Joe Maddon & Tampa Bay Rays Reach Contract Extension

According to a report in the Tampa Bay Times, the Rays and manager Joe Maddon have agreed to a three-year contract extension. Maddon's contract was set to expire at the end of the 2012 season.

Maddon took over the Rays in 2006, and they are 495-477 in his six seasons, with three trips to the playoffs in the last four years, including a trip to the World Series in 2008.

He was given a three-year extension in May 2009 that ran through the 2012 season. He was originally hired in November 2005 on a two-year deal with two options that were picked up.

Under Maddon’s guidance, the Rays have averaged 90 wins over the past four seasons. The stretch followed one in which Tampa Bay averaged 90-plus losses the previous four years.

Before Maddon’s arrival from the Los Angeles Angels, where he was Mike Scioscia’s bench coach, the Rays were 518-775 under the team’s first three managers.