Raul Ibanez One Of Three Candidates Left For Rays Job

Raul Ibanez is one of three people remaining in the hunt for the Rays managing position. Raul is a very personable player who is said to have been a great influence in the locker room. He has 19 years playing experience including this year with the Kansas City Royals but, Ibanez has never coached at any level.

The other two candidates for the position are Kevin Cash and Don Wakamatsu. Cash played in the big leagues as a catcher for 8 years and was the bullpen coach for the Cleveland Indians in 2103 and 2014.

Don Wakamatsu has the most experience among the 3. He managed the Seattle Mariners from 2009-2010 and although he wound up with a losing record (127-147) the payroll was small and there were no star players. He was the Bench coach for the Rangers from 03-06, Athletics in 08, the Blue Jays from 2011-12 and the Kansas City Royals in 2014.

The Rays are no longer considering Dave Martinez, bench coach under Joe Maddon for the past seven years. for the job.

"The decision on Dave Martinez was especially difficult," Rays president of baseball operations Matt Silverman said in a statement. "He's played a key role in our organization's evolution, and he's done all he can to put himself in position to be a manager. In the end, we determined that our clubhouse would best benefit from a new voice that will add to our already strong and cohesive culture."

If Ibanez is chosen to replace Maddon, it will be for monatery reasons only in my opinion. There are many, more experienced options available to the Rays. They need experience as they compete in the toughest division in the league

Raul Ibanez to Manage the Rays?

The Tampa Bay Rays have 8 potential managerial candidates, so far, to take over for Joe Maddon in 2015. Raul Ibanez is one of them.

Other possible managers include Dave Martinez, Rays bench coach for the last eight years, Manny Acta, former Indians and Nationals manager, Craig Counsell, Charlie Montoyo, currently a minor league manager, Ron Wotus, former Seattle Mariner manager Don Wakamatsu and Kevin Cash.

Rays President of Baseball Operations, Matt Silverman, has said the list will grow as the process continues.

When one looks at the experience possessed by most of the candidates, it is hard to imagine Raul Ibanez being picked to lead a major league team when he has no prior managerial experience and has only been out of baseball for a little over a month.

But as the saying goes, stranger things have happened!

Cubs Fire Rick Renteria - Prelude to Hiring Joe Maddon

The Chicago Cubs have fired their current manager, Rick Renteria, to hire the ex-manager of the Tampa Bay Rays, Joe Maddon.

Just 2 weeks ago, Renteria was given a vote of confidence by GM Theo Epstein who saw no reason that Renteria would not be back on the Northside for 2015.

Here is a quote from ESPN writer Jesse Rogers's article on ESPN, by Theo Epstein today.

"Last Thursday, we learned that Joe Maddon -- who may be as well suited as anyone in the industry to manage the challenges that lie ahead of us -- had become a free agent," Epstein said. "We saw it as a unique opportunity and faced a clear dilemma: be loyal to Rick or be loyal to the organization. In this business of trying to win a world championship for the first time in 107 years, the organization has priority over any one individual. We decided to pursue Joe."

The Cubs, as usual, handled this very poorly. Renteria did no worse than the 52 managers before him that failed to get the Cubs to the World Series. He was given 1 year to turn around a Cub team that has underperformed as long as the current generation of Cub fans can remember.

In my opinion, Renteria was given the bum's rush and I am sure he will land a managerial position elsewhere.

But read the ESPN article here and decide for yourself.

Joe Maddon Opts Out of Rays Contract

Joe Maddon, manager of the Tampa Bay Rays for the last 9 seasons has invoked the opt out clause in his contract and will not manage the Rays in 2015.

In and interview with the Tampa Bay Times, Maddon said this.

"I have been doing this for a long time," Maddon told the newspaper. "I have never had this opportunity to research my employment on my terms. Never, never, never. And I think anybody given the same set of circumstances would do the same thing."

Maddon led the Rays to 4 playoff appearances in his time managing the team.

Read the complete ESPN article here.