It seems like a distant memory, but when the Cubs hired Theo Epstein from Boston, there was a convoluted trade that the teams had to execute as part of the agreement. One point which has raised its ugly head this week has been the fact that the Red Sox have not given the Cubs permission to talk to Boston coach Torey Lovullo for the open manager position.
The Red Sox believe that the agreement clearly states that the Cubs are not allowed to hire ANY Boston employee for 3 years. This means that Epstein cannot hire away a Red Sox coach for the Cubs.
Now either Epstein forgot about this clause, or he was trying to pull a fast one on Boston. But considering how badly and bitter the Bobby Valentine team implosion was (which solidified the meanness of Boston management against ex-employees) it is not a surprise that the Red Sox are not going to help Theo out of his current jam.
And it is a big jam. Jam all over the place.
It is now almost universally accepted that the Cubs managerial "plan" was to hire Girardi away from the Yankees. The media quoted sources that it was all but a "done deal." But during the last month Joe was under contract with the Yankees, the Steinbrenners came up with a good deal for Girardi to stay. When Girardi was out of the picture, the Cubs had to scramble for a Plan B.
The tepid response to the first wave of candidate interviews led to scoffs when reports had the Cubs thinking or doing a second interview with A.J. Hinch, which some other organizations find to the be "worst" person to manage a major league team. Then the local media started a build a bandwagon for Brad Ausmus for manager, but he quickly signed with the Tigers.
That led Epstein to scramble for a Plan C. Once the World Series was over, and thus the excuse in the time delay from firing Dale Sveum to present, the Cubs could claim that they were always targeting their number one guy, Lovullo. But recall, two years ago the front office claimed they found their guy in Sveum through their mutual Boston connection.
Boston management stated after the series that they expected the entire coaching staff of John Farrell to return next season. In today's Boston Globe, this was affirmed in the story that Pawtucket Red Sox manager Gary DiSarcina has been hired by the Los Angeles Angels as their third base coach. The article states that DiSarcina might have stayed in the Red Sox organization had a
position opened up on the major league staff. But general manager Ben
Cherington said Monday he expected all of the coaches to return. Bench coach Lovullo was seen as a candidate to manage, but Cherington said no teams sought permission to interview him but the speculation is that he blocked the Cubs by the agreement with former Red Sox GM Theo
Epstein not to hire Red Sox employees for a period of three years.
This leads the Cubs to find a Plan D. It is interesting to note that besides Ausmus, none of the other new managerial hires were on the Cub radar: Lloyd McClendon in Seattle, Bryan Price in Cincinnati or Matt Williams in Washington. Why was that?
As stated before, at this point it really does not matter who the Cubs hire as manager because the team will continue its rough transition for at least the next two to three seasons. But this whole managerial process does not invoke confidence in the front office and its "plans."
