MLB moves: Joe Maddon won’t be back with Cubs; Clint Hurdle out in Pittsburgh

Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon will not be back with the team next season after it failed to make the playoffs for the first time in five years.

Maddon and Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein announced the move before the team’s season finale at St. Louis. Maddon’s contract expires after Sunday’s game.

The change in the dugout begins what could be an active offseason for the Cubs, and Maddon once again becomes one of baseball’s top free agents.

While Maddon is out after five seasons, he is tied to Chicago forever after managing the Cubs to the 2016 World Series title for the franchise’s first championship in 108 years.

Chicago also made it to the NL Championship Series in 2015 and 2017, but it faltered in September each of the last two seasons. The Cubs finished third in the NL Central this year.

Clint Hurdle out as Pirates’ manager

Clint Hurdle has been fired after nine seasons as manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, general manager Neal Huntington announced Sunday.

“Words can not express how much respect and appreciation I have for Clint as a person and a leader,” Huntington said in a news release. “He was the right person at the right time to take on the enormous challenge of leading our Major League team out of an extended losing streak and piloting us to three straight postseason appearances. We will be forever grateful for his dedication to the Pirates organization on and off the field.

“This was an extremely difficult decision for us. As an organization, we believe it was time for a managerial change to introduce a new voice and new leadership inside the clubhouse.”