"When we began our search a few months ago, I identified three traits our baseball leadership must possess," said Ricketts. "I talked about finding an individual with a commitment to player development, someone with a strong analytical background and someone who has been in a winning culture with a track record of success.
"With two World Championships, six playoff appearances and nine winning seasons in nine years as Boston's general manager, Theo Epstein has an established track record of winning thanks to a solid balance of analytical thinking and traditional scouting methods. And with a nucleus of homegrown players contributing to that annual success at the major league level, Theo has shown a strong commitment to player development.
"My family and I are extremely proud to welcome Theo and his family to the Chicago Cubs. We are eager to begin the next chapter in the storied history of this franchise and have every confidence that Theo will lead us to the championship our great fans so richly deserve."
"It is truly an honor and a privilege to join such a special organization," said Epstein. "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.
"Building a foundation for sustained success starts with a commitment to scouting and player development and requires a team of people working passionately to support a common vision of what the Cubs can become. Together, we will work to define and implement a new vision for the Cubs, and I can't wait to help lead the way."
Epstein, 37, joins the Cubs after 10 seasons with the Boston Red Sox, the last nine as the club's general manager. He built World Champion ballclubs in 2004 and 2007, including the organization's first World Series title in 86 years, and saw four teams advance to the American League Championship Series (2003, 2004, 2007, 2008). Epstein, the youngest general manager in major league history to win a World Series, is one of only two individuals since World War II to win two World Championships in his first five years as a general manager, joining New York's Brian Cashman, who won the World Series in each of his first three years from 1998-2000.
Overall, Epstein's clubs combined to go 839-619 in the regular season, a .575 winning percentage that included a run that featured six seasons with 95 or more victories during his nine-year tenure as general manager. He became the youngest general manager in major league history when named to the post on November 25, 2002.
Epstein's commitment to scouting and player development has been the centerpiece of Boston's sustained success at the big league level during his time with the Red Sox. Boston's first pick (second round) in the 2004 Draft, Dustin Pedroia, was named the 2007 A.L. Rookie of the Year and the 2008 A.L. MVP, and is part of a core of homegrown, developed talent such as Jon Lester, Jonathan Papelbon, Kevin Youkilis, Jacoby Ellsbury, Daniel Bard, Clay Buchholz and others who have helped the Red Sox to their run of success.
Additionally, the Red Sox were honored by Baseball America as the Best Drafting organization of the decade encompassing the 2000s.
Epstein, who last season marked 20 years working in the major leagues, began his baseball career as a summer intern for the Baltimore Orioles from 1992-94. He worked for the San Diego Padres for seven seasons from 1995-2001, advancing to the position of director of baseball operations, before joining the Red Sox in March of 2002 as the club's assistant general manager.
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Ricketts main criteria for finding a new "baseball man" was
1) an individual with a commitment to player development,
2) someone with a strong analytical background and
3) someone who has been in a winning culture with a track record of success.
Epstein has spent a lot of time and resources on "player development," breaking the bank by overspending in the first two amateur drafts and the recent international player bonus pool. By shear volume, he has added numbers to the Cubs minor league system. But to this point in time, Epstein has yet to "develop" one starting Cub (with the partial exception of Anthony Rizzo who was in Boston with Theo and in San Diego with McLeod).
The analytical approach must be a homage to Moneyball, using deep player statistics to find valuable contributing players on champion caliber squads. The big push was to sign and develop high OBP players. But the players put on the major league roster are far from Moneyball icons. The Cubs rank 28th in MLB in OBP and batting average. The Cubs rank 23rd in MLB in runs scored. The Cubs do not manufacture runs by using tools such as walks, stolen bases, or hit and runs. The Cubs batting average with runners in scoring position is dreadful. By all accounts, the prized prospects in the low minors are also free swingers and not high OBP players.
It is hard to fathom the criteria of a "winning culture" when the Cubs may lose 200 games in the last two seasons. In 2011, the Cubs finished 71-91. Since Epstein's management, the Cubs have had a lower winning percentage than from 2011. Several current Cubs, including starter Jeff Samardzija, have questioned the "winning attitude" or means of rebuilding when a half dozen starting pitchers are moved in the last two years with little to take their place. Last week, manager Dale Sveum basically threw in the towel to create an extended spring training situation by batting struggling Castro and Rizzo at the top of the order to get them more at-bats.
A reoccurring point this season has been the fact that "player development" should not stop at the major league doorstep. There has been evidence of regression in both "core" players, Castro and Rizzo, this season. Supposedly, the coaching staff have worked with Castro and Rizzo to improve their games, but nothing has worked to turn around their performance funks.
All points look to 2016 as Epstein's watershed or Waterloo moment with the Cubs. There are no impact players in Iowa today who are ready to contribute full time for the Cubs in 2014. We will not see the Epstein signees begin to arrive in the majors until mid-2015 at the earliest.
Leaders lead by example. The front office states that it does not like to lose games, but they never seem really upset about it. The worst the record, the higher the draft position. The higher the draft position, the more money is available to spend in the CBA. Epstein has always have a big budget to paper his major league rosters with talent. Some was well spent, others have been dead money disasters. Epstein has never done a ground up rebuild of an organization. One cannot say at this point in time that he will be successful. The optimism of the 2011 press release seems to be a distant echo today.
