The End of an Era: Bye Bye Theo Epstein

For the better part of the past decade, two of the more well-known names in the Red Sox organization have been Theo Epstein and Terry Francona. However, in the span of just a couple short weeks, both Epstein and Francona have skipped town. The two departures by the former manager and general manager have truly signaled the end of an era in Boston. Amid all the player changing from year to year, Epstein and Francona were the 2 constants that have always been there. Now, both have left and a new GM and manager will call the shots for the 2012 version of the Boston Red Sox. Francona is expected to take a year off from managing, while Epstein agreed to a 5 year deal with the Cubs. The obvious question that so many fans are asking is who will be the new sheriffs in town. Rumors abound that Ben Cherington who served as Theo's top assistant for the past 9 years will be named the new General Manager. As for the managerial position, the only candidate that has been interviewed thus far is Pete Mackanin, the Phillies bench coach.

Theo Epstein certainly had his share of ups and downs during his reign as the Red Sox GM, but the good outweighs the bad in this case. Upon getting hired in November 2002, Epstein immediately acquired Kevin Millar, Bill Mueller and David Ortiz. After a team that many had winning the World Series in 2003 fell short, Epstein filled the 2 biggest weaknesses by trading for Curt Schilling and signing Keith Foulke. Ultimately, those 2 would prove to be the missing pieces of the puzzle on a team that won the World Series in 2004. At the young age of 28, Epstein was on top of the baseball world and many saw him as one of the best, young GMs in baseball. He also played a huge role in the development of key players such as Dustin Pedroia, Jon Lester, Kevin Youkilis, Daniel Bard, Jacoby Ellsbury and Jonathan Papelbon. A combination of the home-grown talent and key free agent signings netted the Red Sox another World Series in 2007. Once again, Epstein was on top of the baseball world and things only seemed to be getting better for a team that was absolutely loaded with talent. However, as some teams may know too well, with every good thing a GM does for his team, there is usually a few bad moves that can overshadow the good ones. In Theo's case, he is widely chastised for the signings of J.D. Drew, John Lackey and Carl Crawford. Drew was seemingly always hurt during his 5 years in Boston, Lackey has been both wildly inconsistent and downright terrible at points during his 2 years in Boston thus far and Crawford failed to live up to his $142 million contract with a disappointing 2011 season. Despite the poor signings, prior to the Red Sox collapse, Epstein and Francona were expected to remain in Boston. However, after the collapse of the team and departure of Francona, Theo may have felt it was time for a change and that could explain why he bolted for a team that hasn't won a World Series in 103 years.

Now, the question that so many fans, especially Cubs ones are asking is if Theo Epstein can work the same magic that he did in Boston. Personally, I believe that he can indeed make it work, however the biggest difference is that the 2011 Cubs are a lot farther away from the World Series than the 2002 and 2003 Red Sox were. This Cubs team has a number of missing pieces to the puzzle, although they do have talented young players in Starlin Castro and Darwin Barney to build around. In the next couple years, the fat contracts of Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Zambrano will come off the books and give Epstein a chance to start building the future of the Cubs. His first major decision though will be whether or not to bring back Mike Quade as manager. Fans have been clamoring for the GM to hire Ryne Sandberg, the wildly popular former Cub so it will be interesting to see what Epstein decides to do with his first major move.

Either way, the change signals the end of an era in Boston. There will be a new GM and manager in town with different philosophies. At this point, us Red Sox fans can hope for the best until next year when we see the beginning of a new chapter in the storied history of the Boston Red Sox.