Joe Maddon caps Cubs' surprising season with NL Manager of the Year award

Joe Maddon's first year with the Chicago Cubs sure was a thrill, starting with his controversial courtship and ending with a surprise trip to the NLCS.

On Tuesday, Maddon's 2015 got a notable postscript: He was named Manager of the Year in the National League by the Baseball Writers Association of America after getting 18 of the 30 first-place votes. It's the third time Maddon has won the award and now he's the ninth person to win the award in both leagues.

No matter which of the finalists' name was called, there would be a worthy winner. Mike Matheny of the St. Louis Cardinals, who finished second, overcame a litany of injuries to post the best record in baseball and Mets skipper Terry Collins, who finished third, took the New York Mets to a surprise NL East title.

In the end, though, it was Maddon, baseball's mad genius who helped the Cubs capitalize on all their potential. The Cubs have a bright future, that much anybody who follows baseball can agree on, but Maddon exceeded even Chicago's high expectations in Year One.

 

While you may look at the standings and see the Cubs finished in third place, that's a bit deceiving. Their 97 wins would have won every other division in baseball, just not the highly talented NL Central. With a playoff run, a rookie of the year and now a manager of the year under their belt, the Cubs changed their story in 2015 from lovable losers to team on the rise.

The marriage of Maddon and the Cubs was something else. He opted out of his contract with the Tampa Bay Rays, where he'd been the manager for nine seasons, after GM Andrew Friedman bolted for the Dodgers. Then came the Cubs' courtship of Maddon, swooping into the managerial market even though they already had one. They got rid of Rick Renteria, hired Maddon and were accused of tampering (and eventually found not guilty).

So the Cubs got their man, gave him a young and promising roster and tasked him with turning the North siders into winners again. They signed Jon Lester too, to make Maddon's job easier, then he watched Jake Arrieta materialize into a legit ace. Their star-in-the-making slugger Kris Bryant lived up to the hype, Anthony Rizzo became an MVP-type player and the young talent kept flowing into the big leagues. We're talking Addison Russell and Kyle Schwarber.

The year didn't end with the fulfilling of the "Back to the Future" prophecy. The curse wasn't broken. The Cubs didn't win their long-awaited World Series, but they're in a place where that's a legit possibility next year and in the immediate future.

Because Joe Maddon, as it turns out, is just getting started.