Amid Speculation, Rick Renteria Still Focused On 'Bringing Championship To Chicago'

(CBS) As speculation that Joe Maddon will become the Cubs' next manager continues to swirl, the man in one of the hardest -- and certainly most helpless -- situations is current Chicago skipper Rick Renteria.

Through the weekend, Renteria had been mum as rumors ran rampant. Then on late Monday afternoon, Renteria released a short statement saying he's still focused on bringing a World Series title to Chicago but hinting at little else.

"I was hired nearly a year ago to be the Chicago Cubs manager," Renteria said in the statement. "Notwithstanding all the speculation, I continue to focus my offseason preparation on achieving the goal we established from the start: bringing a championship to Chicago."

Renteria released the statement through his agent, Ken Solomon, and he won't have any further comment at this time.

News broke last Friday that Maddon had opted out of his contract with Tampa Bay, and he's now a hot commodity. Considered one of the top managers in all of baseball, Maddon has received interest from at least 10 teams, his agent, Alan Nero, said over the weekend. While the Dodgers, Mets and a few other teams released statements saying they're standing by their current managers, the Cubs remained dead silent. That only intensified speculation that Maddon could be coming to Chicago, which would make sense in the eyes of many because of the solid work Maddon has done in years past with young talent.

The only teams with managing vacancies at this time are the Twins and Rays.

Meanwhile, Renteria can only do what everyone else is doing: watch and wait.