Theo Epstein Signs 5-Year Deal With Cubs

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• Donal October 12, 2011 at 10:46 am

  More breaking news. According to Peter Gammons, the Astros are expected to have a new ownership deal in place by Thanksgiving. That will be followed by getting sent to AL.

  That means an AL team, most likely from the Central, would have to move to the NL. Unless they want an interleague game every day. I cannot imagine a mentally stable human being that wants to see that.
  • any October 12, 2011 at 11:19 am

    I thought the intent was to even up the # of teams in each league, though that would require inter league every day. Not a whole lot of logic to just trading a team between each league.
    • Donal October 12, 2011 at 11:33 am

      Ya, I really don’t want that to happen. I hate interleague play so much.
      • alex68 October 12, 2011 at 11:35 am

        another thing you hate.. the list keep growing… closers, batting champions, ppl who make money, mets players, now interleague.. what’s next??
        • Donal October 12, 2011 at 11:37 am

          What?
          • JoeSmith October 12, 2011 at 12:27 pm

            He didn’t take his meds today………..
      • METS62FAN October 14, 2011 at 8:39 am

        PERHAPS THEY’LL INSTITUTE A “BYE SERIES” AS IN A ROTATING 3 DAY “OFF” PERIOD PER TEAM AS THERE WILL BE 15 TEAMS PER LEAGUE SUCH A BUILT IN RESPITE MAY HAVE CERTAINLY HELPED BY PROVIDING A MANDATORY “REST” PERIOD FOR THOSE PLAYERS MNGRS ARE LOATHE TO ‘REST’ IN SEASON. I’M CERTAIN IT MAY PROVE A BOON TO THE PA AS A POTENTIAL TRADEOFF FOR ALLOWING “BLOOD DRAWS” FOR STEROID TESTING, JUST A GUESS FROM OUTSIDE THE BOX. CETAINLY,IMO, TO INSTITUTING DH FOR BOTH LEAGUES.
• Donal October 12, 2011 at 10:47 am

  What are the odds Terry Francona is the next Cubs manager?
  • Metstheory22 October 12, 2011 at 11:22 am

    I was just going to post the same question.
  • jessep October 12, 2011 at 12:05 pm

    There’s a tiny part of me (okay a big part) who wants to see Girardi ditch NY and join Theo when his contract runs out in 2013.

    One thing though to consider, while Quade didn’t do anything to impress anybody, its not always the best move for a new GM to come in and can the Manager right away especially when that MGR is in year #1.

    I’m not sure Francona is the right guy there.

    But I will tell you 1 thing

    I bet loyal Cubs fans give Theo longer than Mets fans gave Sandy to turn it around. And who has waited longer for a championship?
    • alex68 October 12, 2011 at 12:09 pm

      THEO IS COMMITED TO WINNING A CHAMPIONSHIP… i will give you all the time in the world to find me a single quote where sandy uses mets and championship in the same sentence.. all his interviews are all about salary, salary, player’s conmtract, we can’t have guys makin $15 million per year.. blah blah blah.. on top of that, look how he fared in his first season as a mets GM, horrible to say the least.
      • Donal October 12, 2011 at 12:11 pm

        Epstien is committed to building a championship team.
        • OmarFan October 12, 2011 at 1:01 pm

          Yeah, by spending LOTS of money
          • Donal October 12, 2011 at 4:54 pm

            eventually, but first, he has some work to do fixing a broken organization.
      • jessep October 12, 2011 at 12:19 pm

        So are you telling me you don’t think Sandy Alderson wants to win? I must say this is new, although I’m sure you’ve been spouting off lately and I’ve just ignored it.

        What is in it for Sandy to not try to win? Why can’t you come to terms with the prior plan had a shelf life of about 5-6 years to win a title, and it failed. The best thing to do is not to put a band aid on it but to fix it and find a way to get the franchise to a constant state of competition for a title.

        It doesn’t just happen.

        http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/22/sports/baseball/for-all-the-talk-of-rebuilding-mets-alderson-wants-to-win-and-win-now.html

        Back in spring training, in his first speech to the team, Alderson made clear that winning in 2011 would be a priority. He told the players that they should play the game the right way and have fun doing it. But make no mistake, he said; the goal was to win now.

        “That’s why I’m here,” he said, and each victory has been hard fought for the players as well as for the general manager.

        “This guy believes in this team now,” Collins said. “He’s like me. He believes we have a chance.”
• Mr North Jersey October 12, 2011 at 1:42 pm

  CSN Chicago has a interesting photo slide show of what they say are Theo Epstein’s hits and misses during his time as the Red Sox GM.

  http://www.csnchicago.com/pages/v11_nationalphotogallery?gid=9180&gf=661&awid=5638355392496309492-914
  • t agee October 12, 2011 at 2:03 pm

    Interesting MNJ. Most of Epsteins hits were trades and letting free agents go.

    Most of his misses were free agents he signed.

    Even Beltre was more along the lines of re establishing himself so Epstein could then let him go. As a plan B he cost Boston nothing other than cash but when he opted out of his option year Boston got 2 early draft choices.

    Incidentally two of Boston’s top 10 prospects were acquired with picks we could have had. Bryce Brentz (pick for Wagner) RFer A+ who tore it up all year long and Anthony Ranaudo RHP in A+ selected with a pick for “losing” Jason Bay.
• Donal October 13, 2011 at 4:32 pm

  Ben Cherington named as new Red Sox GM. He was Epstein’s right hand man up there, so it isn’t much of a surprise.