Manager Joe Maddon Nearing Extension With Tampa Bay Rays

A three-year contract extension for manager Joe Maddon should be completed before pitchers and catchers report to spring training, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Maddon, 57, helped manage the Rays into the playoffs this season after trailing the Boston Red Sox in the wild card standings by as many as nine-and-a-half games entering the final month of the season. The Rays, who finished with 90-or-more wins for the third time in the last four seasons, did so even after losing impact players such as Carl Crawford and Matt Garza from their 2010 squad.

The Rays went on to lose to the American League champion Texas Rangers in the American League Divisional Series. Maddon, however, was named the American League Manager of the Year for the second time in his career.