(670 The Score) As Cubs manager Joe Maddon operates in the final season of a five-year contract that escalated to be worth $28 million after his team won the World Series in 2016, the idea that his future rides solely on the club's performance in 2019 may be shortsighted.
As always, money will be a driving factor as well. And in that regard, Maddon is one of the last of a dying breed of highly paid managers.
Maddon is earning $6 million in 2019, a figure that's matched only by Giants manager Bruce Bochy, who plans to retire at season's end. More and more often, managers who are hired are making in the $700,000 to $1.5 million range annually. It's a trend being driven by owners and front offices, which have changed their thinking over the years.
"The day of the celebrity manager is pretty much over," an American League general manager said. "We now have a system where young managers must be organization thinkers. They have to be willing to work with our metrics and minor league people in development and game day planning. The $6-million-a-year manager is pretty much in the rearview window for owners and teams building their clubs right now."
The Royals' Ned Yost is one of the higher-paid managers in baseball, as he made $3.7 million in 2018. He has a World Series championship in Kansas City to his name.
"I don't think managers are making too much money," Yost said. "Look at what these young guys are making now. There is a handful of us making pretty good money, but I have managed 15 years. These young guys aren't making any money at all in terms of what coaches make in other sports."
At least 10 NFL head coaches made $6 million or more in 2018, per reports. The highest-paid NBA head coaches also dwarf their counterparts in MLB.
The Ricketts family is spending a great deal of money on the Cubs' front office, coaching staff and support staff. The Cubs spend more than $25 million annually on contracts for president of baseball operations Theo Epstein, president of business operations, general manager Jed Hoyer, senior vice president of scouting and player development Jason McLeod and Maddon, according to a source familiar with the budget. Of that, Epstein makes around $9.5 million annually, and Maddon makes $6 million.
Epstein and Maddon have led the Cubs to great heights, including the championship in 2016. They've earned the compensation they've been awarded. But as we look forward, it remains a possibility that the Cubs don't want to offer Maddon an extension in the $6-million range annually, even if the results are what they desire on the field. That could prove to be a hurdle in any negotiations down the line.
Yost expressed support for veteran managers who think their own way like he does, pushing back at the trend of teams hiring those who some would call an extension of the front office.
"That sounds to me like they don't want anybody with a free mind of their own," Yost said. "I don't know about those things, because we don't do it that way here. I was with John Schuerholz in Atlanta, Doug Melvin in Milwaukee and with Dayton (Moore) here (in Kansas City). I have never had to deal with GMs who want organizational thinkers as managers."
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.
