As soon as I heard the first rumors in August of Red Sox GM Theo Epstein heading to the Chicago Cubs, I've only had one reaction: it makes too much sense for him to pass it up.
He can swoop in once again and save a team that has a cartoonish "curse." Hell, if Dan Shaughnessy isn't there within the next year and writing his next book "The Curse of Steve Bartman," capitalizing on the only subject matter he ever cared about, I'd be shocked.
Well it looks like thanks to the worst September collapse in franchise history (7-20) and meddling owners that don't know what they're doing anymore (besides trying to get every last cent from fans), the Brookline native Epstein has decided to ditch Yawkey Way for Wrigleyville and I say good for him.
Since being hired in 2002 at age 28 (the youngest GM in MLB history), Theo has lived a charmed life doing his dream job, albeit under an insane amount of pressure and scrutiny (granted that comes with the territory). The Red Sox broke their 86 years of futility by winning the 2004 World Series (with a big assist to former GM Dan Duquette) and they won again in 2007 which was much more of Theo's doing. Still, after missing out on the playoffs the last two seasons (and finishing in third in the AL East both times), coupled with not having a postseason win since 2008 despite one of the highest payrolls in MLB, it was time for Epstein to make a move.
The Cubs reportedly have signed Theo to a five-year, $15 million dollar deal for him to join the team according to Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman, with a $3.5 million dollar transfer bonus. As part of the package, Chicago has to send prospects and or cash to Boston, not major league players. I'm sure it'll take some time for all the formalities to sort themselves out but this is a done deal as far as I'm concerned.
I'm sure he'll get a higher rank than GM/executive vice president like the one he carried in Boston. He has to have aspirations to be president of a team but Larry Lucchino had always blocked his way with the Red Sox to do that.
Chicago hasn't been in the World Series since 1945 and as everyone knows, they haven't won a World Series title since 1908. Going there presents Theo with a whole new challenge, it was clear through all his free agent misses that last few seasons particularly that there wasn't much left for him to do here. The boy wonder had outgrown his formerly pathetic team.
Personally, it couldn't come at a better time for Epstein since the Red Sox are as much a mess as they've ever been in the last decade thanks to them forcing out manager Terry Francona two weeks ago (and launching their latest undeserved smear campaign) along with being stuck with an extremely dysfunctional and unlikable group of players.
Good luck to Ben Cherington, the assistant GM weaned under Theo, who will likely take over for his former mentor. The Red Sox have to rebuild the farm system that was so instrumental in bringing them their second title. They have no prospects anymore like they used to and even worse, they've made so many mistakes in free agency since 2004. Letting a computer (hi Carmine) use sabermetrics to make important decisions was groundbreaking but it has to be counterbalanced by old fashioned scouting and baseball knowledge.
Having the most money or getting the flashiest free agents doesn't guarantee anything, just look at the four remaining teams (Detroit, Texas, Milwaukee, St. Louis) in the playoffs, they're all middle of the road payrolls that have spent money wisely and orchestrated great trades. It also shows that there are good baseball teams outside of the ones in the East (Red Sox, Yankees, Phillies) that get all the attention from the national media.
Big picture, the best we can hope for is that the Red Sox owners (Tom Warner and John Henry) along with Lucchino pack their bags and decide they've gotten enough out of this investment. Unfortunately, that's unlikely anytime soon.
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