Joe Maddon's Agent Addresses Contract Discussions With Cubs
By James Neveau ••
Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon is entering the final season of the five-year contract he signed with the team in 2014, but his agent Alan Nero says that there is no urgency on his client’s part to get a new extension signed.
Maddon, who has led the Cubs to four straight playoff appearances for the first time in team history, is making $5 million per season on his current pact, and Nero says the skipper is just fine with the way things are going in Chicago.
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CHICAGO, IL - SEPTEMBER 29: Cole Hamels #35 of the Chicago Cubs pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals during the first inning at Wrigley Field on September 29, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois.
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Bass appeared in a total of 16 games for the Cubs in 2018, posting a 2.93 ERA and striking out 14 batters in 15.1 innings. He made just over $500,000 last season, but it’s unclear whether the team will retain him.
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After making just $1.5 million, Chavez could potentially get a bit of a raise after a strong finish with the Cubs, posting a 2-1 record and a 1.15 ERA in 32 appearances on the North Side.
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After signing a one-year deal with the Cubs this summer, Garcia will once again be a free agent. He had an 0-1 record and a 4.70 ERA in eight appearances with the Cubs, striking out four batters in 7.2 innings.
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Hamels has a team option for the 2019 season, and if the Cubs pick it up, he would be paid $20 million. If the team decides not to pick the option up, Hamels will receive a $6 million buyout, and the Texas Rangers would pay him that money.
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The contract Heyward signed with the Cubs included two opt-out clauses, and he can exercise it after this season. It is a virtual certainty that he will not do so, given that he is still due $118.5 million over the next five seasons on the North Side.
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Murphy got off to a red hot start for the Cubs, but cooled off considerably at the end of the season, ending up with six home runs and a .297 batting average in 146 plate appearances after being acquired in a trade with the Nationals.
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Wilson was acquired in a trade with the Minnesota Twins before the waiver trade deadline, but never saw action with the Cubs after being activated from the disabled list.
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Wilson had a solid rebound season for the Cubs after a disastrous 2017, posting a 3.46 ERA in 71 appearances with the team. Most fans will remember his struggles in the NL tiebreaker game against the Brewers, but his walk rate was nearly cut in half from 2017, and he still struck out plenty of batters, averaging 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings.
“There’s nothing going on,” he told the Mully and Haugh Show on Wednesday morning. “I have all the faith in the world that we’ll get this done when the time is appropriate, when it’s ready.”
There has been speculation this offseason that Cubs President Theo Epstein is not happy with the way Maddon used several relievers, including Brandon Morrow and Pedro Strop, and that he doesn’t like the way Maddon tinkers with the lineup.
Nero dismissed those reports, saying that there is “not a problem between Theo and Joe.”
Epstein and Maddon have also dismissed reports of tension, with the Cubs’ president saying that the team is “thrilled with his job performance” over his four seasons in Chicago.
