.
Since 2006, Maddon has managed fourteen full seasons with both the Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago Cubs. He’s a three-time Manager of the Year and led the Chicago Cubs to their first World Series championship in over a century.
In eight of those seasons, he was able to manage his underdog teams to playoff appearances.
Maddon has always been on the cutting edge of ever-growing analytics. He’s worked with shifts. He’s been crafty about double switches and on where to put the pitcher in the batting order.
He’d surely love to work in tandem with Zaidi and his new brain trust.
His 1251-1067 record as a manager makes him one of the most accomplished on this list — and he’s surely going to be in the running for several managerial openings if the Chicago Cubs decide to sever ties with him.
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Maddon seems like he’d be a great fit for the San Francisco Giants and would immediately call for similar respect in the clubhouse that Bruce Bochy receives now.
He may even be the kind of manager that could attract free agents.
There have been all kinds of players in his past that have raved about Joe Maddon’s ability to lead the clubhouse, and the hope would be that he would bring that over to the Bay Area in his final years as a manager.
The one catch that may come with all this is Maddon’s prospective timeline — he’s stated that he plans to manage for about five more seasons before hanging it up.
Is that something that the San Francisco Giants and Farhan Zaidi will want to consider? Would Maddon be interested in using some of his limited time to help rebuild a club that is eager to get back into contention?
There could be some hesitation when it comes to signing Maddon, who is 65-years-old, based on that fact alone.
But it’s the only aspect of this that would have Zaidi balking at the opportunity. If he’s available — and if he’s interested — the Giants will have serious interest in the accomplished skipper.
A number of things would have to go right in order for Maddon to end up in orange and black, but it would be a seamless fit for the franchise that could keep them moving in the right direction.