The Cubs had more than a year to think about the manager with whom they wanted to replace Joe Maddon. But after firing Maddon at the end of the season, they still hadn’t replaced him by the time he landed his next job.
That the Angels became the second team in five years to fire a manager with two years left on his contract to hire Maddon almost certainly says more about Maddon’s stature than it does about the Cubs’ process — or at least something about the relationship Maddon has with his original organization.
But it also underscores the big question Cubs president Theo Epstein faces as he replaces the most successful manager in franchise history, whether he hires in-house favorite David Ross, Astros hot-shot bench coach Joe Espada or anyone else:
In the quest for ‘‘the perfect guy for this moment in time for this group,’’ will Epstein regret firing the guy who became the hottest free agent on the market as soon as it happened?