(WBBM NEWSRADIO) - It's really become a whole new ballgame.
"Wisdom and experience are really not desired anymore," lamented former Cubs manager Joe Maddon. "It's more of a controllable asset, as opposed to one that may have an opinion. Coaches that I've worked with forever can't find jobs, and, actually, the jobs aren't even seen as being required."
Maddon goes into detail in "The Book Of Joe," which he wrote with Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci. Specifically, Maddon said front offices have encroached too much on day-to-day operations in the clubhouse. Maddon said he welcomes the influx of advanced stats and data, areas he explored on his own in the minor leagues, and as an assistant coach. He would just like the input to stop a few hours before first pitch.
"I just don't want it to overpower the game itself," Maddon said. "I want analytics and analysis to serve baseball, our game, as opposed to baseball serving these words."
Maddon also goes into detail about his last year with the Cubs, and said the situation began to deteriorate after the 2018 Wild Card loss to Colorado.
"I was told I needed to change," he said. "I tried to. And by the middle of the next year, I realized that really wasn't the case. I was upset with myself for abandoning a lot of tried and true principles."
But, Maddon said he holds no grudges against any of the Cub brass, like Theo Epstein or Jed Hoyer.
"Sometimes," he said, "A relationship just runs out of time."
Maddon would still like to manage, if he can find the right fit - and while he said he's certainly up for talking with the searching-for-a-skipper White Sox, he said they have not reached out to him.
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