The honeymoon is officially over.
Happy trails Theo Epstein! You can leave Boston assured that Larry Lucchino woke up this morning feeling like he went on a bender (which is a true possibility). This tumultuous affair will go down as yet another blunder in the history of Red Sox front office dealings.
The Red Sox, as of right now, do not have a GM or assistant GM. Slugger Manny Ramirez wants out of town, a deal which could end up like an A-Rod situation where the Sox are forced to eat some of his contract in order to move him. Flimsy-armed Johnny Damon is insisting on a 5-year deal and no one knows if he will be healthy this year. David Ortiz is not happy with the unrest and vacancies in the GM position. Oh, and this is all days before the busiest period of free agent negotiations begins.
Let the blame game begin. Boston papers will for sure be trashing Theo, claiming he screwed the Red Sox, he was power mongrel, he was too young and overly ambitious...etc, etc. The list of Theo-trashing will go on and on, but may never reach the true point of it all: This is all that bastard Lucchino and the Nation's fault.
Have we overstepped our boundaries of obsession? Have we become too hardcore fans? Manny seems to think so. Boomer Wells may think the same. Theo definitely thought so. It's well known that no player, whether you are David Ortiz or Kevin Youkilis, can go out to eat, shop, or see a movie without being bombarded by autograph hounds and photographers. The Red Sox are Boston's mini-Hollywood.
The fans love has become too strong towards the team. It's much like the VH1 show Breaking Bonaduce, where Danny Bonaduce's concept of love is abusing himself and mentally abusing his wife, with an onslaught of demanding that she love him back, putting her in a situation where alkl she wants is out of the relationship; much like we are now seeing in the city of Boston.
This excerpt is from an article in the Globe today:
''He told me he had to clear his desk, that it was very emotional, that he had to leave the team," said former Tigers GM Bill Lajoie, Epstein's 71-year-old special assistant. ''He said he didn't have any plans but that he had to get away from the team."
Which seems to say it all, as Theo needs to get away from not the team, but the fans. The amount of time and energy required to be the GM of the Boston Red Sox is unimaginable. Sure, Brian Cashman is in the same situation, but he doesn't want more control as Theo does. Cashman has accepted his role as the middle man between the office and the Boss. Theo felt that he needed that control from Lucchino and he realized he was never going to get it. Not to mention that Dan Shaughnessy ran a column on Sunday that highlighted the bad relationship between Lucchino and Epstein. Great timing Dan, great timing.
Here's a list of the things Theo has done for this club to all the naysayers:
-David Ortiz. He signed him in 2003 for $1.25 million. He stole Ortiz out from under every other team in MLB, most notably the Yankees, as Steinbrenner was once quoted as criticizing Cashman for not getting Ortiz when they had the chance. In those 3 years he has hit 119 HR and 388 RBIs.
-Bronson Arroyo. The future of the pitching staff was signed for $332,500 in 2004 off waivers.
-Kevin Millar. Yes, he had a terrible year, but he performed in 2003-04. He was stolen from the Chunichi Dragons of Japan and became the voice of the Red Sox clubhouse.
-Mike Timlin. He has been an outstanding middle man and was forced into the closer role this year.
-Billy Mueller. Signed in 2003 for $2.1 million and won the AL batting title that year batting .326.
-Curt Schilling. Theo sat down for Thankgiving dinner with the Schillings to convince him to join, and now Curt is a Boston legend. He only gave up Casey Fossum and Brandon Lyons for Schilling.
-Keith Foulke. While he had a disastrous 2005, he singlehandedly was the bullpen in 2004 and was flawless in the playoffs.
-Trading Nomar. The do-or-die deal took big cajones and led to a championship.
-Dave Roberts. "The Steal". Enough said.
-Varitek. The team captain was kept in his true colors.
-Tony Graffanino. He'll be remembered for Buckner part 2 against the White Sox, but he stepped in as a backup utility player and hit .319 winning the starting spot at a vacant 2B.
Fact is, when Theo has done alot of good things for this organization, including a WS ring. The Sox messed up when they should have re-signed him immediatly after the Championship in '04. They played the waiting game and lost. As have all the Boston fans. We will be feeling the aftermath of this for years to come.
