Cubs Hire Epstein

Epstein will attempt to break an even longer curse in Chicago

Terry Francona was the first casualty of the historic Boston Red Sox collapse, and now it looks like DM wunderkind Theo Epstein has put Beantown in his rearview mirror as well.

After building the unforgettable team that ended the city's 86 year World Series drought, Epstein is reportedly on his way to Chicago, where he will attempt to help the Cubbies win their first title since 1908 (or at least get them to their first Fall Classic since 1945).  The Cubs had already wooed Theo throughout most of September, and it's certainly possible he would have taken the position even if his Red Sox managed to hold their Wild Card lead and limp into the postseason. 

Although it is sad to see the architect of Boston's mini-dynasty skip town, there really wasn't much left for him to do there.  He joined the Sox as a 28 year-old Yalie, the youngest GM in baseball history who had dreamed of working for the Old Towne Team as a high schooler in local Brookline.  He inherited a talented team from interim GM Mike Port that hadn't made the playoffs since 1999 but included superstars Manny Ramirez, Nomar Garciaparra and Pedro Martinez.  After a roster overhaul brought undervalued players such as Kevin Millar, Bill Mueller, Todd Walker and David Ortiz to Beantown during his offseason debut, he had assembled one of the most potent lineups in baseball history that carried the team to within five outs of the World Series.  After replacing Grady Little with Terry Francona, Epstein addressed the squad's most glaring weakness--pitching--by bringing an ace and shutdown closer in Curt Schilling and Keith Foulke.  But he still wasn't content, and nearly pulled off a blockbuster three-way trade of Nomar and Manny for Alex Rodriguez and Magglio Ordonez.  This guy had guts.

And the rest, as they say, is history.  Epstein saved the 2004 season with a blockbuster deadline trade of Garciaparra to the Cubs to acquire Gold Glovers Orlando Cabrera and Doug Mientkiewicz, two players who sparked Boston's second half surge and eventual World Series triumph.  Boston bowed out of the ALDS in 2005, and Epstein unexpectedly resigned shortly after.  Fortunately, he was rehired as the GM and Executive VP three months later and helped bring Boston another championship in 2007.  Meanwhile, the organization thrived; Fenway Park is riding an impressive sellout streak, the franchise became much more saavy with its new emphasis on statistical analysis, the farm system flourished (see Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, and Jonathan Papelbon) and the team is a threat to win the World Series every year. At this point, his job was more about maintaining and tweaking the team than rebuilding it . 

Even so, Epstein has received plenty of criticism for his inability to find a stable, productive replacement at shortstop for Garciaparra, whose successors include Edgar Renteria, Alex Gonzalez, Julio Lugo, Jed Lowrie, and Marco Scutaro.  He's also been bashed for questionable and expensive free-agent signings such as Renteria, J.D. Drew, Julio Lugo, Daisuke Matsuzaka, John Lackey, and Carl Crawford.  I don't blame Epstein for any of them because they were all good players when he signed them and it's impossible to gauge how a player will handle Boston's intense media and fans.  The Red Sox have the second largest payroll in baseball at $163 million, so they can afford to make these kinds of "mistakes," just as the Yankees can afford to lose money on Kevin Brown, Carl Pavano, Kei Igawa, A.J. Burnett, and Rafael Soriano.  Perhaps they weren't the wisest decisions, but they were certainly defensible at the time.

So now he takes over the Cubs with a new five year, $20 million contract.  Fifth place Chicago just completed a 71-91 season and is looking to rebuild around a solid young nucleus that includes Starlin Castro, Geovany Soto, Tyler Colvin and Matt Garza.  Their attendance is strong (over 3 million fans) and they have a lot of money coming off the books soon, but the frustrated franchise still has a long way to go if it wants to overtake the more talented Cardinals, Brewers and Reds. 

First he vanquished the Curse of the Bambino, so naturally the next step is to take down the even longer and more ludicrous Curse of the Billy Goat.  Fortunately for long-suffering Cubs fans, Epstein is the right man for that job.