Cubs' Theo Epstein: We were not fair to former manager Rick Renteria

Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein says the team was unfair to former manager Rick Renteria, who was fired last week so the team could hire Joe Maddon. 

"I recognized it was wrong," Epstein said on The Dan Patrick Show Tuesday. "We simply were not being fair to Rick. He had his first year under his belt. He did a nice job. We had told him he was coming back, we talked about next year. You really have to separate your instincts as a person -- to never be unfair to anybody -- with your responsibility as an executive."

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Epstein said that while he may have mistreated Renteria, he did what was best for the franchise and for its fans. 

"We're being honest about the fact that we were not fair to one of our own, but at the same time, I think we were fair to our fan base and our organization," he said. "That takes priority."

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Renteria was fired last Friday, the same day the Cubs announced they would introduce Maddon as the team's next manager. 

Epstein said in a statement at the time that the Cubs had offered Renteria other positions in the organization.

- Dan Gartland