Theo Epstein Claims Joe Maddon's Comments to ESPN About Leaving Cubs Weren't Accurate

Joe Maddon has been one of the most well-liked and highly revered people in baseball since his days managing the Tampa Bay Rays. He's gotten results too, as he brought the Rays to their first-ever World Series in 2008, and in 2016 he led the Chicago Cubs their first World Series in 108 years.

However, there seems to be some ambiguity surrounding his feelings throughout 2019, after which he and the Cubbies parted ways. At least, that seems to be the case with Cubs general manager Theo Epstein.

Theo’s reaction to Maddon telling ESPN he knew midseason he didn’t want to return in 2020: “If that’s how he feels, especially with the benefit of hindsight, then I’m not going to dispute it. But that doesn’t really reflect the conversations we were having up until the very end.”
— Patrick Mooney (@PJ_Mooney) February 11, 2020

In an interview with ESPN that came out Tuesday morning, Maddon said after he had been in control of everything during his first few years there, "after '18 going into '19, they wanted to change everything." Because of this, he knew he wanted to leave the Cubs by midseason.

This all came as a surprise to Epstein, via Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. Epstein said that's not at all what Maddon communicated to him.

Alden Gonzalez writes about coffee with Joe: Maddon opens up about leaving Cubs, starting fresh in L.A. https://t.co/CFodX6r670
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) February 11, 2020

Epstein said that Maddon's quotes didn't "reflect the conversations we were having up until the very end."

Perhaps this is shedding light on a divorce that was more complicated than both parties led everyone else on to believe. On the one hand, in the event Maddon's comments are true and were discussed with Epstein, it makes sense why both of them wouldn't want that kind of information to reach the public during the season or even right after its conclusion. It would've been a bad look through and through.

Joe Maddon says the Cubs ‘wanted to change everything’ and cites his loss of power as reasons behind his departure https://t.co/T3kBeXO3Ed
— Paul Sullivan (@PWSullivan) February 11, 2020

Whatever happened is in the past now. Epstein has hired former Cub David Ross to manage the team and Maddon is now in his second stint with the Los Angeles Angels. They'll both be looking to tackle much different challenges in 2020.