[rquoter]Two baseball sources have confirmed that Theo Epstein is on the cusp of leaving his job as general manager of the Red Sox [team stats] to accept a position with the Chicago Cubs that is believed to include powers greater than he has in Boston, with an announcement expected to be made “within the next 24 to 48 hours.” The hangup in the negotiations has been twofold. One of them is that Red Sox ownership was still hoping to have Epstein remain with the team. The other is compensation: If Epstein is to leave Boston, said one source with knowledge of the negotiations, the Red Sox are going to want “something real.” Whether that involves a player, money or a combination of the two remains unclear. “But this is going to be resolved very soon,” said a second baseball source.[/rquoter]
lmao... Without talent, or a farm system, it'll be years...but I'm sure he's crunching the numbers now...
They have a ton of money to spend, new owner says money isn't an object. They should sign Fielder/Pujols this off-season. Should be a good start, maybe get C.J. Wilson too, I think he'll be a FA.
This is bad news for the Astros. Cubs have a rich, spend thrift owner and now a money ball GM. Given time, Theo Epstein should be able to right the ship
That's if we're still in the NL, Cubs had a good future with a spendy new owner trying to make his mark. Getting Epstein is just the Christmas bonus on top of it. By year 3, the Cubs will be a very good ball club.
Outside of the notoriety that comes with making a splashy hire, I'm not sure that Epstein will be all that big a help for the Cubs. What made Epstein successful and unique in the beginning, "Moneyball" concepts and a emphasis on building through the farm system, is no longer unique. Most front offices are working on these principles. It's not like the Cubs haven't had talent. They've spent money and put relative all-star teams on the field, but they can't get over the hump. I don't know how Epstein changes that.
Yeah, if he gets the Cubs a WS win after the Sox, he will either be immediately inducted into the Hall of Fame or banished from sports for being a warlock.
There are consequences to Selig delaying the Crane vote. If Crane got approved mid-season, the Astros might have been in the hunt for Theo Epstein. It certainly looks like Selig is doing a major screw job on the Astros. Maybe Selig can postpone the Crane vote until after after all of the major FAs, players and coaches, are signed.
