"Late last week" and "Friday" seem kind of synonymous. Also, couldn't it have been industry knowledge that he had an opt-out clause? Maddon had two weeks to decide, his decision was made Friday. That means the industry might've known about it through their sources for the previous two weeks ever since Friedman left. Friday may be late last week but late last week does not mean Friday. Sure, all this could be on the up and up, but the point is there is an awful lot of smoke here. There's no way maddon opts out with only the twins in search of a manager. Had to know somebody was wanting to hire him. With no one else showing any interest......... It's clearly tampering. The only question is, is it technically, and demonstrably tampering. That is very specious logic. It's nothing of the sort. The poster before me indicated that it "could be on the up and up". That's what makes it work. No deal in place, just an informal conversation. It can't be proven, but if you're telling me you believe no one with the Cubs had any contact with anyone associated with Maddon, I have a bridge to sell you.