Halloween Nightmare

As readers of this Blog undoubtedly are aware, Theo Epstein resigned as general manager of the Boston Red Sox yesterday, ending a three-year reign that will go down as one of the most successful in Red Sox history. This is a sad day in Red Sox nation, and here in SeaBlog land. Theo was the wunderkind who made some unorthodox moves, found a lot of useful parts (and one powerful engine) from other teams' scrap piles, and rebuilt the farm system. And in the middle of all this, the Red Sox won their first championship since the Babe donned the red hose.

So, thanks for that, Theo. As Tony Massarotti pointed out in the Boston Herald, following the Red Sox championship last year, "despite all the factors that suggested it would be wise to address Epstein’s contract in a swift and decisive manner, (Sox president Larry) Lucchino forced his will on the negotiation and strung along his GM as if he were Alejandro Machado." In the end, Theo's relationship with his long-time mentor Lucchino appears to have been the death knell in the contract negotiations. Lucchino seems to have shaken Theo's trust with information that appeared in this column by Dan Shaugnessey of the Boston Globe.

Shaugnessey, for his part, is a smarmy a-hole. I don't read his stuff often, because it's full of two-faced player-bashing and his own ego. (Also plugs for his books.) This column is more of the same. To wit:

"Theo Epstein is a truly remarkable young man from a truly remarkable family. He would be a success in any field of his choice and Boston is fortunate that he set out to have a career in baseball. "

What a great guy! This is followed by:

"What is alarming -- for the future of the Sox franchise -- is Theo's sudden need to distance himself from those who helped him rise to his position of power. Lucchino and Dr. Charles Steinberg are a pair of Red Sox executives who ''discovered" Theo when he was a student at Yale. They picked him out of thousands of wannabe interns. "

So don't be so damned ungrateful, Theo! Next up:

"Let's start with Theo being a ''baseball guy" while Larry is a lawyer with a lofty title (CEO). Granted, Epstein is a student of the game, but it's a mistake to say he knows more about baseball than Lucchino or anyone else in the Red Sox baseball operation. Theo is 31 years old and did not play baseball past high school. He spent four years at Yale and three years at law school. That hardly leaves time for much more than rotisserie league scouting. He can read the data and has a horde of trusty, like-minded minions, but we're not talking about a lifetime of beating the bushes and scouting prospects. "

You're not as smart as you think you are!

Shaugnessey follows up today with a "why's everybody blaming me?" article. The man with two faces is at it again: "Not a good day. Not a good day at all. One of the brightest minds ever to grace the Red Sox front office is gone. " Followed by, "Blame me if it makes you feel any better, though it seems pretty ridiculous that Theo would break away from a man he worked with for 14 years because of a few lines he read in a column in the Sunday Globe." Theo is basically in a no-win position. He either left over greed, or over an immature hissy-fit.

Shaugnessey clearly does not get, or does not care to "get", that it's probably not the words themselves, so much as what the fact that they appeared in the Globe, with such a positive Lucchino spin, may represent. Lucchino is the Red Sox' henchman, the guy who ownership sends out to badmouth whoever needs to be badmouthed. (Actually, I suspect Lucchino does this on his own, with no prompting from Henry and Werner, because he seems to like it.) When Lucchino went to the media and spun his rift with Theo in this manner, the message was clear: "If it comes down to you or me, boy, it's going to be me!" Theo was a member of the inner circle of Red Sox management. He deserved to be treated better than this. Not that a guy like Nomar needed to be ripped on the way out the door, as Lucchino did following the 2004 deadline deal, but Theo was one of the architects of this team, and he was still (for a few more days) part of the inner circle.

Theo was right to question continuing to work with somebody who would do this to one of his own, especially in the middle of a contract negotiation. I've considered Larry Lucchino a necessary evil in the middle of an otherwise commendable management staff. Lucchino even has his strengths - the guy certainly knows how to build (or renovate) a ball park. But for his role in sending Theo, the Boy Wonder, out the door, he will always be the enemy of my soul.

That's right, Colin Young. You're off the hook now. (But don't get too comfortable.)

As for Theo, I wish him the best. Not everything that he touched turned to gold, especially with the bullpen moves this summer. But he did a lot right, including finding underrated guys like Bill Mueller to play key roles (and getting Big Papi for next to nothing). He's built a ripe farm system in just three years. I am concerned that his successor will fail to successfully identify the amateur talent as Theo can, and that the top prospects in the system today will be sent away for "veteran talent", as in the Dan Duquette era. I would be ecstatic if the Sox decided to can Lucchino and bring Theo back, but I don't see it happening. Barring that, I hope Theo gets to go to a smaller-market club and work his magic, a la Billy Beane. I don't want this to happen at Boston's expense, but I'd love to see what he can do over a longer time frame.

So no more Theo at Hadlock. Best of luck, boy wonder. And best of luck to the Red Sox in filling some mighty big shoes.