But aren't we past that point? I think the Rays already had their shot at retaining him but he declined and decided to opt out. If the reports can be believed, possibly a quarter of the league (or more) is interested in his services. He's gonna get paid. I guess I can't completely rule it out but returning to the Rays seems unlikely now, and I really doubt he'd say he's willing to sit out the season if he truly wanted to stay with the Rays. I wonder if the Astros, Diamondbacks, and Rangers are kicking themselves right now? The Twins are in a very fortuitous position with this. They should look at it like mana raining down from heaven because Maddon as the manager of the Twins makes a helluva lot of sense. They're an organization that wants to operate with a low payroll; Maddon has done that for many years and had success. *check* Pitching has been a major weakness but we have a lot of young arms in the system; Maddon's teams have consistently had solid pitching and did so with a lot of young guys. *check* It's Minnesota so we want a guy with a likeable personality; from what I've gathered, Maddon is a great guy and is well respected around the league. *check* I imagine there's a mutual admiration between TR and Maddon for how they both approach the game. Seems like everything lines up perfectly with him. Makes a lot of sense. Hopefully his contract demands aren't a dealbreaker for the Twins, which would be a shame because paying a manager $5+ million a year is peanuts in the world of MLB.