Apparently Joe Maddon Had A Heated Argument With Alex Rodriguez

Before David Bote's walk-off grand slam to beat the Washington Nationals 4-3 on Sunday Night Baseball, Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon had some words with ESPN analyst Alex Rodriguez. If you recall, the last time the Cubs were on Sunday Night Baseball, A-Rod basically said the clubhouse was turning or had already turned against Yu Darvish. He also made some weird point about how Darvish should be in Arizona rehabbing instead of recovering from his elbow injury with the team.

Anyway, Maddon gave this quick recap of his meeting with Rodriguez.

Well, although that came off as a bit of a joke, Patrick Mooney's sources said that there really was a heated argument between Maddon and Rodriguez before the game. Via The Athletic.

A heated​ argument erupted​ between Cubs​ manager Joe​ Maddon and​ ESPN​ analyst Alex Rodriguez​ during​ a pre-production​ meeting for “Sunday Night​​ Baseball,” sources told The Athletic, as two of the game’s biggest personalities aired their grievances inside the Wrigley Field clubhouse. ... Maddon, an exceptionally media-friendly manager, confronted Rodriguez in his office during a meeting that also included play-by-play man Matt Vasgersian and analyst Jessica Mendoza. “My job, I believe, is to protect my brood,” Maddon said. “It’s no different than being a parent, so if you’re going to attack the group from the outside looking in, [my mom] Beanie raised me, my uncles and aunts raised me, my midget football coaches raised me, all these guys that raised me would have it no other way. When you speak badly of my group, our group, it brings out the Hazleton in me."

For some reason there is a portion of Cubs fans, like too many of them, that absolutely detest Joe Maddon. And while he does deserve his fair share of criticisms for some questionable decisions, there's no doubt that he's one of the best managers in the game. He's been perfect for this team and he's been the most successful manager in the franchise's history. Maddon sticking up for Yu Darvish and doing it so passionately is yet another reason Cubs fans should love him and why several players have decided to come to Chicago to play for him. And as far as the war between A-Rod and the Cubs, Maddon said it's over.

But Maddon insisted the A-Rod drama is buried now: “Absolutely, for me, it is, no question.” “I’m looking forward to building a good relationship with him, a great relationship with him,” Maddon said. “A lot of times, when you have an argument or a disagreement with somebody, if you really openly discuss it afterwards, that’s probably the scab that heals the whole situation."

By the way, A-Rod brought up his side of the story again last night and he made the same point about how when he was with the Yankees and a player was hurt the team would send them to Tampa Bay (their spring training home) to rehab. It takes literally one second of research to find out that Yu Darvish isn't the first player on the Cubs to stick around with the team when rehabbing from an injury. Just so stupid. Anyway, here's David Bote's walk-off grand slam again with Willson Contreras doing a home run call mixed in.