It's Friday morning and there has still not been a single public statement from the Cubs' front office about Joe Maddon. This isn't surprising, and also, I think it's handling it the right way.
However, we do have a bit of news:
Multiple sources tell me that the Cubs did indeed talk to Rick Renteria before they talked with Joe Maddon. In person.
— David Kaplan (@thekapman) October 31, 2014
Those who say Renteria has not heard from the Cubs are incorrect. Jed Hoyer flew to California to speak with Renteria face to face.
— David Kaplan (@thekapman) October 31, 2014
Maddon is on a family trip and his agent is handling the contract negotiations which are expected to be completed by this weekend.
— David Kaplan (@thekapman) October 31, 2014
Theo/Jed been unavailable but source tells me Hoyer met in Calif. w/Renteria a few days ago. Cubs didn’t talk to Maddon until after meeting.
— David Kaplan (@thekapman) October 31, 2014
Usually, I don't like to post a tweet sequence that long, but that's the best way to explain this story. David Kaplan's tweets also indicated that Tom Ricketts is likely to be unavailable early next week, as his brother Pete is running for governor of Nebraska and Kaplan says Tom is going to be there on election night. (Please, no political comments -- this is just a news item.)
So, we could be in a holding pattern until midweek next week. In the meantime, you can continue to discuss, and based on Kaplan's tweets, the Cubs have handled this absolutely properly when it comes to Rick Renteria. Good on them.