Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
October 31, 2005
Hard to See, the Dark Side Is

The Boston Herald's Michael Silverman reports there are no signs as to which way Theo Epstein will decide his future with the Red Sox.

According to sources close to the talks, Epstein had neither reached a decision nor indicated which way he was leaning late last night. He planned to sleep on it and reveal his answer sometime today. The contract for the services of the 31-year-old Epstein expires at midnight. While conventional wisdom and common sense were pointing toward Epstein accepting a deal for at least three years and more than $1 million annually, the nearly equally realistic scenario in play last night was that Epstein would ultimately decide to walk away from the job.

Silverman points to one thing that might bring Theo back:

Demanding his colleagues to build a scouting and player development “machine” when he took the reigns in November 2002, Epstein has the opportunity in the next few seasons to oversee the integration of those young players into the current veteran-laden squad. Perhaps the greatest achievement of any general manager, beyond pulling off a blockbuster, one-sided trade or landing a top-shelf free agent, is to produce a steady (and cheap) supply of young, productive talent that would make his team a highly competitive and efficient ballclub for years to come.

This is what DePodesta was not allowed to do for the Dodgers. What this new breed of GM realizes is that young talent is just as good as old talent and a lot less expensive. Epstein, unlike Towers and Ricciardi, took over a good team and was able to tweak it into a champion while still rebuilding the farm. You've seen what this approach can do in Atlanta, Oakland, Minnesota and Cleveland; playoff contenders without sky rocketing payrolls.

Unlike the Dodgers, however, the loss of Theo won't change the Red Sox philosophy much. John Henry agrees with this method, so the new GM is likely to be in the same mold. Losing Theo won't be a disaster for the Red Sox, but it would be nice to see Epstein take his plan to fruition.


Posted by David Pinto at 08:08 AM | Management | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Maybe if Theo leaves the Red Sox can sign DePodesta now. And win a World Series...you know, to spite the McCourts and LaSorda.

Posted by: Marc Normandin at October 31, 2005 08:47 AM

also, the boston media doesn't HATE HATE HATE theo like the la media did with depo even BEFORE he did a single thing.

i guess being from harvard and knowing how to use a computer is a really really terrible thing (hehhehheh) so do NOT go west young man...

but i think it would be very bad PR to not pay theo what he deserves so i would bet he gets paid

Posted by: lisa gray at October 31, 2005 11:04 AM
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