Cubs Get Their Man; Set to Introduce Joe Maddon as Manager on Monday

The Chicago Cubs finally got their man. After 2 managers without a history of winning, the Cubs today announced the firing of manager Rick Renteria and announced they would introduce new manager Joe Maddon on Monday afternoon.

For the past few years, the Cubs have been one of the least competitive teams in the league. They are a team in transition. But Cubs fans have kept the faith.

Theo Epstein, president of baseball operations for the Cubs had a plan. Get all these top prospects, pile them up then make a splash. The hiring of Maddon is definitely a legitimate splash for the Cubs and they won't stop there. Expect them to add high end starting pitching this Winter.

With the best farm system in the majors, it was only a matter of time before they became a contending team. This move doesn't automatically make them a contender but it's a step in the right direction. Maddon isn't coming to Chicago to be the manager of a team at the bottom of the National League, he's coming to end the Cubs 107 year World Series title drought.

The Cubs have the position players in Anthony Rizzo, Starlin Castro, Javier Baez, Jorge Soler and much more. This Cubs team is stacked with top prospects including 2014 MILB player of the year, Kris Bryant. He completely tore it up in AA and AAA. It certainly seems like he's set up to succeed in the majors. Time will tell.

The Cubs need to address pitching this offseason. Names that have been floated out there are; Jon Lester, James Shields, David Price and Jake Peavy, to name a few. Lester seems like the ideal fit for the Cubs. But Shields and Price are intriguing as well as both played under Maddon in Tampa.

The arrival of Maddon will only speed up this rebuilding process even more. Cubs will try to add a lot more talent a lot quicker now that they have a proven manager. The hire of Maddon shows the Cubs are ready to contend right away. Epstein had a plan. He did while he was in Boston and he eventually delivered a championship.

You may not see a championship in year one of Maddon's tenure with the Cubs but you'll definitely see vast improvement. Maddon is a proven winner and he has also been Manager of the year on two different occasions. The time is now for the Cubs. I expect the Cubs to be very competitive over the next few seasons and hopefully lead to a Cubs World Series title. Maddon seems like the perfect guy for the job. Today is a great day for all of Cubs Nation.