October 29, 2015
Mike Maddux has chosen to finally accept a managing job with...wait, what?
Rangers fans have been expecting for years to lose the club's highly-touted pitching coach Mike Maddux. Reputed to be one of, if not *the* highest paid coach in baseball, fans and writers alike have been waiting for the shoe to drop when Maddux finally accepted the call to manage his own club.
What no-one expected was that Texas would send Maddux packing:
UPDATE: The Rangers sent out a note to reporters that they have already interviewed internal candidates Brad Holman, Danny Clark (the Minor League pitching coordinator) and Jeff Andrews (the AA pitching coach). So this decision was likely made days or weeks ago. You know, at the same time the other guys were let go. Guessing withholding the news on Maddux was probably doing him a favor to try to drive up his market. Would not be surprised if we get an announcement on Maddux taking a job elsewhere soon.
What no-one expected was that Texas would send Maddux packing:
#Rangers informed Mike Maddux earlier today that they had decided to make a change. Still looking at candidates.
— Jeff Wilson (@JeffWilson_FWST) October 29, 2015
Of course, when Jeff Banister was hired to manage, he was given the option to interview most of the existing coaches and keep any on staff that he felt could do the job he wanted done. Banister replaced the bench coach and 1st and 3rd base coaches, but kept Magadan as hitting coach, Hawkins as bullpen coach, and Maddux as pitching coach. However, all three are gone now; Hawkins was informed at the end of the season that Texas wasn't going to renew his contract and Magadan had apparently already discussed leaving with the front office.
The Rangers has already put out a tidbit that the club was open to Maddux returning on a new contract, but was waiting on negotiations while he entertained offers from other clubs. This bit of news, then, comes as quite a surprise; and leaves fans and apparently beat writers wondering what caused the change.
Maddux's influence has long been a topic of debate among fans. During Ron Washington's tenure as manager, some beat writers hinted more than once that bullpen management was left entirely or mostly up to Maddux, as well some aspects of pitcher management. There was never, of course, any real proof of this being true; but that didn't stop Texas fans from using this info in arguments both defending and attacking pitcher management by the Rangers. This past year, bullpen management certainly changed, leading to a general understanding that Banister was obviously making his own (sometimes confusing or poor) substitutions. Of course, you can make the argument from every angle with no actual evidence.
To be fair, Maddux's ability to work with pitchers is widely lauded, but not universally supported. Yu Darvish was at times vocal about his disagreements with Maddux's coaching: Maddux preached contact pitching over strike outs, and Darvish prefers the K. Unlike the situation in Anaheim, Texas doesn't have a clear history of busted pitching prospects almost always improving when they leave, but you have to consider the work of the minor leagues coaches as well. In fact, the favorite going forward for the Rangers position is minor league pitching coach Brad Holman, who has received a lot of praise from younger Texas pitchers for helping them develop their approach.
Hopefully we'll get some more info on why Maddux has been effectively "let go", but like the Washington situation, it may be wise to not expect the story to be told for a long time.
The Rangers has already put out a tidbit that the club was open to Maddux returning on a new contract, but was waiting on negotiations while he entertained offers from other clubs. This bit of news, then, comes as quite a surprise; and leaves fans and apparently beat writers wondering what caused the change.
Maddux's influence has long been a topic of debate among fans. During Ron Washington's tenure as manager, some beat writers hinted more than once that bullpen management was left entirely or mostly up to Maddux, as well some aspects of pitcher management. There was never, of course, any real proof of this being true; but that didn't stop Texas fans from using this info in arguments both defending and attacking pitcher management by the Rangers. This past year, bullpen management certainly changed, leading to a general understanding that Banister was obviously making his own (sometimes confusing or poor) substitutions. Of course, you can make the argument from every angle with no actual evidence.
To be fair, Maddux's ability to work with pitchers is widely lauded, but not universally supported. Yu Darvish was at times vocal about his disagreements with Maddux's coaching: Maddux preached contact pitching over strike outs, and Darvish prefers the K. Unlike the situation in Anaheim, Texas doesn't have a clear history of busted pitching prospects almost always improving when they leave, but you have to consider the work of the minor leagues coaches as well. In fact, the favorite going forward for the Rangers position is minor league pitching coach Brad Holman, who has received a lot of praise from younger Texas pitchers for helping them develop their approach.
Hopefully we'll get some more info on why Maddux has been effectively "let go", but like the Washington situation, it may be wise to not expect the story to be told for a long time.
Evan Grant is now reporting that the decision was made the week after the season ended. Texas immediately offered Maddux a new contract; he declined in order to continue negotiating with other teams. Something in that process led the Rangers to decide that changing personnel was the superior option to waiting for further negotiations with Mike Maddux.
As Maddux fielded offers from multiple clubs, the Rangers front office came to the conclusion that Maddux was likely leaving for another job. During meetings to discuss how to replace their pitching coach, Texas leadership came to believe they could improve at the position, and decided to let Mike Maddux know the Rangers were going to pursue other options rather than wait for his decision. Maddux was reportedly surprised by the decision, which conflicts a bit with Texas claiming he was likely to leave of his on volition. Interestingly, the few Rangers players who have been interviewed have tempered complimentary farewells with praise for the clubs other pitching coaches.
Posted by: Ben at
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Texas leadership came to believe they could improve at the position
There must have been alcohol involved. The only pitching coach that I can think of that people speak of as glowingly as Maddux is the White Sox's Don Cooper, and you don't want him. He's an irascible prick with delusions of godhood. He does good work with pitchers, though. That he's EVIL INCARNATE should play a part, however.
There must have been alcohol involved. The only pitching coach that I can think of that people speak of as glowingly as Maddux is the White Sox's Don Cooper, and you don't want him. He's an irascible prick with delusions of godhood. He does good work with pitchers, though. That he's EVIL INCARNATE should play a part, however.
Posted by: Wonderduck at October 31, 2015 11:45 PM (a12rG)
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I suspect the key part of the report from Daniels (in the original quote) is: "it became more realistic that Maddux would leave."
My guess is that Maddux wanted to bring back some salary offers, and the Rangers decided the salary he would command would create problems. There are a couple of writers reporting that Texas' motivation was that they didn't want to go through the negotiation process and wanted to get a staff locked down, but that doesn't make sense to me.
Unless, of course, there are multiple factors going on behind the scenes that we'll never be part to.
My guess is that Maddux wanted to bring back some salary offers, and the Rangers decided the salary he would command would create problems. There are a couple of writers reporting that Texas' motivation was that they didn't want to go through the negotiation process and wanted to get a staff locked down, but that doesn't make sense to me.
Unless, of course, there are multiple factors going on behind the scenes that we'll never be part to.
Posted by: Ben at November 01, 2015 07:54 AM (S4UJw)
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