Winning hasn’t shielded Maddon from criticism
and surfaced Tuesday afternoon at the winter meetings in Orlando, where each of Chicago’s managers voiced optimism about his team’s future.
Maddon was looking forward to watching an improved bullpen and hearing some new voices on the Cubs coaching staff while Renteria was ready to take the White Sox another step forward in their vaunted rebuild.
The winter meetings aren’t just an incubator for trades, free-agent signings and metaphor-filled soliloquies from They also give managers a chance to sing the praises of their organizations, all of which allegedly are working extremely hard to bring their fans a winner either next year or in the near future.
As you may remember, Maddon and Renteria ended their 2017 seasons in much different fashion.
Despite the 2016 World Series championship, and a second straight National League Central title and third straight appearance in the NL Championship Series in ’17, Maddon entered the offseason in a cloud of controversy. Some of his postseason moves had drawn widespread scrutiny once again, and three of his coaches were fired despite Maddon’s assertion they were a tightknit group.
On the other side of town, Renteria’s departure in October was far more serene. Despite a 95-loss season in his first year as Sox manager, Renteria was lauded for grooming the kids.
No one expected the Sox to win at the outset of their much-hyped rebuild, and a Sox-promoted narrative — “Ricky’s boys don’t quit” — made the losing more palatable. As long as we saw signs of progress from his young players, Renteria would be given the benefit of the doubt.
Only in the bizarre world of Chicago sports could someone with Maddon’s success get ripped while Renteria’s record got brushed off. But that’s the way it was, leaving some in the Cubs front office scratching their heads over what they believed was unfair criticism of their manager.
When I asked general manager last month why Maddon got so much grief, he theorized that the bright postseason COMMENTARY spotlight makes every manager a bigger target for armchair critics.
“That’s the nature of the game in the postseason, where in almost all cases you have two teams that are so incredibly well matched that every game is close,” Hoyer said. “So a few decisions here or there are upsetting the balance of that game.
“The manager is talked about in a very different way in October than he is the rest of the season. The nature of us playing as many postseason games as we have, 36 the last [three] years, that’s 36 opportunities for that kind of scrutiny.
“Playoff mangers are going to have a lot of scrutiny, but I think the success speaks for itself when it comes to Joe.”
Obviously Renteria’s job performance in ’17 was more difficult to judge. His only real task was to teach the youngsters how to play at the major-league level, so the Sox’s season really began after the July 18 trade of and to the Yankees. They went 29-43 the rest of the way, but the promise of
and made the losing irrelevant.
What does Renteria need to do next year to maintain the faith of Sox fans? He doesn’t have to win, but is .500 too much to ask?
No two rebuilds are exactly alike, and every manager is judged by a different standard.
was at the helm of the Astros’ rebuild before being fired in his second season.
then guided the Astros to the title in his third year. The Phillies hired to replace in 2014 and removed the interim title in ’15, but Mackanin was fired after the rebuild stalled this year and untested was put in the manager’s seat.
Renteria knows how that works.
took the wheel of the Cubs’ rebuild in 2012. Renteria replaced him when Sveum was fired after two seasons but suddenly found himself expendable one year into a three-year deal when Maddon became available after the 2014 season.
Could history repeat? Could Renteria bring the Sox to respectability and watch a bigger name replace him when they’re ready to take the next step? General manager
insisted Renteria was not just a placeholder until the Sox start winning.
“We view him as the long-term solution,” Hahn said. “I can’t foresee what the future holds, but I don’t think we could find a better fit for where we are now.
“We see him as the perfect steward to lead us to the next step. We’re going to lose coaches to other coaching staffs, but we view this entire coaching staff as championship caliber and one we intend to win with when the time comes.”
Renteria won’t feel any heat until winning is expected on the South Side.
Maddon won’t be able to escape scrutiny as long as the Cubs keep playing in October.
That’s the Chicago way.