Theo Epstein and the Chicago Cubs have agreed to a five-year, nearly $20 million dollar deal, WEEI first reported early Wednesday.
Epstein decided to forego the final year remaining in his contract with Boston, where he was the general manager for nine seasons and won two world championships. A title has not yet been agreed upon, but it is assumed Epstein will get a higher title than the one he held with the Red Sox, ESPNBoston.com reported.
Epstein traveled to Chicago to meet with Cubs’ front office officials on two separate occasions, an industry source said Tuesday. He spoke with Cubs owner Tom Ricketts last week and met with Cubs president Crane Kenney in Chicago last weekend. Epstein will be replacing Jim Hendry as the Cubs GM, who was hired back in 2002, the same year Epstein became the youngest general manager in MLB history at age 28 with Boston.
The heir to Epstein appears to be assistant GM Ben Cherington, but the Red Sox are still considering other candidates to fill the GM role.
The Cubs fan base and organization can only be pleased with the acquisition. Epstein played an influential role in signing some big names in Boston, most notably David Ortiz, Kevin Millar, and Curt Schilling. Now he will help Chicago capture a world series, something they haven’t done in 103 years.
But the Cubs were a sub-.500 baseball team in 2011, and that’s the reality. They finished the season 71-91, the second worst record in the six-team N.L. Central division only better than the Houston Astros.
Cubs owner Ricketts spoke with FOX Business Network’s Neil Cavuto about the team’s disappointing performance in 2011.
“Going to both this season and last season, we thought we had a team that would perform better than it turned out to perform. You can’t go back in time, you look forward, we have a lot of good things to build on and we’ll get there,” Ricketts told Cavuto.
Theo Epstein shouldn’t be expecting any miracles in Chicago. Ultimately I believe he will be a huge benefactor for the Cubs moving forward, but they don’t call it ‘The Curse of the Billy Goat’ for nothing.
