http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/30/sports/baseball/joe-maddon-reaches-agreement-to-manage-chicago-cubs.html 2014-10-30 01:58:01 Joe Maddon Reaches Agreement to Manage Chicago Cubs Maddon, who managed the Tampa Bay Rays for the last nine seasons and exercised an opt-out clause in his contract last week to leave the team, reached a deal to manage the Cubs. === Joe Maddon, who The agreement, which was first reported by CBS Sports’ website, was confirmed by an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been formally announced. The Cubs were believed to be waiting for the end of the World Series before making the announcement. Maddon, 60, managed the Rays for the last nine seasons, lifting them from a 101-loss season in 2006 to the World Series in 2008. The Rays remained a contender, earning three more playoff appearances, before falling to 77-85 this season. When General Manager Andrew Friedman left the Rays in mid-October for a similar position with the Los Angeles Dodgers, it triggered Maddon’s opt-out clause, which he used in an effort to pursue free agency and earn more than he could make from the underfunded Rays. “A subject with the Rays has always been limitations, and I’ve always settled for those limitations,” Maddon told The New York Times last week. “I told my wife I really didn’t think I could settle the next time. “I have a very unique opportunity to exercise my right to opt out, and I think if you take anybody with the same choices, the same everything, I think about a hundred percent would do exactly the same thing.” The Cubs’ incumbent, Rick Renteria, went 73-89 last season, his first as a major league manager. It was the fifth losing season in a row for the Cubs, who are stocked with potentially high-impact young players in a rebuilding effort under Theo Epstein, their president of baseball operations. As general manager of the Boston Red Sox, Epstein interviewed Maddon for the manager’s job after the 2003 season, when he hired Terry Francona, who went on to win two championships. Maddon never reached those heights with the Rays, but he earned a reputation as a sharp strategist who was open to advanced metrics from the front office while maintaining a loose environment in the clubhouse for players.