Day eight of the ‘Theo Watch‘ kicked into high gear with a report from the Boston Herald on Tuesday afternoon that stated Theo Epstein was on the cusp of leaving the Red Sox to take a position in the Cubs front office. The Herald reported an official announcement could be made within 24 to 48 hours.
According to a report from the Sun-Times late Tuesday night, the proverbial ball is now in Epstein’s court and it is up to him, as well as sorting out few small details, if he wants to take over baseball operations for the Chicago Cubs. For all of the noise made on Twitter Tuesday night, the report from the Sun-Times sums up where the Cubs and Epstein are at this point.
Here are the highlights from the Sun-Times report:
- The Cubs have made their offer to Epstein and indications are the parameters are acceptable to Epstein
- Sun-Times sources dispute the done-deal nature of the Boston Herald report
- An official announcement could be made as early as Friday
- The expectation within the Cubs organization is that Epstein is headed to Chicago
- Top baseball personnel recently received memos/emails to keep the second week of November open for the annual organizational meetings
- Personal factors could come into play for Epstein in his decision to leave Boston
- Epstein’s responsibilities and title would “assure that Epstein would have the authority to keep meddlesome Cubs’ president Crane Kenney out of baseball business.“
- Multiple high-level execs from other organizations view Kenney “as an interfering, credit-seeking suit with little baseball acumen and an impediment to landing a top general manager.“
- Despite recent statements by Tom Ricketts, Crane Kenney has been involved in the GM search and Ricketts “recently lauded Kenney’s efforts in that process to members of the organization.“
According to the Sun-Times, the Cubs are believed to have contacted Andrew Friedman, Rick Hahn and Dan Evans about their GM position while attempting to land Epstein.
The report also addressed the rumors that the compensation for Epstein could include Starlin Castro or Brett Jackson.
“Whether negotiations over compensation prolong the process, major-league execs scoff at the idea that the Cubs could reasonably be asked to give up top major-leaguers such as Starlin Castro or top prospects such as Brett Jackson.“
Click here for the entire report from the Sun-Times
As day nine begins, stay tuned …
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