Maddon out...

[cneubass79]

His body of work speaks for itself, especially in the way he got the younger players motivated and producing. Managers in previous years didn't get the horses because ownership refused to pay, but Theo had the cash. Maddon wasn't perfect, but he is still heads above names floated as replacements. The win or else edict from Theo coupled with the highly questionable player moves this season put Joe in an impossible position. Part of me wonders if this was planned last offseason....sad for a guy who ended 4th on the win list in just 5 years.

Baseball has to be the easiest sport to manage in my opinion. They are just a babysitter and they have coaches for everything, pitching coach, hitting coach, catching coach, infield coach, I mean was does a big league manager really do? Tampa has been solid since he left, nothing really changed they are in the mix every year because they have talent and a great farm system. Look at all the great years Gardenhire had in Minnesota in a small market. He hasn’t done anything in Detroit because he has nothing to work with. It was hard for Joe to fail in Chicago. They have a lot of good young players and they spent a ton of cash when Joe showed up. I think he’s a little overrated in my opinion. Do you really think Joe would have had the same success in Chicago if they spent money like the Rays.

[JHelms]

It is rarely only the manager's fault but I always thought that Maddon was overrated.

[ardenbass]

Baseball has to be the easiest sport to manage in my opinion. They are just a babysitter and they have coaches for everything, pitching coach, hitting coach, catching coach, infield coach, I mean was does a big league manager really do? Tampa has been solid since he left, nothing really changed they are in the mix every year because they have talent and a great farm system. Look at all the great years Gardenhire had in Minnesota in a small market. He hasn’t done anything in Detroit because he has nothing to work with. It was hard for Joe to fail in Chicago. They have a lot of good young players and they spent a ton of cash when Joe showed up. I think he’s a little overrated in my opinion. Do you really think Joe would have had the same success in Chicago if they spent money like the Rays.

I'm no fan of Maddon but he did manage the 2008 Rays to the WS with a payroll that ranked 29th.

[Champ2005]

I'm a Chicago White Sox fan, but if you put Joe on the south side he isn't going to win. I'm not saying he isn't a good manager, but I agree with some of the posts saying you need the talent. It's a combination as most things in life.