Theo Leaving Boston
 

Breaking news out of Boston: Theo Epstein is leaving the Sox.

When he didn't have a contract extension by the end of the season, I think a lot of people saw this coming. Was it the conflict with Lucchino? Was it other factors?

WTF?? The Globe reported this morning that he signed a 3-year extension.

Re: Theo Leaving Boston
 

I think it was Lucchino and all the leaks from the FO. The money was there but that wasn't enough for Theo.

The Globe ended up with egg on their face with this one. That's what happens when you decide to follow an early lead. They thought they could scoop the Herald, and it didn't work out that way.

LA general manager situation
 

Now, some of the L.A. sports talk shows are talking about Epstein as a possible replacement for "Paul DePendejo" (sic), who was fired by Frank McCourt Saturday.

Re: LA general manager situation
 

Interesting; McCourt is a Boston guy, so I guess it would make sense, although LA is a mess right now.

If Josh Byrnes hadn't left for Arizona, there's a good chance he'd be the most likely replacement here in Boston.

^^
L.A. is an utter mess. Other talk is that Orel Hershisher could be a candidate for the GM job.

That was what I heard at first; seems as though Lasorda is trying to get all of his ex-Dodgers in there (Hershiser, Valentine as manager).

I think it would take a lot for McCourt not to put some feelers out there for Epstein, although it would depend on how much influence Tommy really has with him. The word out of Boston is that Epstein will take at least a year off.

fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.




Don't be surprised if DePo winds up in Boston.

Current dirt is that Theo left money on the table because a.) Luccino is a dick and b.) he had no personal freedom in Boston - the combination of the two made him want Cashman money or greater authority, and talks never really got there.

That's what I heard as well. Lucchino did not want to give him complete control over the baseball side of things, and there's no way it would have worked like that. Once it got into the $1.3 million range and he still hadn't signed, things looked lost.

Really though, would DePo want to go from his L.A. situation into Boston? Does this affect Lucchino's reputation with the other young GMs out there? He and Theo had a longstanding good relationship (allegedly) until this season.

ETA: It also seems as though the Rockies trade over the summer left lingering effects. Lucchino and Epstein are blaming each other over why the trade fell through.

I think Theo will come to Chicago and be a deputy to Jim Hendry. But he'll have an office in Tribune Tower. Which just happens to be where I work.

...hey, a girl can dream. :D

Seriously, though, this was a surprise...when I left work yesterday I was reading they'd reached a deal.

There's a press conference scheduled for 1 p.m. today. While it would be nice to get answers at the conference (just to satisfy curiosity), I'm guessing that it will mostly be an airing of pleasantries.

On a somewhat-related note, the Globe is taking a lot of heat for this story. Not only were they wrong on the scoop (which happens sometimes), but Shaughnessy's Sunday column is getting partial blame for the situation. While I dislike blaming the media for things like this, if you read Shaughnessy's column, it was impossible not to come away thinking that it was biased towards Lucchino. There was even a sort of mea culpa on Shaugnessy's part in Tuesday's Globe, although not as much as some people would have liked.

The fact that the Globe has an ownership stake in the Sox only fuels the fire; if I were the Herald, this would be better than a birthday present. Forget Lucchino or Epstein's image; all in all, the Globe may come out of this looking the worst.

I like Simmons' thoughts..

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2211506

This is about what I expected from the press conference, although I'm mildly surprised Lucchino didn't attend.

and he's back...
 

although did he ever really leave?

Just announced..

source

Re: and he's back...
 

I'm guessing it's a pretty good deal, with an out if he gets a GM offer somewhere down the line. Right now he'll probably get the money with the freedom to try something else if it becomes available. There weren't any attractive GM openings this winter.

Oh who cares. He's brokeback and the Red Sox are bitches

Dan Shaugnessy wrote a column ripping Epstein and the rest of the Sox front office today. He also referred to Peter Gammons (perhaps the most respected baseball writer ever) as Epstein's "representative."

Gorden Edes' Curly-Haired Boyfriend (thanks, crazy carl!) can lick me where I pee - why on earth would you rip the front office???

They've had perhaps their best winter ever, in terms of spending intelligently, avoiding bad long-term deals, maximizing leverage and picking their spots to fill - and while I'm sure that CHB focused on the CF 'hole', he's also an idiot, and I'm sure he didn't point out that the Sox are dealing from a position of strength (esp once Weaver signs somewhere silly for insane $).

Add to that the fact that EVERYONE in the front office is now happy w/ their roles, and CHB should seriously consider killing himself.

ETA: I also sent an email to CHB asking him to defend his assertions, since JWH's quotations in the Globe column pretty much unilaterally deny or outright refute what he's saying. Most such questions are met with INSANE ranting on the part of CHB, so I'll post any response I get . . .

Personally, I think it's just Shaugnessy trying to cover himself from criticism that he's too "in the know" with the front office. The Herald gets all over the Globe for the NYT's ownership stake, and it looks like Dan's trying to work the other angle.

His column didn't make much sense and came off very bitter. The reference to Gammons came off like a dig, which I don't understand either. It just comes off as another typically CHB column.

According to a report in today's Globe, the Sox are going to send Marte and Mota (along with Shoppach) to the Indians for Crisp...in essence trading away two of the better parts they've acquired this off-season. Crisp isn't a bad player, but am I missing something, or does it seem like the Sox are overreacting to the loss of Damon with this deal?

It's actually Mota/Marte/Shoppach for Crisp/Riske/Bard . . . although permutations abound on this one, including 3-ways and 4-ways with Philly/Cincy/Yomiuri and everyone else under the sun. It's far from complete.

Anyway, the deal as stands isn't bad - basically Mota may or may not be on the way back, but Riske is probably just as good right now (although he didn't throw in high leverage last year, so his WXRL was low, but he raised his k/bb to over 3.00), plus Mota had a xERA of 82 last year (league average is 100), and he has declined the last 2 years.

Bard gives them another option behind Tek - Shoppach may or may not be solid, but a switch hitting decent backup is nothing to sneeze at for a team that can only afford to play Tek about 125ish games.

The only real question is whether Crisp can handle CF in Fenway - he's only about neutral under Range Factor and UZR, although apparently the Sox metrics really like him. Plus, remember that Damon was only playing about 65 games in CF per season when the Sox signed him - he was primarily a LF for both the Royals and A's.

It's an exchange of useful parts, and sending Crisp for Marte - it's 'known quantity' (at age 26 too) for a ridiculously good prospect. It's not a bad deal- there are exactly 0 other potential CFers on the market . . .

ETA: Coco's line last year:

.300/.345/.465, for an EqA of .293, 16 HR (in just under 600 PAs), and a WARP3 of 7 wins over replacement. Not a bad little line for your age-25 season . . .

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2304783

It looks like the new boss is "same as the old boss." This whole situation is just too funny...I could only a situation like this playing out in Boston or New York.

The most interesting part of this was that they named Cherington and Hoyer, but TOLD THEM THEN that when Theo returned, they'd take the VP/asst GM positions - so they knew the whole time? What?

That, and in the emails to the press, Henry said there was no conflict, and later admitted in the same email that he was glad that the conflict had been resolved. It's just too funny when you think about it.

I read that this morning and was like are you kidding? only here.

I could see something like this happening with the Yankees or Mets; but you're right, it has been a circus with all of this.