Cubs Have Begun to Identify Potential Maddon Successors

Kyle Schwarber’s name and picture led Jon Heyman’s latest Inside Baseball Notes, but it was a buried bullet that bore at least as much weight as the left fielder lost this offseason. Though no one believed Joe Maddon’s Cubs tenure would last forever, it was interesting to see that the team has been actively seeking to groom potential replacements.

The Cubs identified three potential future managers to try to convince to come as coaches (one of whom now has a managing job), but Mark DeRosa, Raul Ibanez and Aaron Boone wound up not coming. Theo Epstein, upon seeing Boone was going to be named Yankees manager, jokingly told him that “it must have been a tough choice — Yankees manager of Cubs…