Having successfully lured manager Joe Maddon to Chicago with a five-year, $25 million contract now it’s time for Cubs president Theo Epstein to get a new deal.
Epstein has two years remaining on his current contract, but Maddon and president of business operations Crane Kenney are both signed through 2019. So is it time for Epstein to get a similar extension from owner Tom Ricketts?
Here’s what he told Patrick Mooney of CSNChicago.com:Tom mentioned earlier this year that he definitely would like to extend my contract. I really appreciate that, and that’s something I would like to have happen, too. But we’ve just been too busy. The organization comes first. We’ve had a lot on our plate and [the Maddon deal] was a more pressing matter.
At some point in the future, I’m sure we’ll sit down and try to hammer that out. This is where I want to be. I’m fully invested in what we have going on here. I love the people I work with, and I wouldn’t trade our future for anybody’s out there. That’s how strongly I believe in it.
Epstein now has at his disposal arguably baseball’s best farm system, a nearly clean slate in terms of long-term payroll commitments, and one of the best managers in baseball. He’s not going anywhere.
