Joe Maddon Heavily Favored to Take Over as Padres Manager

• The Padres fired manager Andy Green
• Joe Maddon was let go by the Cubs, despite leading Chicago to the playoffs in four of his five years on the job
• Maddon is now favored to take over Green’s job with the Friars

The Chicago Cubs are moving on from manager Joe Maddon. Although he’s been quite successful in his tenure there, the Cubs felt they should have done better with this roster and will now go in another direction. Maddon is now the favorite to become the next manager of the San Diego Padres, who just gave Andy Green the axe.

Is he the best bet for that job?

Odds To Be The Next San Diego Padres Manager

*Odd and records as of 09/30/19.

Maddon Had Plenty Of Success With Cubs

It wasn’t long ago that merely making the playoffs would have been a measure of success for the Cubs. After all, they had just four appearances from 1990-2014.

Times have changed as Maddon brought the team to the playoffs in four of his five years on the job starting in 2015, including a World Series ring.

The Cubs were decent in 2019, for the most part, but a nine-game losing streak in September seemed to indicate that Maddon had lost the team. They still finished above .500, though, and his .582 winning percentage is second in franchise history. They’re letting a good manager go.

Will Padres Pickup Maddon?

It seems like everyone is connecting the dots from the Padres to Maddon, which is why he’s the favorite. They look like a team that has a good, young core and are in need of a manager who can coach them up and get them to the next level. It’s a very similar situation he entered when he was hired by the Cubs.

The Padres average batters’ age was 26.2 last season, which was second-lowest in the league. Their average pitcher age was 26.3, which was the lowest. Not only are they young, but they’re ripe with good talent like Fernando Tatis Jr., Chris Paddack, Manuel Margot, Francisco Mejia, and Andres Munoz.

As if that’s not enough, the Padres have one of the best farm systems in baseball with six of the top-100 prospects. This is an attractive destination for a manager.

Padres Will Have Competition

One of the biggest concerns for the Padres should be the competition as the Kansas City Royals, Pittsburgh Pirates and Colorado Rockies are also looking for bench bosses. I wouldn’t worry about them, though, as they are not as attractive destinations. There are two other teams lurking that could be contenders.

The Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets have yet to fire their managers, but if they do, they’ll have the type of budget to throw at Maddon to sway his decision. The Phillies don’t really have a sexy young core like the Padres do, but Maddon grew up about a two-hour drive from Citizen Bank Park. That could be appealing.

As for the Mets, we know that they’ll spend and do whatever it takes. They seem to have a strong rotation in place, which is a big plus. However, the organization seems to be a mess in the front office. That could turn Maddon away from the franchise.

What’s The Best Bet?

Maddon to the Padres makes a lot of sense. He probably won’t want to take over projects like the Royals or Pirates – especially since those franchises are frugal – while the Mets and Phillies aren’t even in the hunt yet as they haven’t fired their managers.

As far as the Padres go, Maddon is their best bet. There are other experienced guys on the board like Mike Scioscia, Joe Girardi and Ron Washington, but these managers will be fallback options if they can’t get their top man.

Those managers won’t move the needle for their World Series odds. I’d expect them to go after Maddon and for the two sides to reach a deal in the near future.