It seems that the Chicago Cubs and the Boston Red Sox have a budding organizational rivaly. Or perhaps great minds just think alike. After news that Theo Epstein and the Cubs are interviewing Pete Mackanin only three days after his Monday interview with the Red Sox, SI's Jon Heyman is now reporting that both the Cubs and the Red Sox have asked permission to interview Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux for their respective managerial vacancies.
Mike Maddux is the brother of former Cubs pitcher and current Cubs adviser, Greg Maddux, and is regarded as one of the top pitching coaches in all of baseball. Epstein did say all managerial candidates would need to have previous managerial experience or coaching experience at the major league level, so the inclusion of Maddux would meet the stated requirements for filling the position.
The overlaps in named candidates for the managerial vacancies in Boston and Chicago should not come as a big surprise, considering Theo Epstein was recently a part of Boston's search before officially joining the Cubs last week. The race for identifying and signing the top candidate for each organization should be fun to watch.
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