PITTSBURGH – Whatever the front office’s plans are with lame-duck manager Joe Maddon in the next seven weeks or so, he couldn’t get so much as a dreaded vote of confidence from his general manager on Friday.
Even before the Cubs blew another ninth-inning lead in a walk-off loss, this time 3-2 on Kevin Newman’s bases-loaded single with two out in the bottom of the ninth in the opener of a three-game series against the Pirates.
Asked about the job performance of arguably the most successful manager in Cubs history during a 2019 season of injuries, depth problems and off-field distractions, GM Jed Hoyer conspicuously talked around the question without answering it.