Joe Maddon was the best manager in the National League throughout the 2015 season and now he has the hardware to prove it. Maddon received 18 of a possible 30 first place votes from the BBWAA and won his third Manager of the Year Award, the first with the Cubs.
The Cubs won 24 more games in 2015 than the previous year and wrapped up the regular season with the third best record in baseball. The Cubs outperformed all expectations for 162 games and finished with a 97-65 record. The Cubs went on to beat the Pirates and Cardinals in the playoffs before being eliminated by the Mets in the NLCS.
Joe Maddon topped Mike Matheny (Cardinals) and Terry Collins (Mets) for the Manager of the Year. The Rangers’ Jeff Banister was named American League Manager of the Year by the BBWAA over A.J. Hinch (Astros) and Paul Molitor (Twins).
Several of the players including Anthony Rizzo, Jon Lester, David Ross, Kris Bryant and Dexter Fowler and hitting coach John Mallee tweeted their congratulations to Maddon.
And Maddon won his third Manager of the Year Award 33 years after being named the Northwest League Manager of the Year.
- Report from Comcast SportsNet
- Report from the Sun-Times
- Report from the Tribune
- Report from Bruce Levine
- Report from ESPN Chicago
- Report from ESPN Chicago
- Report from the Tampa Bay Times
- Report from New York Post
The Cubs are batting 1.000 in awards from the BBWAA and look to stay perfect Wednesday with the NL CY Young Award.
Brett Gardner
According to Jon Paul Morosi, the Yankees and Indians have discussed a possible trade for OF Brett Gardner. The Yankees are reportedly willing to move Gardner in the right deal for a front-line starting pitcher. Morosi reported the talks between New York and Cleveland have included the Indians’ young starters, possibly Danny Salazar or Carlos Carrasco.
The Cubs have been linked to Gardner but do not appear to match up with the Yankees. The Cubs simply do not have the pitching to send to the Bronx for Gardner.
It is believed the Cubs and Indians have discussed trades that would include Jorge Soler going to Cleveland for either Salazar or Carrasco.
The Indians would prefer to keep both Salazar and Carrasco but in order to add the outfield bat they’re looking for Salazar or Carrasco would likely have to be included in a deal.
Rich Hill
LHP Rich Hill agreed to terms on a one-year, $6 million contract with the Oakland A’s. Hill turned a sensational September (2-1 in four starts with a 1.55 ERA and 0.65 WHIP) into the biggest payday of his career. Not bad for a guy that pitched in Independent ball last summer.
According to Jeff Passan, Hill passed on a contract for more money from another team. Hill wants to start and Oakland guaranteed him a spot in the rotation.
The Cubs selected Hill in the fourth round of the 2002 draft. Hill made his debut on June 15, 2005 and made his on of his most memorable starts for the Cubs on May 20, 2006, the Michael Barrett-A.J. Pierzynski Game. Hill was 18-17 in 64 games, 57 starts, for the Cubs over four seasons with a 4.37 ERA and 1.27 WHIP. The Orioles purchased Hill from the Cubs on Feb. 2, 2009.
News, Notes and Rumors
• According to Marc Topkin, the Rays still have hard feelings toward the Cubs for hiring Joe Maddon. Topkin does not think the Rays front office would allow it to impact the two teams making trades. Some of the Rays’ fan base is also unhappy with Maddon and Chris Archer responded perfectly … “Spiteful and jealous thoughts are self-defeating. Think with love and hope and you will attain victory in life.”
• Anthony Rizzo was not happy when he found out David Ross is likely going to retire after next season.
• While not Cubs related, the announcement David Ortiz is expected to make Wednesday could impact the Cubs off-season. Ortiz is set to announce he will retire at the end of the 2016 season. With Ortiz calling it a career, the Red Sox will not have to figure his salary into the budget beyond 2016 and could use that money to help pay for a free agent starter according to Pete Abraham.
• And speaking of the Red Sox, according to Rob Bradford they do not have any visits scheduled with free agents yet.
• According to Ken Rosenthal, the Diamondbacks and Braves discussed a trade that would have sent Shelby Miller to Arizona. Talks did not progress according to Rosenthal because the Braves wanted a player off the D-Backs roster, possibly A.J. Pollock which would be a fair return for Miller according to Rosenthal. The D-Backs “were not comfortable with such a deal” and view Pollock as part of their player-core.
• Tom Verducci explained why older free agents are riskier than ever and not to trust anyone over 30.
• Major League Baseball’s minimum salary will not increase in 2016 and will remain $507,500 for next season.
• The Angels signed free agent infielder Cliff Pennington to a two-year, $3.75 million contract that includes performance bonuses. The addition of Pennington will allow the Angels to option Taylor Featherston to Triple-A next season. The Angels purchased Featherston from the Cubs after he was selected in the Rule 5 Draft last December.
• Free agent lefty J.A. Happ has received a lot of interest. Happ is going to let the market play out but he is talking to interested teams on a daily basis.
• The Giants opened the checkbook and signed SS Brandon Crawford to a six-year, $75 million extension. Crawford received a full no-trade clause in the deal.
• Richard Justice thinks the Astros, Tigers, Giants, Nationals and Mariners are the five teams that could trade for Aroldis Chapman.
• Jeff Passan reported that several teams have shown “significant trade interest” in RHP Jesse Chavez. Billy Beane could move Chavez with Hill agreeing to terms. Chavez was 7-15 in 30 games, 26 starts, for Oakland last year with a 4.18 ERA and 1.35 WHIP.
And last, but not least, Baseball America posted a highlight video of 19-year old outfielder Jorge Ona … click here to watch.
This Day In Cubstory
2011 – Cubs granted free agency to Luis Montanez
2010 – Cubs signed free agent Bryan LaHair
2008 – Cubs re-signed Ryan Dempster to a four-year, $52 million contract
2005 – Cubs signed free agent reliever Scott Eyre to a three-year, $11 million contract
2005 – Cubs released Adam Greenberg
2002 – Cubs signed free agent Keith McDonald
2000 – Cubs acquired Bill Mueller from the Giants for Tim Worrell
1999 – Cubs signed free agent Raul Gonzalez
1997 – Devil Rays selected Miguel Cairo, Brooks Kieschnick and Ramon Tatis from the Cubs in the expansion draft
1994 – Reds selected Larry Luebbers off waivers from the Cubs
1987 – Andre Dawson won the National League Most Valuable Player Award. Dawson was the first player to win a MVP award for a last place team.
1975 – Shawn Camp, born
1967 – Tom Gordon, born
1966 – Ron Coomer, born
1962 – Jamie Moyer, born
1952 – Steve Henderson, born
1925 – Gene Mauch, born
1914 – Cubs named Roger Bresnahan manager
1888 – Albert Spalding took players from his Chicago National League team (Cubs) and from other teams on a world-wide tour. Spalding and his players left from San Francisco and sailed to Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, Ceylon, India, Egypt, Italy, France and England. Games were played in Sydney, Melbourne, Cairo, Naples, Rome, Paris and London. In Egypt, one of the pyramids was used as a backstop.