“It is truly an honor and a privilege to join such a special organization,” Epstein said in a press release. “I would like to thank Tom Ricketts and the entire Ricketts family for putting their faith in me and for giving me this incredible opportunity. I wouldn’t be here without their commitment to the fans and their long term vision for the organization.”
Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts expressed his desire to find a GM with a commitment to player development, strong analytical background, and winning ways. At the press conference, which was replayed on the Cubs website, Ricketts said, “I simply cannot imagine a better person for this job than Theo Epstein.”
Epstein inked a five-year deal, the details of which were not released. The monetary value of the contract makes no difference to Cubs fans, as they only have one long-term goal at any cost—a World Series championship. The Cubs have gone 103 years without a title, the longest drought among the four major U.S. professional sports.
The hiring of Epstein by the Cubs has given weary fans a breath of new life, bringing hope to a team whose “there’s always next year” mentality is wearing thin. He has the one thing that no star player or high-profile manager 103 years before him has—he has broken a curse.
Epstein took over the Red Sox in 2002 when the team was riding an 84-year World Series title drought. It only took him two years to break the “Curse of the Bambino,” not only delivering a historic championship to Beantown, but beating the rival Yankees in the ALCS down three games to none.
On the surface, it appears Epstein and the Cubs are a match made in heaven, but the Cubs team he is inheriting compared to the Red Sox team he inherited ten seasons ago is quite different.
The Cubs have finished 5th in the NL Central for the past two seasons, both with records at least ten games below .500. They have not won a playoff game since 2003 (Bartman anyone?), despite clinching the NL Central Pennant in 2007 and 2008. The last time the Cubs were in a World Series was at the end of World War II.
Heading into the 2011 season, Baseball America ranked the Cubs farm system a tepid 16 out of 30 teams. The loss of prospects Chris Archer and Hak-u Lee in the Matt Garza trade will take a while to recover from at the farm level. The Cubs did not trade away the rest of the farm before this season’s deadline, but their minor league system is in need of some work.
On the contrary, the Boston Red Sox Epstein inherited in 2002 was a contending team. From 2000–2002 the Red Sox did not make the playoffs, but were second in the AL East and won more than 50 percent of their games. They lost in the ALCS in 1999 and the ALDS in 1998. Their farm system had recently churned out stars like Trot Nixon and Nomar Garciaparra. Epstein’s hire of sabermetrics expert Bill James showed that they would only add to their farm system.
Cubs fans should not forget the first rule of being a Cubs fan—always be cautiously optimistic. This team has a long way to go, with or without a curse-busting GM.
Follow Kristen on Twitter @Call2theBullpen
