MLB: Maddon ends tenure as Rays manager after nine seasons

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Joe Maddon's highly successful run as manager of the Tampa Bay Rays is over.

After discussions on a new deal bogged down with the Rays, Maddon is now free to listen to offers from any club - a prospect the manager apparently found too difficult to resist.

Tampa Bay announced Friday that Maddon had exercised an opt-out clause in his contract. The Rays had expected to have him in their dugout at least through 2015, when his contract was due to expire.

Maddon managed the Rays for nine seasons, compiling a 754-705 record. Tampa Bay made the playoffs four times, won two AL East titles and appeared in the 2008 World Series.

Maddon, 60, told the Tampa Bay Times that leaving the Rays after nine seasons was a gut-wrenching decision.

"I have been doing this for a long time," Maddon told the newspaper. "I have never had this opportunity to research my employment on my terms. Never, never, never. And I think anybody given the same set of circumstances would do the same thing."

The departure is the second major loss for the team in less than two weeks. Executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman left for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Oct. 14.

Friedman's exit raised immediate questions about whether he might try to lure Maddon to the Dodgers when the manager's contract expired after next season.

Friedman said last week that Don Mattingly will manage the Dodgers in 2015.

He reiterated that stance Friday after learning Maddon had become available earlier than anticipated.

Astros to hire Cardinals scout

Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow will add Charlie Gonzalez, a Florida-based scout for the St. Louis Cardinals, as a special assistant, according to a person familiar with the hiring.

Contracts around baseball typically expire Oct. 31, making Nov. 1 Gonzalez's expected start date.

Odds and ends

Retiring White Sox star Paul Konerko and Philadelphia shortstop Jimmy Rollins were picked as the first co-winners of Major League Baseball's Roberto Clemente Award. The annual honor is given for contributions on and off the field that best represent the sport and is named for the Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Famer, who died Dec. 31, 1972, in a plane crash while on a humanitarian mission to assist earthquake victims in Nicaragua. … The Tigers said slugger Miguel Cabrera underwent successful surgery to remove bone spurs in his right ankle and to repair a stress fracture. … After getting a second opinion, Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright had what the team described as minor elbow surgery.

From wire reports