Right, because, shocker, they DO value things like optics/PR with moves like this. Maddon is widely liked by the fanbase because of the WS, hence why they didn't actually fire him and are trying to ride this out as smoothly as possible. Simply signing his backup doesn't work for both the people mad to see Joe gone ("If they're just going to promote the bench coach, then why not keep Joe?!?!" etc.), and not for most of the people who were also looking for the Cubs to move on and try something different. It's a lose/lose proposition PR-wise that makes almost nobody happy except the FO and a tiny, tiny, tiny sliver of fans that would be creepily pumped over Loretta managing the Cubs. I'm pretty sure less than 10% of the population realizes Loretta was the bench coach, so the PR thing won't really come into play.