Everyone in baseball expects the Cubs to offer Theo Epstein their GM job, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (Twitter link) and a slight majority expect that the Red Sox GM would turn such an offer down. Here are today's Red Sox-related links…
- Former manager Terry Francona appeared on WEEI's The Big Show and explained that he considers Boston's ownership "second to none." Francona acknowledged that he and Epstein "butted heads" at times, not that it’s a surprising admission given the public, stressful nature of their jobs. Francona added that he's interested in managing in the right situation next year.
- Rob Bradford of WEEI.com looks back to 2002, when the Red Sox, then under new ownership, tried to end their championship drought by hiring an established GM (Billy Beane of the A's). If that sounds familiar, it's because the Cubs now want Epstein to end their title drought.
- Bradford also explores the issue of compensation – it was discussed nine years ago and would come up again since Epstein is under contract in 2012.
- The Boston Herald looks ahead to next year's outfield and says the Red Sox will look to add a younger, more durable player to replace J.D. Drew. Josh Reddick and Ryan Kalish are internal options for Boston.
take Lackey and you can have him
it’s gonna take him years to fix the team that Hendry built anyways
With most of the money off the books by 2013 it shouldn’t take that long to fix the Cubs.
Why do you red sox fans constantly trying to push off your garbage on another team to get your GM? If the cubs or angels dont get theo the sox will wind up firing him and receive no compensation at all for him.
The dumb notion that the new team would have to take on a bad contract or contracts to get theo is getting old now and frankly makes the person suggesting these things sound ignorant.
As far as the “it’s gonna take him years to fix the team that Hendry built anyways” thing goes when soriano’s contract is off the books the cubs can have their farm repaired and producing fine star potential players the same year.
Sarcasm.
Noun.
Definition: Something that is lost on the internet.
that wasnt even close to sarcasm
My point is you’re taking this whole “Take a bad contract with Theo” thing seriously… it’s not. It’s sarcasm.
Oh, the Sox are going to fire Theo? That’s news to me. There’s a difference between being a manager of a team with a good history, but having a bunch of players who no longer listen to you, and being a GM of a team and having one bad month.
Theo has one downfall, and that’s FA signings. Other than that, he’s an elite GM. His drafting and ability to lock up premier players at young ages to team friendly deals (Pedroia, Buchholz, Lester) offset his bad FA signings (Lackey). It’s pretty dumb to think that the Sox owners are going to fire Theo.
If they OK his interview with the Cubs, it’s only because they’re going to try to win a trade with them for Theo. Take Lackey with him. Give the Cubs Theo + Iglesias, and ask for Castro in return. Give the Cubs a young pitcher, and ask for Garza in return. Something that is going to be a lopsided trade. If they can’t get exactly what they want, they won’t let him walk. It would be beyond shocking if they fired Theo, and nobody would bat an eye if they extended him.
You believe there is any situation under which they are getting Starlin Castro in this swap?
Lulz.
Lulz? Seriously? What are you, a poster of a cat swatting a ball of yarn?
See, if you read just a couple more sentences (which I know is very difficult for you), you would have seen that I said “Something that is going to be a lopsided trade”. And before that (your eyes must have been tired at this point), I wrote “they’re going to try to win a trade with the for Theo”.
“Win a trade” and “lopsided” means something like Castro.
you really believe the Cubs are getting Theo?
“lulz”
The suggestion of “getting castro or garza from the cubs” for lacky and epstein is getting even more moronic than the earlier suggestion in this topic of take lackey with epstein and he’s yours.
I think that you need to watch the mlb network once in a while as well as espn and this site if epstein potentially getting fired surprises you it has been discussed many times at the places that I have suggested for you.
Why do you think that the cubs ever would spread their cheeks for john henry to get epstein and BTW John Henry is half owner of roush fenway racing you people know NASCAR.
God. Do you read? Seriously. Because I don’t think you do.
I said give them Theo if they take Lackey as well. I said Theo + Iglesias for Castro. I said Theo + Young SP for Garza.
Maybe instead of suggesting to someone to watch the mlb network, you should go back to first grade where they teach you how to sound out words. That’s just pathetic.
“Why do you think that the cubs ever would spread their cheeks for john henry to get epstein and BTW John Henry is half owner of roush fenway racing you people know NASCAR.”
Dude. Punctuation. I don’t even know what the hell this is saying.
dude this is a baseball site not a fing spelling bee with police for adnowns and proverbs and punctuation. Your comments were made to be as a way of robbing the cubs of 1 or 2 of the cubs best players and that is just silly.
Oh this is a baseball site? What’s with you bringing up NASCAR?
So typical. Red Sox would be giving up an elite GM, but you don’t think the Cubs would have to give back anything in return. Good luck with that. Like I said. The only way that the Cubs get Theo is if the Sox trade rape the Cubs.
for the record the adnowns and proverbs comment was humor. I know that some of you are slow here (soxfan0928) and I didnt want you getting confused.
“Adnowns”? Comments about people being slow? Seriously man- stop it, you’re killing me. At the very least let me catch my breath.
your welcome
Thanks for the moment of levity, man. This site just wouldn’t be the same without guys like you, and I mean that in a good way.
*you’re
this is a site where we communicate with each other. since the other 99% of us don’t sit around huffing glue all day, we sometimes rely on at least a middle school level sentence structure. excuse me if you made absolutely no sense because you can’t grasp basic punctuation
oh i totally forgot ESPN is 100% true 100% of the time, and i totally forgot they don’t throw around useless speculation all the time.
King Felix looked awesome in a Yankee uniform this year
edit: by the way, it’s just as “moronic” to assume Theo is just going to the Cubs for pennies. keep dreaming buddy, Christmas isn’t for a few months. maybe mommy and daddy will hold off their divorce and buy you some new nascar toys
why are nascar fans dense? i was being sarcastic.
no, i don’t want Theo to leave. i’ve said that multiple times, on this board and many others.
your nether-regions. remove sand from them.
that didnt sound like sarcasm and in order for sarcasm to play on the internet it has to be blatently clear that it is sarcasm.
How does If you want Theo take Lackey not sound like a joke or sarcasm? Yes they really want him gone but to assume that the Cubs would do that is the comedy….
no one in Boston wants Theo gone except for bandwagoners and the joke of our media circus
frankly, i don’t give two craps if you caught my sarcasm. there seems to be a lot you don’t understand
you have no clue
you have no opinion on anything else so why open your mouth now I dont think that you are the 1 with a clue.
yeah cause the Cubs have been pumping out those homegrown players for years, i totally forgot their development isn’t a total joke and that FA isn’t their only glaring problem
Priceless. You were just called ignorant by some guy going by the nom de plume “gunsnascar”.
What the hell’s a nom de plume plume. Damn you disqus!
I think the only antidote to the “nom de plume plume” weirdness is to make the “edit” button your friend.
I hope that helps helps. 😀
That’s part of the weirdness. I hit edit and it is only displaying once in the box, but back out and it’s been cloned. Apparently Disqus is my daddy.
Oh!
Well that sucks sucks! 🙁
Well now, look at that…someone fixed it and it wasn’t me. Disqus cares?
hey chico wth should my name be beisbol de cubs? I also like nascar and guns and hunting, you know outdoor stuff that also includes baseball CHICO Im not assuming that you mow lawns for a living or are a cook or dishwasher so why make assumptions about “gunsnascar”. John Henry the owner of the redsox also owns half of roush fenway racing chico in you know NASCAR btw.
Ragging on me for making an assumption based on your username by making assumptions based on my username. Oh, the irony!
maybe you didn’t see South Park. all nascar fans are poor and stupid
he has interests in nascar because the mouth breathing heathen keep spending on an elongated left turn.
Seems a little bit like jumping out of the frying pan into the fire if you ask me. Though he would an all-time legend if he manages to end the Cub’s lengthy drought as well.
Gonna Become #RedSox Fan In #2012 – REASON: #BostonRedSox OWNS Local #SalemRedSox And @batspeed29 Attends MANY #milb Games With 80 Year Old Father… Yeah, Look For #Avaitar To Change In #OffSeason #SuperFunk #BostonRedSox #BoughtInto
Poor dude’s od’ing on twitter before our eyes.
Don’t worry, the twitching will stop soon.
I wouldn’t mind Epstein as GM for the Cubs (though he’s not my first choice), but I do worry that Rickets is focusing too much on him. There are a lot fo good possibilities out there, many of which wouldn’t require compensation. The Cubs are rebuilding, whether they feel they can do it quickly or not, and I’m not sure giving up anything of value or taking on a bad contract as the first step in that process is a good idea. Is Epstein (or Beane for that matter) really the best choice by such a large margin that it’s worth giving something up to get him?
I think the focus is on Epstein because the other top choice (Friedman) was still in the playoffs til a day or two ago. Also, Ricketts is becoming notorious for playing his hand close to his chest. That along with tampering rules . . . well it’s the perfect media speculation storm.
“I wouldn’t mind Epstein as GM for the Cubs (though he’s not my first choice),”
I completely agree ……………. and beene would be my first choice.
Geoffrey Beene? teriffic. maybe he can change the Cubs’ ugly uniforms.
Get Beane now. Let the cubs have Epstein.
Beane won’t leave Oakland now; he has an ownership stake in the team, now. He’d have to sell that to take the Boston job, and he won’t do that.
You are all kinds of correct. Beane is not leaving the A’s and won’t ever unless Selig announces they have to stay in their current park. If they get the approval to move to San Jose, he DEFINITELY wont leave, because he will start rebuilding again and then will be able to buy the free agents he needs when the new park opens, much like how Boston has operated since Theo took over: Build from within, then buy the best upgrades you can. Oakland is perpetually stuck with the first part, and can never do the second part, remember, Beane’s three main FA targets this year were Adrian Beltre, Lance Berkman and the pitcher Iawkuma from Japan. None signed with the A’s, and the A’s certainly would have been a playoff contender with those players on the roster.
Young durable outfielder? What do you think the Mariners would want for Trayvon Robinson or Michael Saunders?
They just trade Robinson to get bedard. Probably won’t be getting him back.
@Paka I think you meant the M’s acquired Trayvon from the Dodgers when they(M’s) traded Bedard to the Sawks….Trayvon was never part of the Sawks org…it was a 3 team deal…
Other way around dude, the M’s traded Bedard and received Robinson, his question was what would the Mariners want in a trade for Robinson, my answer….Saunders is more available and could be had for a young upstart reliever.
WOADUDE….you do understand that the word acquired means received correct? reread my post and see if you can apply standard reading comprehension….
July 31, 2011:
Trayvon Robinson traded as part of a 3-team trade by the Los Angeles Dodgers to the Seattle Mariners.
The Boston Red Sox sent Juan Rodriguez (minors), Stephen Fife (minors) and Tim Federowicz to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Boston Red Sox sent Chih-Hsien Chiang (minors) to the Seattle Mariners. The Seattle Mariners sent Josh Fields (minors) and Erik Bedard to the Boston Red Sox.
Back to the task at hand:
Sox get: Trayvon Robinson
Who would the M’s want? Reddick perhaps?
I don’t know, but why would the Sox want Trayvon?
Epstein will stay with the Sox; he knows he is a player or two away from being back in the World Series.. As a Cubs fan- I’d love to have him; but wake up folks… He isn’t coming to Chi-town.
Epstein will stay with the Sox; he knows he is a player or two away (starting pitchers) from being back in the World Series.. Just because a team has a bad month -you don’t dismantle the enitre organization.. Wasn’t Francona enough… As a Cubs fan- I’d love to have Epstein; but wake up folks… He isn’t coming to Chi-town. Hey, do you think Francona would consider the Cubbies? -Now that would be a game changer in my book(!). Quade needs to go and either be replaced by Ryan Sandberg or Francona!!
His name isn’t spelled “Ryan” and he was snubbed by the Cubs for Quade, they made their bed and now have to lie in it knowing they should of hired RYNE in the first place.
‘RYNE” stated that now that Henry was gone he would be open to join the organization in the future.. Did I spell that correctly for u “Woadude”? Such a common name he has……
Yeah, I mean, isn’t it a bit unreasonable of him to expect that a Cubs fan might actually know how to spell the name of a franchise legend? How dare he!
lol, corrects Ryne and then screws up Hendry. swing and a miss #2
Is there any reason Boston isn’t interested in playing Reddick and Kalish full time? Honestly theyd be better off trading Crawford for whatever they can get and going with Reddick-Ellsbury-Kalish, with a veteran 4th OF in case of injury. One of the most nonsensical things about the Yankees and Boston overspending is that they prefer to hand out a massive $50-100+MM deal when internally they have better options who are blocked. The Yankees broke all spending records from 2001-2010 and won one championship out of it, compared to their 4 rings in the mid 90s-2000 where they did not. Spending money doesn’t equal rings, in fact, if Boston went with Reddick&Kalish instead of Crawford, they’d be in the playoffs this year.
I like the idea of Reddick and/or Kalish playing regularly, but I get the feeling the Sox are stuck with Crawford for the time being. How many other teams could take his contract?
Outfield production was so poor in ’10, with most OF out with injuries at the end of the season that it would have been difficult to project a Reddick/Ellsbury/Kalish OF, although I too was in favor of playing the kids. Beltran seemed like a safer move but the prospect cost was probably too high. And who knew Crawford would be this bad?
Why is everyone so down on Crawford? He’s played one full season in Boston, and everyone has already given up on him?
same actually goes for Vernon….I’m not holding judgment of this trade based on 1 possible fluke season….now if he sucks next season….off w/ his head…
That’s ridiculous. All of it.
[Deleted double-post]
See, you criticize disqus and disqus gets even with you
How many guys are on this team that Theo drafted? How many impact players are in the Minors? Very very Overated GM. Since 07, I only see Bucholz and Bard, as Impact Players that made the Big Club. If he had the good prospects in the Minors, never would have had to trade for A-Gonz, and V-Mart.
He only won 1 more game than last year, last year Sox had tons of injuries, Tito did a darn good job with that team. I feel bad for him.
Say what you want, since I go to the Double AA games, and he and his scouting staff have failed misrealbly in the Minor League development. 2, 40yr olds being debated if the Sox should sign in the off-season proves my point.
Only Buchholz and Bard? Are you sure? Ellsbury (MVP candidate, in case you didn’t realize), Pedroia, Papelbon, Lester (not 100% sure whether he was drafted by Theo, but nevertheless, developed under his regime)…just to name a few more.
“If he had the good prospects in the Minors, never would have had to trade for A-Gonz, and V-Mart.”
That’s not true. Being a large market team who needs to put a competitive team on the field every year, Boston simply cannot always wait for their prospects to blossom. Hence the need to trade away prospects for established stars, like Gonzalez and Martinez. Those trades wouldn’t have happened anyways without having good prospects in the minors. Theo puts a balanced team on the field, with young prospects and established veterans. Again, if he never had good prospects in the Minors, where did Pedroia, Ellsbury, and Papelbon come from?
I said after 07. Name me your prospects in the last 4 years.
In that case, you can still refer to the second part of the comment.
i’m sorry, i guess i didn’t realize that just about half our team was developed by homegrown resources. you’re just playing with dates to create a false argument
It seems kinda arbitrary to say in the last 4 years. Players drafted this year haven’t ha any time to develop, players drafted last year are just starting to develop. As for players drafted in 2008 and 2009, a couple have been used to acquire AGon, Salty, and VMart.
So, Ellsbury and Pedroia aren’t considered impact players? Odd considering they were first and third in the AL in fWAR, and first and fifth in baseball overall. And neither of them became regulars until ’07 and ’08, so they should fit into your definition of impact players who were drafted while Theo was GM.
do you not watch baseball???
like seriously??
Lester, Buchholz, Papelbon, Bard, Youk, Pedroia, Ellsbury. traded for Beckett out of farm depth. traded for AGonz out of farm depth. i always see you post even more nonsense than the Boston media, so i question your knowledge. deeply.
You sign Free Agents so you can give time to develop your Minor Leaguers. JD signed now gone better hope Reddick or Kalish comes through. I think Kalish will, come through. He inherited Manny, traded for Bay, and now signed Crawford. 1st base was Youks, had to trade away prospects for A-Gonz, not bad but made team weaker by putting Youk back at 3rd, not the same as when he was young. Traded Hanley for Beckett and Lowell, good move. Whats has happened since then at SS. Free Agents galore. I have seen Inglesias play he is at least another year away, better hope he hits. Middlebrooks is another year away. Lavarnway should be in Boston this year. No starters except for Dubront and Weiland.Wilson, hope he come through. Bullpen empty, sign or trade for this position. Just dont see where Epstein has done much for the Parent club since Bucholz and Bard. Not claiming to be expert it is an OPINION. More signings and trades than development.
well, my opinion is that you are blatantly incorrect. you must have a vendetta; i suggest you switch teams since nothing is going to make you happy.
the fact of the matter is that Theo built a team that won two WS, almost primarily on development of players. yes, we had Manny. woohoo. but this team has been the force it has BECAUSE of development. he had some bad contracts, yes. at the time, they were regarded as overpays, but no one thought the players would perform as they did. in fact, a lot of people praised him for the Lackey contract, and while Crawford was definitely an overpay, you’re crazy if you think he suddenly forgot how to play baseball.
don’t let facts get in the way of your opinion. more than half of our production this year was through homegrown/developed players.
“How many guys are on this team that Theo drafted?” Before or after rosters expended? Seven guys on the team, before roster expansion, were drafted by Theo and it’s eight if you include 2002 when he was the assistant GM.
“How many impact players are in the Minors?” That’s a very broad question, it depends on who you ask, how you define “impact,” and if you are talking about current impact or potential impact.
“If he had the good prospects in the Minors, never would have had to trade for A-Gonz, and V-Mart.” If he didn’t have good prospects in the minors he wouldn’t have been able to trade for Gonzalez and V-Mart.
“He only won 1 more game than last year, last year Sox had tons of injuries.” This years Sox had a good number of injuries as well, and they were still the best team in the AL for most of the summer until the wheels fell off in September.
“Say what you want, since I go to the Double AA games, and he and his
scouting staff have failed misrealbly in the Minor League development.” I go to the AA games as well, and there was very little talent on that team for most of this year, but I also realize that there is more than level in the minor leagues, and most of their best talent is in the lower minors (because they traded a lot of the talent they had in the higher minors) and the talent they did have on that team was moved up to AAA. Did you not see Middlebrooks play though because he was in Portland most of the year and had a year that put him on a lot of peoples’ radar.
Also how does you “going to the double AA games” make you so much of an expert that you can ignore what other people have to say about the entire minor league system?
you’re*
“reasonable” went out the door when you just assumed we’d give you one of the best GMs in baseball for free. i remember when i was ten too- i wanted the red sox to get ARod, Griffey, Bonds, Sosa, Clemens, RJ, and everyone else for free too
Man, last time I fall asleep while watching Cheech and Chong, man.
frankly, couldn’t give two craps if you picked up on the sarcasm
Dumb question but Theo didn’t draft Lester,Youkilis, Pedroia,Ellsbury,Bard or Papelbon?
Theo was hired in 11/02
Youk was drafted in 6/01
Lester was drafted 6/02
Theo became GM in November but he was already in the organization as the assistant GM under interim GM Mike Port.
Ellsbury and Pedroia were on WS team already in 07. Lester and Youkilis were not Drafted by Theo. I thought Mike Port drafted Lester.
What’s it matter if they were on the team? Pedroia was a rookie who had less than 100 PA the year before and Ellsbury had all of 127 PA in his first taste of the majors.
And they made an impact and won the WS.
So, they’re impact players drafted by Theo which clearly shows that the Red Sox haven’t been able to develop talent since Theo has been GM…? You’re not really making sense.
The only reason it has to be since ’07 is because it makes it easier to prove your point. The fact is that both Ellsbury and Pedroia were drafted by Theo and both have become (if not the best) one of the best at their respective positions.
Please Sox fans. No more “take Lackey posts.” You’ve written enough of those already, we got the point months ago. They are not funny.
We’ll stop if you take Lackey as compensation.
worst thread in months
Red Sox should set up a package including one of either Kalish or Reddick for a pitcher.
what the hell
Reddick and Kalish aren’t the answer. Reddick just doesn’t seem to be “with it.” Kalish has the juice, but not the bat. Maybe Cuddyer in right, with one of the kids as the fourth OFer? Other than pitching, the Sox need a catcher. I’m not thrilled with Salty. A bit too lackadaisical, looses the ball quickly when it gets by him and hasn’t much of a bat. He could spit with a new catcher or be the backup. Tek is gone.
pitching. pitching. pitching pitching pitching.
we do not need another contract for a position player. we just don’t. i advise you to review Salty’s stats along with the average for catchers- he’s just fine, he’s not the problem. and with his first full season under his belt, he could build on it to be slightly above average
I agree, the Sox scored the most runs this year, but they need 2 starting pitchers!
Maybe, but unless they move/release Lackey there’s only room for one. I think Lackey comes back and has a year similar to ’09-’10 though and is a perfectly good #4-5 starter; that along with having Buchholz back and whoever they get to fill that last spot and I think the Sox rotation is fine next year (assuming relative health).
the cubs will pay for all of zambrano’s contract if you will take him and soriano and pay for the rest of his contract