With the Red Sox seeking a new leader for their baseball operations department and the Cubs in free-fall mode, some have wondered whether there’s a path to a surprise reunion between the Boston organization and current Chicago president of baseball ops Theo Epstein. Alex Speier of the Boston Globe examines the basis for such speculation while providing a general overview of the early stages of Boston’s search. Epstein, of course, previously served as the Red Sox’ GM from 2002 until he left for Chicago in 2011. The Cubs have been a power for the majority of Epstein’s tenure there, and though this season has gone south for the club, there’s no indication he’s interested in leaving. Epstein’s under contract through 2021 on the record extension he signed with the Cubs in 2016. Nevertheless, some believe that the Red Sox “will want to see if they have a chance of reeling in some of the biggest fish in the executive seas,” Speier explains, and Epstein would certainly qualify. It’s an interesting look at the situation that’s worth a full read for anyone that finds the possibility intriguing.
More from the American League…
- The next person who calls the shots in Boston may have a decision to make on right-hander Rick Porcello, who’s due to become a free agent. In all likelihood, though, Porcello will reach the open market on the heels of a difficult season. The former AL Cy Young winner spoke to Rob Bradford of WEEI about his upcoming trip to free agency, saying: “You know my situation. You know what I’m headed into. I have no idea what is going to happen. We’ll see. Until you get to an offseason and you see what is going to be there for you don’t really know what is going to affect you.” Porcello, who will turn 31 in December, is wrapping up the four-year, $82.5MM extension Boston gave him when it acquired him from Detroit in 2015. For the most part, the deal worked out for the Red Sox, but the results haven’t been to either party’s liking this year. Porcello owns the game’s second-highest ERA (5.56) among qualified starters.
- The retiring Ned Yost is in his final few days as the Royals’ manager, but it appears it’s going to be several weeks before the club finds his replacement. The Royals don’t expect to hire Yost’s successor until their forthcoming sale from David Glass to John Sherman goes through, according to general manager Dayton Moore (via the Associated Press). The franchise might not change hands until November, the AP notes. “I would never hire a manager … without complete 100 percent support of my boss,” Moore said.
- Twins righty Tyler Duffey has somewhat quietly morphed into an elite reliever as this season has progressed. The 28-year-old hasn’t allowed an earned run since July 23 – a span of 22 1/3 innings in which he has struck out 22, walked none and allowed six hits. Chip Scoggins of the Star Tribune credits the data-driven approach of Minnesota’s front office and pitching coach Wes Johnson for the rise of Duffey, who owns a 2.26 ERA with 12.61 K/9 and 2.26 BB/9 in 55 2/3 innings for the year. At the encouragement of Johnson and assistant pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, Duffey has all but bagged his sinker – once his primary pitch – and has focused on elevating his four-seam fastball. Duffey told Scoggins he bought into the radical shift in approach “from Day 1.” The results, including an uptick in velocity and a dramatic increase in swinging-strike rate, have been impossible to argue with.
pasha2k
I want Theo back n wished he never left.
lowtalker1
San Diego would take him back, they had him first
Eightball611
I’m glad he did…it was Ben that pulled off the trade to the Marlins for Lowell & Beckett. Its was Ben that won 2013 & or was Ben that created this current young staff. Get the picture …..theo is just a name like DD
JoeBrady
I’m glad he did…
————————
From a value perspective, the Beckett trade was awful. I’m happy with the WS ring and all, We received two control years of Beckett with a bWAR of 9.2. Lowell had a bWAR of 8.3, both excellent. Sanchez control bWAR was 15.3. Hanley’s control WAR was 26.3. Honestly, I loved the trade at the time, but for value purposes, it was a bad trade.
IRT to the young staff, they aren’t young and BC acquired only two of them.
deweybelongsinthehall
Are you serious Joe? It was the perfect Win-Win trade. Object is to win championships and without Beckett and Lowell, 2007 doesn’t happen. Your argument is like how the Cubs wouldn’t trade Torres for their 2015 championship. Torres is great but would the Cubs have won with him in the minors and without Chapman?
keysox
2016
deweybelongsinthehall
Thank you. My bad.
JoeBrady
Sure, if you take a single snapshot of 2007, then it looks good. But there are two other factors.
1-Suppose we lost to Cleveland in 7, instead of beating them in 7. Does the trade then become a bad trade, because we didn’t win?
2-In 2008, Beckett & Lowell combined for a 5.6 bWAR, while Hanley alone had a 6.7.
In 2009, B & L combined for a 5.1, while Sanchez/Hanley combined for a 9.1.
In 2010, B & L combined for -1.1, while Sanchez/Hanley combined for 5.9.
We could’ve won a WS title in any of those years. In addition, by not having Hanley, we signed Lugo, then Green, then Scutaro. So those shortstops were a waste of money, and the extra payroll of Beckett & Lowell also held us back.
Again, happy with the WSC and all, but if we were to make the decision today, without knowing whether or not we would win a WS, it would be considered a terrible trade.
JoeBrady
“but would the Cubs have won with him in the minors and without Chapman?”
1-Probably. They won the NLDS & NLCS fairly easy. They won 2 WS games easy, and had two one-run wins. Chapman had one great save, but blew game #7. Montgomery got the save.
2-You can use the WS thing as a rationale for all signings. Was Price a great signing because we probably don’t win in 2018 without him?
dimitrila
Not sure why Boston would want to replace a failed GM with one who has also steadily made a real mess of things in his new organization. (Despite his deserved accolades Epstein has made many really bad moves over the years—too many really!) Is Epstein anywhere close to the seemingly elite and highly sought after piece he once was?
JoeBrady
“Not sure why Boston would want to replace a failed GM with one who has also steadily made a real mess of things in his new organization. ”
The Cubs have averaged 94 wins over the past 5 years, with one WSC. Most fans would be in favor of that type of ‘mess’ for their teams.
dlevin11
I want Theo back too but only if there is mutual interest. He proved he knows how to get a team ready to compete for a World Series
StandUpGuy
Theo is good at one thing. Spending a ton of money to buy a team immediate success. The thing is that the Sox are pretty strapped for cash right now. I don’t think they are gonna let him take their payroll much over the top luxury tax line. Unless Martinez ops out and there are other very expensive players outside Porcello that are leaving the team this off season I don’t know if he can help the Sox. He buys a lot of free agents and some of them are home runs in terms of getting you to a championship. A lot of his contracts are total strikeouts though. When you get a GM you have to take the bad with the good. He is still the same guy that handed out massive contracts to the Carl Crawfords, You Darvishs, Jason Heywards and Craig Kimbrels of the world. He can get any team to a quick championship but they have to have a ton of available money for him to spend. He would spend the $ to get a player like Garret Cole but I doubt the Sox have that kind of money to spend on their rotation with so much future cash tied up in Sale and Price already. (Wow… I just noticed that their names combined are Sale Price. What’s the Sale Price on those two guys? $362+ million? That doesn’t sound like much of a sale for 2 injury prone disappointing pitchers.) Theo has not been known for trading bloated contracts to acquire cheaper younger players and save a bunch of money. That is what the Sox need right now. Someone like the Giants GM. He is very good at unloading payroll commitments. That way the Sox could get back to spending. I doubt Theo wants to go to Boston. He would just have to sit there with Dombrowksi’s team of unmovable contracts and hope they get better. The Sox might not even have enough cash to keep your best player in Mookie Betts. What is a big spending, prospect trading expensive contract veteran acquiring GM like Epstein gonna do with that? Dombrowski really screwed Boston over with those Sale and Price deals. Think about it. The Sale $145 million contract extension doesn’t even START until next season. Why would anyone ever give a contract like that to a seriously injury prone pitcher with a year still left on his last contract? You could have just waited a year to make him prove he could stay healthy. If Dombrowski had done that the Sox would have either been able to keep him on a 1 year $18 million deal or just walked away and gotten a draft pick out of it. Worst case scenario then is that the Sox keep Sale and save $127 million. Best case scenario the Sox save $145 million and get a draft pick to boot. I think he was actually injured when Dombrowski gave him that extension wasn’t he? Ludicrous. Anyhow… I don’t think Epstein can help you right now. He will be the most successful with whichever team has the most available funds to spend at the moment.
twentyforty
Obviously you don’t know how many trades, many good, some bad, that Theo made to hasten the Cubs rebuild. But never mind the facts.
JoeBrady
Theo is good at one thing. Spending a ton of money to buy a team immediate success.
—————————————————-
Exactly backwards. The only thing that Theo is BAD at is spending money. He’s good at drafting, and good at small trades. It is his spending to maintain success that has derailed him.
Some of his best work, imo, was after 2004, when he let a lot of guys walk, and rebuilt to 2007.
Priggs89
*He’s good at drafting position players.
Fixed it for you
ASapsFables
Theo’s better at drafting position players, at least with the Cubs.
Kris Bryant was a stud who has slipped a bit with little help from a manager who refuses to construct a consistent batting order and assign proper roles.
Theo’s other top picks of Albert Almora, Kyle Schwarber and Ian Happ haven’t been nearly as good as hoped while also suffering under the mismanagement of their genius in the dugout.
Recently promoted 2018 #1 pick Nico Hoerner looks a keeper especially with Maddon on the way out of town.
Javier Baez was the final #1 pick under the Jim Hendry regime in the 2011 Draft but at least Theo didn’t launch him like he did with DJ LeMahieu who was a 2009 2nd round pick.
Theo’s success in drafting pitching with the Cubs has been abysmal which forced the organization to trade two of their best international prospects in Gleyber Torres and Eloy Jimenez along with his one potential domestic TOR in Dylan Cease. The lack of success with drafting arms also led the Cubs to break the bank on free agent pitching with mixed results.
JoeBrady
Fair enough, but my philosophy is that I just want good players. If you draft an AS rotation, I’ll be glad to buy hitters. If you draft Mike Trout, I’ll buy/trade for pitchers.
rayrayner
Stranger things have happened regarding Epstein.
WFG1
The Red Sox let Theo out of contract to leave home and go to Chicago, so why shouldn’t the Cubs now let him out of his contract to return back home?
Equinsu Ocha
see, that’s 5 people here that are willing to let this happen. come on back Theo. your hiatus in Chicago has gone on long enough
ChrisEnvy76
Because he was going to a team to become President of baseball operations. That isnt a lateral move, what they are talking about here is a lateral move. Why would the Cubs let him out? The Red Sox didnt want him there.
WFG1
The Red Sox didn’t want him there or did he did butt heads with President Larry Lucchino who is now long gone and just needed a change of scenery at the time? Do you know your Boston sports history or just from Chicago?
Plus, owner John Henry treated him like a son and would probably offer him a 1% stake in the team to come back which is not a lateral move.
Banesays
Ricketts are going to offer him a lot more than 1% when they start talking extension.
ASapsFables
I wouldn’t be so sure of that. The Ricketts family represent the worst of the 1% in this country and those types don’t readily hand out their share of the wealth to others, especially when they are not blood relatives.
JoeBrady
IMO, Lucchino wanted to make the RS success all about Lucchino. We had almost unprecedented success with Theo & Tito. Luchino resented that they got all the credit. So he forced both out, so that he could show everyone ‘how it was done’. That’s why he hired Valentine when no one else in baseball wanted him. It’s why he lowballed Lester after Lest announced ‘they’ll have to rip the jersey off my back’.
After Theo & Tito left, it became less and less about baseball. I’ve been a RS fan > 50 years. John Henry and the admin staff should have an interview in March, and another in October, and never speak a word of baseball strategy in between.
GB85
Well if Chip Scoggins says it, it must be true.
Fuck Me Bitch
What is that supposed to mean? Got something against Chip Scoggins? Has Chip Scoggins sold you a bum steer before? Tell, if you would, please.
twentyforty
Sure Boston you can have a Theo. It will cost you Mookie Betts but you’ll be fine with that. Otherwise articles like this are just attempts at getting the fans to digest the product daily.
ctguy
Epstein is President of Baseball Operations in Chicago and under contract through 2021. Why would he ever want to get out of that contract to go back to Boston?
ASapsFables
Home sweet home and maybe because he is next on the chopping block with scapegoat manager Joe Maddon departing shortly.
User 163535993
Fact is Theo has made some horrible decisions lately. Way overpaying for Quintana, Heyward’s bad contract, Keeping Hamels for another year for 20 million this year instaead of buying him out for 3 and getting bullpen help, Chatwoods bad deal, Keeping Schwarber around to be an AL player in an NL league. When he came he said he’d build a farm system and pay as needed, but ended up overpaying for everything and trashing the farm system. Lets not forget, his pet Schwarber, the All World bat we were sold the bill of goods on hits .230 and can’t field, and is the worst situational hitter I’ve ever seen. Plus lest you forget, the year the Cubs won the Series, Schwarber played 4 games in the Indians park being what he is, A DH.
JoeBrady
Hamels was not bad. A one year commitment. And if went after the BP, it likely would’ve been Kimbrel for something upwards of $60M/4-$85M/5.
Past that, I mostly agree. I actually wanted Schwarber for the RS, where the wall would hide some of defensive issues. Part of the problem might be that the Cubs, like the RS, don’t like taking a year off. Small market teams like TB, Oakland, MN, etc., accept they are in a feast & famine cycle, forever. So they get older and more expensive, then dump everyone. The big market teams don’t use that option.
I’d like to see Theo return to the RS, with the idea that 2020 might not be our year. Trade Betts, if he doesn’t sign, QO JDM if he opts out. Trade JBJ if there is a market. We might still be a good team if the rotation reverts to their 2018 form.
leprechaun
Correct Theo is a typical Media Hyped GM. He over spends on bad F/A’s,trades your best young talent for guys who are mostly rentals,and you better look at his drafting record it’s abysmal. He will mortgage all your assets and hope to win
ffrhb14Sox
Did exactly what he saod he would do and built a top farm, then signed vets and ended Chicago’s long drought. Yes, not every move has worked, no GM can say they do. Cant hang on those laurels forever but deserves a great deal of respect from Boston and Chicago.
JoeBrady
Terrible drafts? 2011 might’ve been the single best draft in baseball history. And just for the record:
Pedroia
Ellsbury
Buchholz
Lowrie
Rizzo
Vazquez
Workman
Bradley
Betts
mistry gm
Uncle Mike is a moron. Schwarber leads the team in home runs, has over 90 RBI’s, brought his average up over 20 points in the last month and has the same amount of errors as the “golden glove” outfielder Heyward (6). Wake up you idiot!
pt57
Man, you should be ashamed to have compared Schwarber’s defense favorably with that of Heyward.
ChiSoxCity
One man’s trash is a cubs fan’s treasure. They love guys like Schwarber. If they knew the trade offers Theo turned down to keep him, they’d probably vomit in their mouths.
Priggs89
Is he going to tear it down in Boston and start from scratch? He seems to be better at that than he is at spending money.
JoeBrady
We’re too good to start from scratch. But I think a one year hiatus might be in order. Get under the cap, and get a few kids.
rmullig2
Porcello needs to go to a team that can fix him. I think Houston or Pittsburgh on a one year make good deal would work.
bradthebluefish
Porcello needs to go. He’d be better in a bigger ballpark. Even then, he still needs to make some corrections.
mizzourah87
I’d like to see him come to Kansas City on a 2 year deal. Veteran pitcher that can help provide a little bit of stability behind Duffy and Keller until Singer/Kowar/Lynch etc get here.
bradthebluefish
Red Sox should bring back Dan Duquette
JoeBrady
You must be a Yankee fan. Duquette might be the worst GM in BB. He won 93 games in his first year, with a team he inherited. Within 7 short years, he took the team from 93 wins to 47 wins by a combination of bad trades and bad drafts.
ChiSoxCity
Epstein deserves to be canned, both for his mismanagement of the roster, and for putting his Manager, to whom he agreed to pay $6MM annually, in a position to lose every single year since the World Series win in ‘16.
He’s good at rebuilding bad teams. Detroit and Baltimore would be good spots to start over.
jdgoat
So if the guy who consistently trolls the Cubs and is obviously a hater wants their GM to be fired, does that mean they should actually keep him? That’s a good riddle.
ChiSoxCity
Let’s get something straight—I don’t hate the cubs.
I do hate how rude, obnoxious, ignorant, delusional and intolerant cubs fans are.
I hate how stupidly the cubs have been operated for most of it’s history. But I don’t hate the cubs. I proudly support all Chicago area sports teams. However, I’m a very competitive person and find the indifference towards losing that permeates that organization and fanbase nauseating. I made the switch to the White Sox as a youngster and never looked back.
In regards to Epstein, I am shocked (but not surprised) by the lack of accountability for his poor personnel decisions amongst cubs fans. You guys have clearly not paid him much attention the past four years. Meanwhile, Maddon’s done nothing but win despite the meager resources granted to him with a $200+MM payroll. He gets the most out his players, even the ones who probably shouldn’t be playing as often as they do. All the resentment over use of Chapman makes no sense to me. But I’ve only been watching baseball for 40 years. What do I know?
SG
Making Theo GM in Boston again would be a bad choice.
And I get it as he was from Boston.
The man is a big spender just like DD was.
The Red Sox need to get a GM like Billy Beane that finds inexpensive talent and can rebuild the farm system and develop it.
John Henry realizes that money alone won’t cut it.
The last to years saw Boston have the highest payroll in baseball.
Tampa and Oakland have significantly lower payrolls than Boston.
On Porcello I think the Red Sox offer him a QO.
He won’t likely get much in the FA market with a QO on him and a season like 2019 going into free agency.
If he takes the QO he has 1 more season to prove himself and he can’t get a QO again in 2020 from Boston.
So I think he takes the QO and Boston gets 1 more season out of him for a low risk 1 year deal.
The Red Sox SP has Price and Sale as huge question marks in 2020 and Eovaldi has yet to put it together consistently.
So The Red Sox will likely be in the FA market for a SP this off season.
ffrhb14Sox
Theo signed big contracts bit also developed the farm in Boston and Chicago. He is not coming back but would be a good choice if he wanted to.
Boston does not need to spend any more on the rotation and cannot bring Porcello back. They have spent on the rotation and don’t need to spend more. If Sale, Price, Eovaldi don’t earn their money next year, it’ll be another lost season no matter what. ERod will be good again and they just need a 5th starter out of Hernandez, Wright, Johnson, Houck, Shawaryn, etc.
If they don’t expect a rebound from those 3, might as well expect to not compete until their money comes off in a few years and trade for prospects and save money for a few years.
JoeBrady
Exactly. If the rotation repeats 2019, then nothing we add will push us over the top. If the rotation repeats 2018, then I can be their #5 and they will still have a very good team.
SG
With all due respect expecting all 3 starters, (Sale, Price, Eovaldi) that were all on the IL in 2019, to be healthy in 2020 is wishful thinking.
The new GM won’t be able to ignore that possible deficiency.
g8752
Agree 100% plus losing Porcello leaves Boston with only 1 sure fire SP. Boston needs 1 more SP in the off season.
SG
The Boston SP of (Price, Sale and Eovaldi) had a “combined total of only” 15 wins in all of 2019.
ffrhb14Sox
They dont need to be completely healthy, they all have to be better than 2019 which wont be hard. They will win mid 80s this year in spite of the rotation. They should easily bounce back enough to win 10 more games and easily back in the playoffs. Again, if they aren’t going to get more from those three, they dont need to spend more, just accept their fate.
JoeBrady
Fair point. But that is part of the reason I would think of a one-year rebuild.. They could trade Betts, let JDM walk, replace them with decent everyday players, and if all three are healthy, still make the playoffs.
IMVHO, the biggest mistake teams make, good and bad teams, is not be willing to take a step back.
I am also a Raiders fan, so believe me, I know.
SG
I think we’re agreeing on some points.
You can’t control if JDM opts out but if he stays you have a good bat,
If he leaves you free up payroll.
You can either trade Mookie for prospects between now and the trade deadline or keep him and either offer Mookie a QO after 2020 or try and keep him after 202o and pay big bucks which hurts you elsewhere. It’s a subjective question if Mookie will continue to perform at the level he is at now for the next 7 – 10 years with that big contract.
You’re guess is as good as mine but you can deal with certainty knowing you don’t have to pay someone 30+ million per year for years to come.
Just look at the deals Price and Sale have and try and convince me that overpaid aging player(s) are the way to go.
Look at how Tampa and Oakland have few (if any) overpaid aging players with a payroll 25-40% of Bostons and better records.
You have a major SP uncertainty in Boston in 2020.
Erod is the only sure fire SP.
Porcello had a terrible year in 2019 but at least he was healthy.
You can issue Porcello a QO and see if you can retain him for 1 more year, if not you should get a draft pick for him.
I would pick up at least 1 more good starting pitcher and monitor Sale, Price and Eovaldi to see what Boston can get out of them in 2020 and add pitching accordingly and as required. They cold also add to the pen as an offset and try a Tampa pitching approach of getting away from the 6+ inning traditional SP and instead use a series of relievers.
The luxury of being in Boston is the owner can spend money if he so desires. But let’s face it, it’s not our money and John Henry isn’t a foolish guy that will spend good money on bad.
The Einheri
Duffy has been good for the Twins in the 2019 season.
I hope he and they can continue their success long into the post season.
SportsFan0000
LMFAO
The same Theo Epstein who gutted the Cubs farm system in “Win Now ” mode to win a WS for the Cubs?!
The Same Red Sox who just threw their Hall of Fame bound Pres/GM Dave Dombrowski under the bus after the four best seasons in Red Sox history 108 record wins and a World Series Championship for implementing Red Sox Ownership’s “Win Now” mantra?!
The same Red Sox Ownership who ran off World Series Winning GMs like Ben Cherington and Theo Epstein?!
Red Sox Ownership has developed a BAD REPUTATION in MLB of treating top level MLB Front office Executives like a pile of dog manure to be discarded at midnight like some low class organization….
Many MLB Executives have already passed on interviewing with the Red Sox including former Red Sox Front Office Executive Mike Hazen currently Diamondbacks GM…
Red Sox probably will have to promote someone internally.
I don’t see an experienced Pres/GM wanting to work with Red Sox Ownership knowing that no matter how much you win….the trap door to the alligator pit can open any time…lmfao!
JoeBrady
“The same Theo Epstein who gutted the Cubs farm system in “Win Now ” mode to win a WS for the Cubs?!”
I’m not sure that’s a complaint or a compliment, but yes, the same Theo. Some fans like to win the WS, some don’t I guess.
“I don’t see an experienced Pres/GM wanting to work with Red Sox ”
Everyone in baseball would love to be GM for the RS, NYY, LAD and SFG.
ChiSoxCity
Please, tell me how gutting their farm system helped the cubs win a World Series. Soler, Torres, Jimenez, Cease were practically given away.
JoeBrady
Soler-As a RS fan, I was hoping we could acquire him. That said, Soler was not quite a kid when they traded him. And he is primarily a DH. And, until they introduced the new ball, Soler had a career OPS of .750.
Torres-Another guy I wanted (I suggested JBJ for Soler & Torres before Torres became a top-rated prospect). That said, the Torres/Chapman trade did help them win a WS.
Jimenez/Cease-That’s the same trade the RS made when they acquired Sale. Quintana is not as good, but the Cubs package is also a good bit lighter than the RS package. For four years of Quintana for $38M, I see nothing wrong there, unless you could’ve predicted Quintana’s decline.