Re: New GM/Cubs Future News Articles

[Guest]

Red Sox ownership would be wise to not burn bridges with Mr. Epstein. He came back once before. Piss him off and he may never come back. Not that we ever hope that he would ever consider leaving the Cubs, but he is still quite young.

[Magnetic Curses]

Red Sox ownership would be wise to not burn bridges with Mr. Epstein. He came back once before. Piss him off and he may never come back. Not that we ever hope that he would ever consider leaving the Cubs, but he is still quite young.

 

i think it's a bit too late for that.

[Magnetic Curses]

are they meeting on this today?

[Guest]

Red Sox ownership would be wise to not burn bridges with Mr. Epstein. He came back once before. Piss him off and he may never come back. Not that we ever hope that he would ever consider leaving the Cubs, but he is still quite young.

 

i think it's a bit too late for that.

 

I don't think it is. They had to give him permission to talk to other teams to begin with. Sure, their feelings are hurt now since he not only talked to someone, but found somewhere he'd rather be, but those wounds will heal in time.

 

The harsh stuff Henry is saying about Crawford is a whole different ballgame, however. Yikes. Could be an interesting offseason in Boston.

[A New Era]

I'm sorry you cannot have Jackson. He is our current #1 prospect, in terms of ready to contribute at a major league level. He's the top of a system that has a severe lack of major league ready prospects. We need him in addition to Castro as the young building blocks as we begin to fix this mess.

 

I hope Ricketts feels the same way too. And as have been stated, we have other great GM options out there. We have the most important peice already. A smart owner who is willing to spend the money smartly to get this team as a consistant winner. And all signs show that he's not gonna let the Red Sox rob our farm of our major league ready center fielder.

[Magnetic Curses]

Red Sox ownership would be wise to not burn bridges with Mr. Epstein. He came back once before. Piss him off and he may never come back. Not that we ever hope that he would ever consider leaving the Cubs, but he is still quite young.

 

i think it's a bit too late for that.

 

I don't think it is. They had to give him permission to talk to other teams to begin with. Sure, their feelings are hurt now since he not only talked to someone, but found somewhere he'd rather be, but those wounds will heal in time.

 

The harsh stuff Henry is saying about Crawford is a whole different ballgame, however. Yikes. Could be an interesting offseason in Boston.

 

they are jerking him around for fun right now.

[KingKongvs.Godzilla]

I'm going to make sure this deal happens this weekend:

 

The longer this takes the less likely this is to happen.

[BosRedSox5]

Where's the precedence for compensation when a promotion is involved? There is none.

 

Right, a top executive changing jobs in the middle of a contract is much more rare than a manager doing it. My point is that managers are much less valuable to a team than a chief baseball operations executive. All we have to go on is a couple recent examples of managerial compensation and some rumored information about Billy Beane. IMO managerial compensation should be used as an example of the extreme low end of compensation required.

 

Some Red Sox fans suggest the compensation should simply be the Cubs assumption of John Lackey's horrible contract but I think that's incredibly unrealistic.

 

The quotes about Ricketts investing heavily in the draft (and to a lesser extent, international scouting) should be extremely exciting to Cubs fans, because while free agency hasn't been especially kind to Theo and the Red Sox, the draft has. IMO this should also lessen the anxiety about and the reluctance to part with minor league talent. Not saying you should give away the farm, just because Theo should rebuild it, but paying fair compensation and moving on would be best for both parties.

 

Theo is the same guy who drafted David Murphy, Jon Papelbon, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Clay Buchholz, Jed Lowrie, Daniel Bard, Justin Masterson, Casey Kelly*, and Anthony Rizzo*. All this in addition to other, more recent promising prospects. He is a master at using financial muscle to secure players with signability concerns and guys with money over slot. As an example, Boston's top prospect is arguably 3B Will Middlebrooks who Theo drafted in the 5th round and paid 1st round cash to. He definitely does have the chops to rebuild the system and in a few years I would expect Cubs fans to have a good laugh over giving up Brett Jackson for Theo and the fervent discussion that ensued.

 

A quick resolution means Theo can get to work on the rebuild in Chicago and the Sox can get on with hiring a manager. One thing's for sure, I'd love to be a fly on the wall in those meetings.

 

*The key pieces in the Adrian Gonzalez trade

[Guest]

Red Sox ownership would be wise to not burn bridges with Mr. Epstein. He came back once before. Piss him off and he may never come back. Not that we ever hope that he would ever consider leaving the Cubs, but he is still quite young.

 

i think it's a bit too late for that.

 

I don't think it is. They had to give him permission to talk to other teams to begin with. Sure, their feelings are hurt now since he not only talked to someone, but found somewhere he'd rather be, but those wounds will heal in time.

 

The harsh stuff Henry is saying about Crawford is a whole different ballgame, however. Yikes. Could be an interesting offseason in Boston.

 

they are jerking him around for fun right now.

 

Thus my comments about their feelings being hurt, though I doubt they are doing it for fun. It's just negotiations and nothing for Epstein to permanently be scarred forever about.

[Magnetic Curses]

Where's the precedence for compensation when a promotion is involved? There is none.

 

Right, a top executive changing jobs in the middle of a contract is much more rare than a manager doing it. My point is that managers are much less valuable to a team than a chief baseball operations executive. All we have to go on is a couple recent examples of managerial compensation and some rumored information about Billy Beane. IMO managerial compensation should be used as an example of the extreme low end of compensation required.

 

Some Red Sox fans suggest the compensation should simply be the Cubs assumption of John Lackey's horrible contract but I think that's incredibly unrealistic.

 

The quotes about Ricketts investing heavily in the draft (and to a lesser extent, international scouting) should be extremely exciting to Cubs fans, because while free agency hasn't been especially kind to Theo and the Red Sox, the draft has. IMO this should also lessen the anxiety about and the reluctance to part with minor league talent. Not saying you should give away the farm, just because Theo should rebuild it, but paying fair compensation and moving on would be best for both parties.

 

Theo is the same guy who drafted David Murphy, Jon Papelbon, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Clay Buchholz, Jed Lowrie, Daniel Bard, Justin Masterson, Casey Kelly*, and Anthony Rizzo*. All this in addition to other, more recent promising prospects. He is a master at using financial muscle to secure players with signability concerns and guys with money over slot. As an example, Boston's top prospect is arguably 3B Will Middlebrooks who Theo drafted in the 5th round and paid 1st round cash to. He definitely does have the chops to rebuild the system and in a few years I would expect Cubs fans to have a good laugh over giving up Brett Jackson for Theo and the fervent discussion that ensued.

 

A quick resolution means Theo can get to work on the rebuild in Chicago and the Sox can get on with hiring a manager. One thing's for sure, I'd love to be a fly on the wall in those meetings.

 

*The key pieces in the Adrian Gonzalez trade

 

you didn't answer the question, though.

[Banedon]

are they meeting on this today?

 

Sullivan says not to expect resolution over the weekend.

[Magnetic Curses]

Red Sox ownership would be wise to not burn bridges with Mr. Epstein. He came back once before. Piss him off and he may never come back. Not that we ever hope that he would ever consider leaving the Cubs, but he is still quite young.

 

i think it's a bit too late for that.

 

I don't think it is. They had to give him permission to talk to other teams to begin with. Sure, their feelings are hurt now since he not only talked to someone, but found somewhere he'd rather be, but those wounds will heal in time.

 

The harsh stuff Henry is saying about Crawford is a whole different ballgame, however. Yikes. Could be an interesting offseason in Boston.

 

they are jerking him around for fun right now.

 

Thus my comments about their feelings being hurt, though I doubt they are doing it for fun. It's just negotiations and nothing for Epstein to permanently be scarred forever about.

 

these are terrible people we are talking about here, evil, terrible people.

[Sammy Sofa]

It was depressingly uncanny how much Mike Murphy's opinions today on this mirror davearm's.

[Have a seat, Neifi]

@Kevin_Goldstein

Kevin Goldstein

Prospects. Plural, and good ones. RT @CoreyD06: @Kevin_Goldstein what kind of compensation is Boston asking for?

[Guest]

these are terrible people we are talking about here, evil, terrible people.

 

I was a bit speechless this morning when Henry basically threw Crawford under the bus and blamed the guy who isn't there anymore for that contract, so I suppose so.

 

Crawford only need be offended for another 6 years or so, so no big deal. :D

[mookie]

Where's the precedence for compensation when a promotion is involved? There is none.

 

Right, a top executive changing jobs in the middle of a contract is much more rare than a manager doing it. My point is that managers are much less valuable to a team than a chief baseball operations executive. All we have to go on is a couple recent examples of managerial compensation and some rumored information about Billy Beane. IMO managerial compensation should be used as an example of the extreme low end of compensation required.

 

Some Red Sox fans suggest the compensation should simply be the Cubs assumption of John Lackey's horrible contract but I think that's incredibly unrealistic.

 

The quotes about Ricketts investing heavily in the draft (and to a lesser extent, international scouting) should be extremely exciting to Cubs fans, because while free agency hasn't been especially kind to Theo and the Red Sox, the draft has. IMO this should also lessen the anxiety about and the reluctance to part with minor league talent. Not saying you should give away the farm, just because Theo should rebuild it, but paying fair compensation and moving on would be best for both parties.

 

Theo is the same guy who drafted David Murphy, Jon Papelbon, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Clay Buchholz, Jed Lowrie, Daniel Bard, Justin Masterson, Casey Kelly*, and Anthony Rizzo*. All this in addition to other, more recent promising prospects. He is a master at using financial muscle to secure players with signability concerns and guys with money over slot. As an example, Boston's top prospect is arguably 3B Will Middlebrooks who Theo drafted in the 5th round and paid 1st round cash to. He definitely does have the chops to rebuild the system and in a few years I would expect Cubs fans to have a good laugh over giving up Brett Jackson for Theo and the fervent discussion that ensued.

 

A quick resolution means Theo can get to work on the rebuild in Chicago and the Sox can get on with hiring a manager. One thing's for sure, I'd love to be a fly on the wall in those meetings.

 

*The key pieces in the Adrian Gonzalez trade

 

 

This we can agree on. As far as precedent is concerned, it is about to get established. I will put my personal team feelings aside when saying the precedent is most likely going to fall shorter than what Red Sox fans want and a tad higher than Cub fans are willing to part with. Brett Jackson won't be in a Red Sox uniform.

Edited October 15, 2011 by mookie

[Banedon]

@Kevin_Goldstein

Kevin Goldstein

Prospects. Plural, and good ones. RT @CoreyD06: @Kevin_Goldstein what kind of compensation is Boston asking for?

 

Kevin Goldstein is saying a lot of dumb [expletive] on twitter today.

[Derwood]

If Boston didn't want Theo to go, they should have simply said "no" when the Cubs asked to interview him. This retroactive [expletive] about suddenly "needing" all this compensation is a load of crap.

[Vinestal]

I still believe that the deal will get done and Theo will be here soon.

 

However, a quick question: Has Friedman extended with Tampa yet or would he still be a possibility?

 

I don't believe Friedman works under contract at all. I also spoke with (via twitter) Mark Topkin a writer for the St Pete times who has followed the Rays for a number of years and asked him if he knew if Friedman had any ownership with the team. His response was that he did not believe that was the case.

[Sammy Sofa]

I still believe that the deal will get done and Theo will be here soon.

 

However, a quick question: Has Friedman extended with Tampa yet or would he still be a possibility?

 

I don't believe Friedman works under contract at all. I also spoke with (via twitter) Mark Topkin a writer for the St Pete times who has followed the Rays for a number of years and asked him if he knew if Friedman had any ownership with the team. His response was that he did not believe that was the case.

 

Friedman is not under contract. Reports indicate, however, that he wants to stay in Tampa and is likely biding his time until he becomes the GM/president/whatever of the Astros if the ownership group that includes his father purchases the team.

[Vinestal]

I still believe that the deal will get done and Theo will be here soon.

 

However, a quick question: Has Friedman extended with Tampa yet or would he still be a possibility?

 

Friedman works without a contract. Theoretcally possible but is rumored to want to go to Houston is he leaves TB.

Actually he's publicly stated he doesn't have interest in the Houston job, someone wrote a piece recently that said people close to Friedman think that the only job outside of Tampa that might interest him is the Cubs job. The reason he was rumored to go to Houston was because his father was part of a group that had the possibility of buying the team, that is no longer the case.

[Sammy Sofa]

I still believe that the deal will get done and Theo will be here soon.

 

However, a quick question: Has Friedman extended with Tampa yet or would he still be a possibility?

 

Friedman works without a contract. Theoretcally possible but is rumored to want to go to Houston is he leaves TB.

Actually he's publicly stated he doesn't have interest in the Houston job, someone wrote a piece recently that said people close to Friedman think that the only job outside of Tampa that might interest him is the Cubs job. The reason he was rumored to go to Houston was because his father was part of a group that had the possibility of buying the team, that is no longer the case.

 

Do you have a link to that? I'd be curious to read that since I was seeing talk of the Houston theory as recent as yesterday.

[PrimeTime]

They really have some assholes over there. How do you go from " Hey, Theo, feel free to explore other opportunities and be promoted, you did a lot for us, we appreciate it and you deserve it" to what we have now. If I was Theo, I would be real pissed and feel alienated and back stabbed. Plus the indirect shot they took at him about the Crawford contract on the radio. I can't imagine him being happy at all right now over there and dying to finally get over here.

[Guest]

I'm really disappointed that the boston guy hasn't even attempted to answer most of the questions/points put to him.

[Banedon]

I'm really disappointed that the boston guy hasn't even attempted to answer most of the questions/points put to him.

 

Same goes for Peter Abraham (Boston beat reporter) on Twitter. There's a lot of things being presented as facts that aren't.