The Cubs on Friday fired Rick Renteria after one season as manager.
In an act of transparency, Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein announced in a press release the organization's decision to part ways with Renteria in pursuit of former Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon.
Epstein thanked Renteria for his "dedication and commitment" to the Cubs during his only season as manager, his first in the major leagues.
Renteria finished out his season 73-89, putting Chicago in last place in the NL Central.
"Rick deserved to come back for another season as Cubs manager, and we said as much when we announced that he would be returning in 2015," Epstein said. "We met with Rick two weeks ago for a long end-of-season evaluation and discussed plans for next season. We praised Rick to the media and to our season-ticket holders. These actions were made in good faith."
Epstein used the press release to walk readers through the team's decision process, which began Oct. 23 when they confirmed with MLB that Maddon has indeed left his position in Tampa Bay.
"We saw it as a unique opportunity and faced a clear dilemma: be loyal to Rick or be loyal to the organization," Epstein said. "In this business of trying to win a world championship for the first time in 107 years, the organization has priority over any one individual. We decided to pursue Joe.
"While there was no clear playbook for how to handle this type of situation, we knew we had to be transparent with Rick before engaging with Joe," Epstein said. General manager Jed Hoyer "flew to San Diego last Friday and told Rick in person of our intention to talk to Joe about the managerial job. Subsequently, Jed and I provided updates to Rick via telephone and today informed him that we will indeed make a change."
The press release says Renteria was offered the opportunity to remain with the Cubs, but that he is free to pursue other position in the league, going on to say, "he deserved better and we wish him nothing but the best."