Cubs request permission to talk with Boston GM Epstein

By Chuck Sudo in News on Oct 5, 2011 2:30PM

Only one of Major League Baseball's division series have been settled yet but there's already hot stove talk surrounding the Chicago National League Ballclub. The Cubs have requested permission to speak with Boston Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein, the onetime wunderkind who helped transform the Red Sox from cursed also-rans to the New York Yankees to a a winner of two of the past seven World Series and Evil Empire 1A to the Yankees' Evil Empire.

Red Sox brass met yesterday to consider the request. Epstein is under contract with Boston for another year, so the Red Sox could refuse the Cubs' request. Speculation has it that the Red Sox were considering requiring compensation simply for allowing Epstein to speak with the Cubs. ESPN analyst and former Cincinnati Gm Jim Bowden cited a source as saying Epstein would consider a move to the Cubs or Los Angeles Dodgers, so long as the title "president" is included in such a move.

The Cubs current president is Crane Kenney, who has no business near a t-ball league, let alone a major league baseball team. If Epstein can't persuade Tom Ricketts that Kenney should be out out to pasture, that may leave the Cubs on the outside, holding their collective junk to keep warm.

Chatter on our local sports talk stations this morning indicates Epstein may not be the popular choice. Another candidate the Cubs could be looking at is Tampa Bay Rays GM Andrew Friedman, whose been pulling off miracles making the Rays competitive in the AL East in recent years without the deep pockets of the Evil Empires.

Both Friedman and Epstein have helped develop homegrown talent and solid farm systems. Epstein has the one thing Friedman doesn't - a World Series ring for his efforts. It also appears that Epstein, like former Red Sox manager Terry Francona, has worn out his welcome in Beantown and both some Red Sox higher ups and fans are calling for a change.