Joe Maddon will not return as Cubs manager in 2020

I, among others, had hoped Theo Epstein and his management team would offer Joe Maddon an extension to his five-year contract, which expires after today’s game.

That won’t be happening:

I’m disappointed. The failures of 2019, in my view, are not Joe’s fault — they lie with a front office who did not give Joe the tools he needed, plus various injuries to key players.

Don’t characterize this as a firing, because it’s not:

I can understand this, a mutual agreement that the team and the man should part ways. All good things must come to an end, and I can accept the idea that Theo & Co. want a new voice in the manager’s chair.

There will be plenty of time to discuss Joe’s legacy in Chicago and his future induction into the Hall of Fame. I wish him well, if he chooses to take another managing job. He might not — perhaps he’ll reflect and decide to retire.

And there will be time to discuss Joe’s replacement, but today is not that day.

We enter a new era in Cubs baseball. I salute Joe Maddon for the job he did here, bringing us the championship we all desired for 108 years. And now, the Cubs move on.

Much more on this in the days to come. Today’s game preview will post at 12:30 p.m. CT.