Elrhino

The Red Sox have seemingly had a committee/brain trust approach to running the team operations from day 1 up onto the present. When Theo stepped out in 2006 they didn't juts replace him with one guy. No surprise that's what Theo would want to emulate here as well, and no surprise that's what Ricketts would want to bring over with him if he idolizes the Red Sox model so much. I also remember watching an interview with Cherrington in which he stated that the Red Sox front office all take turns going with the team on road trips to have someone in the front office with the team at all times to take the temperture of the team and be a sounding board for the manager in any concerns he has. Sounds like their front office wanted a very hands on approach to working with the team, not just up sitting in their offices. Theo and Hoyer are now in their late 30's and married. Maybe they're splitting job duties because they don't want to spend so much time away from their families.

I don't think the day to day job duties of Hoyer and Theo will be all that clearly defined. I think they'll work as a collective brain trust.

Hoyer's wiki page says he recently married his wife in St. Louis. Maybe he married a midwest gal and that's part of the motivation behind making a lateral move.

Once again, I marvel at the Red Sox' ability to get local media to carry water for them. I've really seen nothing like it in all of professional sports.

General Managers and Front Office is a rather insulated circle of people who throw around ideas and bounce things off of each other all the time. It would be pretty hard for the MLB to regulate something that is so common place. If Josh Byrnes were to accept the GM position for the Cubs why wouldn't he turn to his old buddy Theo Epstein for a sounding board. Meanwhile, Theo might have plenty of time on his hands. Just because he's under contract doesn't mean he's welcome back at work, particularly if Cherrington has already assumed his job duties.

I'm very impressed with the way the Red Sox have manipulated the local media to be their attack dogs against anyone they have a grudge against. I hope Theo can bring that skill to Chicago.

Basically, the only "leverage" the Red Sox have over the Cubs is they hold Theo's rights for the next 12 months. If Theo is going to be the President and bring over a Byrnes to be the GM, just announce Byrnes as the GM and save the President spot for Theo for next year. Nothing prevents Byrnes from bringing all of the Red Sox front office members he wants to, and they can all be entrenched and waiting for Theo when he gets here. I have a hard time believing Byrnes organizational philosophy and gameplan differs so much from Theo's that he's someone going to screw it all up in 12 months.

That's the key here. It doesn't matter how much Epstein is worth compared to Jim Hendry or me or you. It matters how much Epstein is worth over Rick Hahn or Josh Byrnes or whoever. And the answer is: Not a nearly-ready prospect with any impact potential. Those things are worth quite a bit. Especially when it's not so much a matter of turning away the possibility of Epstein, but just delaying it for 12 months.

That's what I would do. Next year will be about establishing infrastructure, I don't see why Byrnes can't get the process started right away (perhap with Theo advising under the radar) for a year until Theo is free from his contract. In the meantime, every young and talented executive gets a glimpse of how the Red Sox operate, and gets to evaluate that into any future hiring decisions.

I think they're just making contingency plans if/when CJ Wilson gets a contract offer for a bazillion dollars in free agency. I used to think it was a no brainer that Wilson was going to resign in Texas, but now I'm thinking otherwise. I don't think they want to pay him among the Top 5 pitchers in baseball. They'll go hard after C.C. knowing he'll probably resign with the Yanks in the end. Plan B might be sign Darvis, bring up Martin Perez and maybe give Feliz another shot at the rotation to give themselves a lot of pitching options. Then spend that CJ money on someone like Prince Fielder to replace Michael Young at 1B. Fielder would put up insane numbers in that ballpark with that short right field porch.

There's a lot of buzz around the Rangers being the front runners. Their new owernship group has deep pockets and just inked a huge television contract. They like the idea of the posting process, because they haven't had much luck enticing pitchers to play for them in that stadium even when they put the best offer on the table. Josh Daniels and Nolan Ryan have invested a ton of money in Pacific Rim scouting. Josh Daniels flew to Japan to scout him in person. Rangers feel like they have a good environment for him to adapt in, because they have two other Japanese players in the lockerroom in Uehara and Tateyama. Tateyama was a former teammate of his in Japan. Colby Lewis always speaks Japanese after his time there. Red Sox and Yankees will be major players for sure, but they both might be a little more gun shy on Japanese pitchers after Daisuke and Igawa.

Why wouldn't Lucchino ask for the moon? What does he have to lose by dragging this out for as long as possible until the Cubs cave? He's already got Theo's replacement in house doing his job. I'm sure letting Theo hang in the wind puts a smile on his face when he wakes up in the morning. The important thing is for the Cubs not to fall for it. The next order of business is filling out the rest of the front office. Theo can lay that ground work and make phone calls as this comp. negotiation goes along.

Just kinda unlikeable and arrogant and hard to swallow. I would have no problem with Theo hiring him to head up the stats department and lock him up in a dimly lit basement with an spreadsheet however. Tango or Dolphin either, for that matter. Steve Jobs was arrogant and hard-headed. So was Lou Piniella.

Just kinda unlikeable and arrogant and hard to swallow. I would have no problem with Theo hiring him to head up the stats department and lock him up in a dimly lit basement with an spreadsheet however. Tango or Dolphin either, for that matter.

I would also think Peter Woodfork would be a front office candidate.

So when can I submit my application for the software developer position soon to be opening up for building the Cubbie CARMINE?

Yep. I was lukewarm on the Ricketts from the moment they didn't fire Hendry and shifted to completely happy with ownership when he did. Prior to that, they were saying the right things, and I liked the money being put in to Wrigley and the other facilities, but I couldn't get past the Hendry thing to all out happiness. yup. i've begun to believe that perhaps Ricketts had a plan along these lines the whole time, but, as an astute businessman (which he is, afterall), upon entering a business field he knew little more than outsider fodder about, allowed himself the time to learn the mechanics of the inside world of baseball team ownership, while being ok with taking the heat for the time being, knowing that eventually he would come out victorious (i use that term relatively, understand), also that, truly being an astute businessman one absolutely can not crumble to the constant outside pleas for change, but, on the other hand, can not ignore them altogether either, as that too is folly. the line of progression Ricketts has made/continues to make, if it is kept up, perhaps leads me to think he was a better option than the Mavericks owner whose name is honestly escaping me right now. I was a big Cuban proponent, but I had a pretty good feeling about Ricketts. I guess they're generally all good businessmen given they have enough capital to buy a team, but I like owners that come from the money market and high-tech sectors as they seem to be a little more analytical and data based in thinking. I generally get a little quesy about owners who made money in real estate (Sam Zell)

I'm thinking Vitters might be involved as "cosmetic" compensation that both sides could sell to their fanbases. He's a former Top 5 draft pick who had a decent year in AA despite being a tad young for the league. The Boston front office could sell that to general fans and media as a return for Theo, even if the scouts to project him to being anything special. Cub fans would be too excited about getting Theo to care either way.

I guess it's one of the benefits of having a farm system with no super blue chip prospects ... they couldn't give up anything overly substantial even if they wanted to.

Olney and Simmons referred to similar goings on in the Red Sox clubhouse. "Last days of Rome" stuff.

I wouldn't be too upset, in my mind this shows that Ricketts is serious about his search for a stats guy and what not. I believe that we get out of this with a good GM regardless of who it is. I'm with rocket, and I'd be willing to bet most Boston fans already would like to find someone else. Think of how you'd feel if you knew your GM didn't want to be here anymore. I'd be thinking: get lost then. Don't want you around. Listening to Boston Sports Talk after their collapse, a huge percentage of vocal fans wanted him gone before this. An even larger section were indifferent if he stayed or went. They believe Cherrington is more than capable of filling Theo's role.

Mark Prior's arm would like a word with you. And thousands of nsbb game threads.

Also in the podcast Olney says according to the people he talks to in the organization the Cubs won't be major players for Pujols or Prince.

Something important did happen. Someone was wrong on the internet.

I doubt even legit "baseball people" have a clue what is going on right now. Probably only the inner circle of Ricketts/Cubs and Henry/Red Sox know what's going on.