Espstein Rejects Boston's Latest Offer

[TheDude]

There have been a few average-poor GM's who have won titles. Kenny Williams is a prime example. Should he get top dollar? It's not the amount alone that bothers me, but the amount relative to other general mangers who are better.

 

Sustained success is more indicative of a good GM than one WS title. I just can't see how you can pay a guy with only 3 years experience mor ehtan a guy like Schuerholz, who has overseen the management of 14 consecutive division titles, 3 pennants and a Championship. Epstein is a neophyte GM, and you can't just pay him more money than guys who have done far more than he has, and done it for longer.

 

Giving Epstein top dollar would be like making Miguel Cabrera the biggest contract in the game right now. Yes he has been impressive, but it been over too short a period to anoint him elite. Let him win a few more division titles and pennants.

You are setting an impossible standard. "Sustained success" and sports in the same sentence is typically an anomoly, and those that can achieve it make it into the most prestigious lore the sports offer.

 

What Epstein did was bring in the right people for that team and that year. He also brought in the right coach for that group of guys. He has been instrumental in re-stocking their farm system.

 

Just like the Red Sox and Yankees payroll doesn't adhere to "league averages", their coaches and GMs pay scale won't either. Epstein and Cashman know this, and if they can work out a big payday, good for them.

[TB_11]

Epstein shouldn't get credit for bringing in Schilling. Schilling came to the Red Sox to be a part of the atmosphere of the Red Sox, and because he wanted to be the guy who brought a World Series to Boston. Whether Epstein or Dan Duquette was running the team, Schilling was going to Boston.

 

You can't blame Epstein for looking for more money though. His value will never be higher.

 

Are you saying Schilling won the World Series all by himself?

 

Not at all. I'm saying Schilling wanted to be the guy that people pointed to and said "He came here, and we finally won." Undeserved or deservingly.

 

That is one of the most inaccurate things I've ever read. Schilling openly said he would not go to Boston. Epstein did something Jim Hendry has never thought about doing, he actively and heavily recruited a star player who had made it clear he didn't want to play for his team.

 

My understanding of the situation is that Schilling had spoken to Red Sox upper management, and was on the fence as to whether or not he was going to accept the trade. One of the main factors that convinced him to go to Boston was the passion of the fans in Boston, on SOSH, and everywhere else, and the fact that they conveyed this passion to him during Thanksgiving weekend, when baseball isn't on the forefront of most people's minds.

 

Granted, this story was originally related to me someone who posts on SOSH, so it might be inflating the effects the fans had on Schilling. If Epstein did in fact have a much larger hand in bringing Schilling in, then I was mistaken and posted "one of the most inaccurate things" Goony has ever read.

[BigbadB]

Bottom line, Epstein brought a World Series to Boston.

 

Epstein got them back to the playoffs again this year, even with Schilling hurt most of the year. To say Epstein isn't worth it is debatable. In the end, it's his decision to decide how much he's worth and whether or not Boston should pay it is theirs.

 

If it's me, I would be taking this down to the last day too. Besides honoring my contract, I brought a Championship to Boston. Pay me or I'll go somewhere else.