"To Me They Don’t Even Exist": Joe Maddon Rips Former Team

Talk about scorched earth. Former Los Angeles Angels manager Joe Maddon—fired earlier this season—has come out swinging against the organization. 

"Once that (firing) happened, I dissolved my affiliation with them,” said Maddon in an interview with Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. “There’s no emotion anymore. There’s no anything. It’s like to me they don’t even exist, organizationally.”

And Maddon didn't stop there. 

"The infrastructure needs to be improved... It's the non-sexy stuff that has to get better. It's not just bright, shiny objects; they have that," referring to superstars Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout.

"They need to do the infrastructure better in order to get to where we had been in the past. That was my goal, to get the Angels back to where we had been in the past. That was it. Nothing but pure intentions. I was an Angel. They had every ounce of me. And now that's done."

Wow.

Maddon spent the past 2.5 seasons as Angels manager, and parts of two seasons earlier in his career. He compiled a record of 157-172 (.477 winning percentage) while at the helm. 

The 68-year-old had far more success with the Tampa Bay Rays (9 years, .517 winning percentage), and the Chicago Cubs (5 years, .581, and of course, the 2016 World Series championship).

Photos: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports, Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports