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Cubs' Maddon 'agonized' over decision to leave Rays

Reuters

Joe Maddon is slowly adjusting to his new gig as manager of the Chicago Cubs, a position he landed shortly after opting out of the final year of his contract with the Tampa Bay Rays. But the 60-year-old admitted he struggled with the decision to leave the club with which he spent the last nine seasons.

"I'm transitioning,'' Maddon told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. "I feel good about the decision. I agonized. I really mean that sincerely. I thought I was going to get ill just thinking about everything, and how it was coming down.''

Maddon exercised his opt-out clause after Rays general manager Andrew Friedman accepted a front-office position with the Los Angeles Dodgers, as the club was unwilling to accept an extension proposal Maddon felt was "extremely, extremely fair."

"The fact that we're leaving the Rays absolutely does bother me,' he said. "I'm really hoping the friendships are maintained and last, because I have not one negative thing to say. Not one.''

Maddon, who still intends to spend his winters in Florida, said residents of south Tampa have been overwhelmingly gracious since he accepted his new position with the Cubs.

"So  far, I've had a really good reception,'' Maddon said. "I've been running into people left and right, and to this point 100 percent favorable. Although, when people meet you face-to-face, they tend to be more gracious than mean. But the group that wants to be maybe angry about it, all I ask them is to put themselves in my shoes for a minute, and what would you have done? And I think if you really answer that question honestly, you might have done the same thing.''

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