Joe Maddon says he’s not looking to follow Andrew Friedman to Los Angeles

Before the news that Andrew Friedman was leaving his post as executive vice president and general manager with the Tampa Bay Rays to become team president of the Los Angeles Dodgers could even settle in on Tuesday, speculation was already running wild over what this might mean for current Rays manager Joe Maddon. Maddon, who's widely regarded as one the game's top skippers and smartest baseball minds, has worked along side Friedman for the past nine years. Together, they've done a job no one person could do alone. Together, they've help piece together and guide the small-market Rays to the postseason four times, including a World Series appearance in 2008, without ever having to truly rebuild along the way. It's a relationship that's led to sustained success in a market and division not built for it. Not with the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays all able to outspend them three, sometimes four times over. With that against-the-odds success in mind, it's only natural to put two and two together and assume Friedman would at least explore the possibility of continuing that relationship in a situation far more conducive to short and long term...