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Rozner: Cubs' pursuit of Maddon strictly business

The wringing of hands among the faithful is touching.

While the majority of Cubs fans are thrilled by the expected hiring of Joe Maddon, there are plenty who think that what the Cubs have done to Ricky Renteria is cruel and unusual.

You are all correct.

It's a huge victory for the Cubs, replacing a fledgling manager with one of the very best in the game.

And it's unusual in the major leagues to find a franchise shopping for a new field boss when one is already employed and has two years left on his deal.

It was at the very least cruel to leave Renteria hanging while the Cubs waited to see whether Maddon wanted to manage in 2015.

But this is business, and in business people sometimes get a fastball to the ear flap.

Renteria was brought in a year ago to save the delicate, young personalities in the clubhouse who didn't respond well to Dale Sveum's request that they grow up and perform better.

It worked. Players bounced back and Renteria did what he was asked to do, but he was not very good at the rest of the job and we all know he was hired as a stopgap.

Whether he was replaced this year or next year, he was going to be replaced with a Point B to Point C manager.

In the meantime, when a great manager is available and you have the resources to employ him, you have to make the attempt, and that's what Theo Epstein did.

Some are surprised by his ruthless due diligence, but behind the smile, calm public demeanor and fine vocabulary is a baseball executive who will turn over every rock in a quarry - and crush small critters in the process - if that's what it takes to win a World Series.

And isn't it about time the Cubs had someone in charge who had that mindset?

Epstein explores every possibility, and rest assured he was not surprised to learn that Maddon would opt out. He's probably been planning for this moment since rumors started that GM Andrew Friedman was leaving Tampa.

Epstein certainly knew of the clause in Maddon's contract and began plotting his move months ago. One thing Epstein always has is a strategy, and if there's a surprise it's only that it's taken this long to get a deal done.

What's humorous is how heavily criticized Epstein was after the big trade of Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel, and how the critics have now turned to embrace Epstein.

He traded one pitcher - Samardzija - he can re-sign in a year, and another - Hammel - he can re-sign right now. In return he got another bundle of fabulous prospects, at least one of whom has a chance to be a superstar at the big-league level.

Since then, those late to the party have begun to realize that the Cubs have cornered the market on monster bats at a time when the market offers very few bats with the potential possessed by some of the Cubs' best prospects.

Big free agents or not, the Cubs are about a year away from thinking of a pennant race and they will be well-positioned to move chips for missing pieces, or let it ride with the big bats they're bringing to Chicago.

The biggest hole was a big-time manager, someone not just with experience managing but experience managing in big games and able to think fast during pressure situations.

Maddon certainly qualifies, and Epstein would have been negligent if he didn't do everything possible right now to try to land Maddon and check one more box on the list of things to do before the Cubs can win a World Series.

So he chased Maddon with all he's got, even though it meant trampling all over the man he hired only one year ago.

It's a sad moment for Renteria, who won't be remembered at Clark and Addison with a plaque, a signpost or a statue, but he would be wise to remember the words of Hyman Roth, who said in his lecture to Michael Corleone, "I said to myself, 'This is the business we've chosen.' I didn't ask who gave the order, because it had nothing to do with business!"

Ultimately, baseball is a business, though admittedly for those who lose the reminders are cruel.

brozner@dailyherald.com

• Hear Barry Rozner on WSCR 670-AM and follow him @BarryRozner on Twitter.

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