As soon as the presumed marriage between Joe Maddon and the Dodgers was shot down by Andrew Friedman--at least for this year--speculation shifted to Maddon and the Cubs.
Now, the Cubs have a manager under contract for 2015 in Rick Renteria, but sure enough Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun Times reports that Maddon and the Cubs “have been in discussions this week” and “could have an answer by Friday.”
Previous reports had Maddon seeking something in the range of a five-year, $25 million contract and he made it clear that he’d prefer to manage again immediately rather than sitting out a year, so Chicago--with its stocked farm system and analytical front office--is the most obvious landing spot.