Francona out?

[DJL]

I would be fine with Epstein getting the Cubs job, but there are at least 10 guys I'd take over him.

I don't know about 10 guys over Epstein. He has money on his side, but he does have a couple of WS rings. The Cubs spent lots of money, how many WS rings do they have? And the Rays haven't won yet either, but they have been to the playoffs 3 out of the last 4 years including one WS apperence. Pretty impressive considering the division they are in and the budget they have. Tampa is one of the worst baseball fan bases ever, Friedman should come to a place where he would be appreciated

 

[HawkeyeMike23]

I don't know about 10 guys over Epstein. He has money on his side, but he does have a couple of WS rings. The Cubs spent lots of money, how many WS rings do they have? And the Rays haven't won yet either, but they have been to the playoffs 3 out of the last 4 years including one WS apperence. Pretty impressive considering the division they are in and the budget they have. Tampa is one of the worst baseball fan bases ever, Friedman should come to a place where he would be appreciated

Tampa making the playoffs three out of four years with their payroll is much, much more impressive than Boston winning two world series. Tampa is a terrible baseball team but they still have a loaded farm system and Freidman has a very good relationship with their owner.

 

[DJL]

Tampa making the playoffs three out of four years with their payroll is much, much more impressive than Boston winning two world series. Tampa is a terrible baseball team but they still have a loaded farm system and Freidman has a very good relationship with their owner.

I agree that Freidman > Epstein, but Epstein may still be within the top 10. It's hard to say for sure because he and Cashman have so much money compared to everyone else to work with. All I can say for certain is Epstein>Hendry

 

[HawkeyeMike23]

I agree that Freidman > Epstein, but Epstein may still be within the top 10. It's hard to say for sure because he and Cashman have so much money compared to everyone else to work with. All I can say for certain is Epstein>Hendry

I agree that Epstein would be better than Hendry, and I wouldn't be upset at all if the Cubs got him. I just don't think he's the must get that some people are making him out to be. He was in early on taking advantage of all the advanced metrics and made some great moves early on. But I would rather the Cubs hire someone from a small market team, there's a lot of good, young GM candidates out there. I think there's a lot of upside for hiring someone who has done a lot with a little and then giving him the big payroll rather than hiring someone who's used to throwing around huge contracts. But that's just my opinion.

 

[tm3308]

Money. Epstein works with a huge budget. Friedman works on a shoe-string budget. Epstein has had a lot of big money busts lately Dice-K, Lackey, Crawford (for now), JD Drew, and made some poor trades. The Red Sox can afford to take on contracts like that because their payroll is second to only the Yankees. Friedman has built his team up through the draft and by cleaning up on trades by knowing when to move players while their value is high. He's also done a great job of locking up a lot of his young talent very early and for less than market value.

I would be fine with Epstein getting the Cubs job, but there are at least 10 guys I'd take over him.

The big thing that I like(d) about Epstein is that sure, he's got a big payroll, but he also built up the farm system very nicely. It's pretty shallow now, but Pedroia, Ellsbury, Bard, Papelbon, Lester, Bucholz, Youkilis are all homegrown guys.

The Cubs desperately need to upgrade the farm system to have maintained success. Boston continues to win in spite of the flops in free agency, largely thanks to the guys they brought up themselves.

But I agree, he's not the best choice. Friedman and Beane would be at the top of my list, simply because they've both done a lot with a little.

 

[imported_ankle23]

Francona out, per espn. according to the front page article, his decision.

 

[1977Hawkeye]

But I agree, he's not the best choice. Friedman and Beane would be at the top of my list, simply because they've both done a lot with a little.

Sounds like Beane wants to stay on the west coast from what I'm reading, so I'm considering him to be out of the mix.

Friedman would be my top choice for reasons already stated, but would be happy to get Epstein. Sounds like the Cubs are planning to talk to "a handful" so we'll see who they end up with.