Joe Maddon on his first Devil Rays teams: dysfunction, chaos

Joe Maddon always has had the ability to see things differently.

And, at times, presciently.

Trying to transform the lowly Devil Rays had been a challenge, greater than he let on, during his first two seasons as manager. The team lost 101 games in 2006 and 96 in 2007 while he and his bosses cleared out and remade the roster and staff, built a culture and developed an organizational methodology.

But Maddon saw enough promise in what they had done to share his vision for their new and, more importantly, different way of doing things that would lead to success against their better-financed opponents.

In the just-published “The Book of Joe,” Maddon shares excerpts from a letter he wrote to the players before spring training in 2008 that, along with their new name and look, they used as a springboard to make a shocking run to the World Series and reach the postseason four times in six seasons.

“We have to do all the little things better than anyone else. We are in the process of creating the ‘Ray Way’ of doing things. Conventional Wisdom be damned. We are in the process of creating our own little world. Our way of doing things. The Ray Way. To those of you who feel as though this sounds ‘corny’ wait a couple of years and you will see how corny turns into ‘cool’ and everyone stands in line to copy our methods.”

Maddon was right on. Many other teams soon were employing defensive shifts, emphasizing run prevention, utilizing players in super-utility roles, building lineups based on platoon matchups, using relievers based on reverse splits and following other innovations the Rays introduced in later years, most prominently the opener.

“How about it?” Maddon said in an interview with the Tampa Bay Times last week. “I believed it. I really believed that was going to occur. We were so in front of everything. You could see, it started with the defense. That’s what really got it going. We played such a great defense, and we were using different kinds of looks and shifts, whatever, that other people had not done. …

“Everybody was like, ‘Oh, what do they think, they reinvented the game?’ and all this stuff. But I knew it was not going anywhere. And you knew that eventually people would want to do the same thing.”

Establishing a culture

The book, co-written with Tom Verducci, uses Maddon sayings — such as “Do Simple Better” and “Try Not to Suck” — as chapter names. It traces Maddon’s rise from unsuccessful minor-league player to one of the top managers in the majors, culminating with the 2016 World Series championship with the Cubs, as well as the evolution of the job itself, including considerable discussion of one of his now-favorite topics — the over-use of analytics by front offices.

“The concept was to compare and contrast managing from the 1980s to the present day,” he said. “And the other part was just to take the Maddonisms and expand upon them.”

Much of the work was done during the 2020 pandemic pause. Maddon would talk on a topic for an hour or so a day — about 100 hours total — and forward the audio files. Verducci interviewed some other former and current managers for perspective. Maddon added a chapter on being fired in June by the Angels, which contains his harshest criticisms.

There is plenty of Rays content. Maddon shares some details about his hiring as a first-time manager, why the Rays job was a better fit than the Red Sox post he interviewed for two years earlier (which went to Terry Francona), how comfortable he felt with Tampa Bay top executives Andrew Friedman and Matt Silverman.

He also delves into extent of the makeover the management team had to do upon taking over the then-Devil Rays after the 2005 season. A hint, from page 165: “That first spring training, wow! You talk about having a lot of work ahead of us.”

The major issues were what Maddon considered a massive scholarship and entitlement program given how players felt they deserved to be in the big leagues — “This was the furthest thing from a major-league group of players,” he writes — and selfishness among the major- and minor-league coaching staffs.

“I didn’t know the dysfunction of the group,” Maddon said via phone. “There was really a lack of direction overall. I felt as though the coaches were most concerned about their careers and not what’s going on with the group.

“The players, one good month, man, and these guys thought they were ready for the big leagues. Had some meetings where we had to send guys out that, wow, we thought I was sending out Whitey Ford or Sandy Koufax.”

He cited some specifics, including a Carl Crawford-Elijah Dukes on-field scuffle, and Delmon Young referring to a demotion to Triple-A Durham as being sent “back to that Little League?”

Also, Maddon said, “There wasn’t a method of play. There wasn’t a culture that had been established. It was almost a chaotic thing on a daily basis.”

He ‘wanted to stay’

Maddon doesn’t address his departure from the Rays after the 2014 season, when he took advantage of an out clause activated by Friedman leaving for the Dodgers with one year left on his contract and eventually signed a $25-million, five-year deal with the Cubs. “I didn’t think there was anything there to rehash and nothing new to report,” he said.

In the interview, however, Maddon shared that he “wanted to stay” and gave the Rays what he felt “were really reasonable parameters” for an extension. Had they accepted the terms, which “would have been for half the amount” that he got from the Cubs, Maddon said, “I would have done it.”

Maddon also said that before coming to the agreement with the Cubs, he met with then-Twins general manager Terry Ryan to informally discuss the manager’s job that went to Paul Molitor.

Maddon, 68, said he “absolutely” wants to manage again, but only in what he considers the right situation, specifically one where the front offices aren’t forcing analytical-driven decisions on the manager.

“I’m probably trying to really thread the needle here, but you know how optimistic I am,” he said. “I really believe baseball needs this. They need a group to really be baseball-oriented first and numerical second.”

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