Joe Maddon Opts Out of Tampa Contract, Cue the Don Mattingly Watch in LA?

Buster Olney dropped this fairly significant bit of baseball news on Friday afternoon: Joe Maddon is opting out of his contract to manage the Tampa Bay Rays in 2015. This news is surprising but maybe not totally shocking, either. Earlier this month, the Dodgers hired Andrew Friedman away from the Rays to run their baseball operations. Maddon and Friedman were sometimes considered a package deal in the Rays turnaround from expansion doormats to one of the more forward-thinking teams in baseball.

Last week, Maddon said he was a Ray and would stay, but apparently had a change of heart despite Tampa owner Stuart Sternberg trying to get him to sign an extension.

Here's what Principal Owner Stuart Sternberg had to say regarding Joe Maddon's departure from the #Rays: pic.twitter.com/klaNMgX4w0
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) October 24, 2014

Knee-jerk reaction? It’s safe to say the Rays are probably going to take a step back losing their braintrust both off-and-on the field, perhaps making the American League East a little less competitive down the road.

All the speculation will now be on the Dodgers, who reportedly spent $35 million to lure Friedman to SoCal. Don Mattingly, already on shaky ground after the Dodgers’ exit in the NLDS to the Cardinals, signed a three-year extension in January. Given the amount of money Los Angeles’ ownership group is tossing around it doesn’t seem too unrealistic that they’d try to buy out the remaining two years and install Maddon, who previously worked under Mike Scioscia with the Angels. Early word, via Jon Heyman, is that Maddon isn’t considering Los Angeles, but that could be a professional courtesy because Mattingly is still the manager as of right now, and the job isn’t officially available to be considered. That certainly could change much like his situation with Tampa, where he said something entirely different just a week ago.

Dodgers source says Maddon news reported by Buster Olney has "nothing to do with us"
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) October 24, 2014

Maybe today’s news doesn’t signal the end for Mattingly, but it certainly puts him in an even more awkward spot going into 2015.

Maddon, who had managed the Rays since 2005, might not rush to make a decision. He’ll be in demand. Given that the free agent crop is relatively weak this offseason, perhaps where the bespectacled manager lands will be the most intriguing Hot Stove story to watch after the World Series concludes.