About the time it was learned that Theo Epstein was leaving his position as general manager of the Boston Red Sox to head to the Windy City and the Chicago Cubs, a piece came out in the Boston Globe that didn’t put the Red Sox in a positive light at all.
There were a lot of things in that article that definitely shouldn’t have been made public. Especially anything dealing with the personal life of former skipper Terry Francona.
Well now it appears who we know who Mr. Anonymous was in the Red Sox front office.
According to Gresh and Zo of 98.5 The Sports Hub, the leak was none other than the boy wonder Theo himself. Along with their sources, they presented some information and to me it makes sense.
One of their explanations was this: “The Cubs interviewed Terry Francona. Was this a make-good for what happened in Boston?”.
This is my one doubt.
If Theo and Tito have said publicly they have a great relationship and had one of their run together, we can’t believe this is true that Theo threw Tito under the bus. It’s hard to fathom.
It does make sense to me though that since Theo has left for the Cubs nothing really has come out other than the fact that Josh Beckett may have been responsible for Tito’s departure. Compared to the floodgates that there were after the 2011 season, this is small potatoes in a way.
We all know of his contentious relationship with Red Sox president Larry Lucchino. So if this report from Gresh and Zo is true, this was the ultimate FU to the Red Sox ownership group from Theo.
And if you think that was the ultimate FU from Theo, he may put a little more salt in the wound and rubbed it when he swooped in and beat the Red Sox to the punch in hiring Dale Sveum as the manager of the Cubs.
To continue reading, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.
It wasn’t surprising in the fact that the Sox and Cubs were interviewing the same people to be their next manager. I get that part. Even if Theo wasn’t involved, if there were other openings, you see a lot of the same people interviewing.
The Red Sox had their second interview with Sveum yesterday and came out of it with nothing new to offer on their managerial situation. Some had seen Sveum as the front-runner for the opening with the Red Sox and the Cubs.
But Theo beat them to the punch.
First, he had Sveum back for a second interview before the Red Sox did. And secondly, he made an offer to Sveum before the Red Sox did.
And now, just like that, Sveum will be introduced to the Windy City on Friday in a press conference at Wrigley Field.
Before you go, I’ve got one more FU from Theo as well.
We all know the Red Sox and Cubs are negotiating on Theo’s value as compensation to the Red Sox for letting him go to the North Side squad. They had their deadline of November 1st and didn’t meet it. But instead of stepping in, MLB commissioner Bud Selig gave them an extension.
While it wasn’t expected that they would get something done during the MLB GM Meetings this week, from the sounds of it, they didn’t make much progress. The two sides are not expected to discuss anything further until after the Rule 5 draft in early December.
Theo doesn’t think he’s worth as much as the Red Sox do. So obviously he’s stalling as much as he can while he tries to get his organization up and running again. While the Red Sox are doing the same thing, shouldn’t the Red Sox ownership group step in and end this matter.
It’s gone on long enough and all while Theo is laughing in their faces for possibly being the leak and hiring the supposed front-runner for the manager’s job of the Red Sox.
Sounds like a totally big FU to me.
