Phillies Offseason Talk

[MDS]

im still leaning towards this ed wade fellow

[SunMo]

during the WIP update, Rob Charry said that reports are the Phillies are close to hiring Gillick.

i'll guarentee you that in their interviews Gillick said he wanted to keep Manuel and Hunsicker said he wanted to get rid of him.

[BigEd76]

The LA Times is saying that, but nothing is set yet.  If they do hire him, it'll be a 2-year deal max, with Amaro taking over.  You can't trust 'em...

[SunMo]

  You can't trust 'em...

who?  the Phillies or the LA Times?

[BigEd76]

The Phillies.

[MDS]

that would be an awful, yet typical phillies, move.

[Rome]

 

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Phillies.com mentions that Burrell might be moved to 3B and Howard moved to OF next year.

That team might suck pretty hard defensively.

[PhillyGirl]

Theo walks away from Sox
By Michael Silverman
Monday, October 31, 2005 - Updated: 05:42 PM EST

Theo Epstein stunned the Red Sox and the baseball world this afternoon by walking away from his job as general manager.

Just hours before his deal was set to expire at midnight, Epstein told his bosses and associates at the Red Sox' Yawkey Way offices that he had decided not to accept a three-year deal worth $1.5 million a year, an extension for the contract he signed on Nov. 25, 2002.

Epstein had done some agonizing soul-searching the past few days, torn between staying at the job he had always coveted since his childhood days in Brookline and leaving because of intra-organizational politics and power struggles that he ultimately decided he could not live with any longer.

Money and length of the contract were not issues in the past few days for Epstein, who had lobbied hard for an annual salary of more than $1 million a year.

Epstein had come close to agreeing to a deal Saturday evening but had not officially conveyed acceptance of it. On Sunday, he began having serious misgivings about staying on. A leading contributing factor, according to sources close to the situation, was a column in Sunday's Boston Globe in which too much inside information about the relationship between Epstein and his mentor, team president and CEO Larry Lucchino, was revealed -- in a manner slanted too much in Lucchino's favor. Epstein, according to these sources, had several reasons to believe Lucchino was a primary source behind the column and came to the realization that if this information were leaked hours before Epstein was going to agree to a new long-term deal, it signaled excessive bad faith between him and Lucchino.

Epstein had not made up his mind about accepting the job before going to bed Sunday night, this despite a report in the Boston Globe, citing multiple major-league sources, that Epstein and the Red Sox had agreed to a contract extension.

The Globe's parent company, the New York Times, holds a 17 percent ownership stake in the Red Sox.

A next step for Epstein, 31, remains unknown, although he has told associates that he may leave baseball and look for another line of work. The Dodgers, Phillies and Devil Rays currently have GM vacancies but it is believed that Epstein is likely to take a year off from baseball before considering a return.

Besides dealing with the likely public relations fallout from Epstein's departure, the Red Sox will also have to replace him as well.

Veteran general managers Pat Gillick and Gerry Hunsicker have been interviewing for some of the current openings and will likely be at least considered for this one. Current San Diego general manager Kevin Towers recently interviewed for the vacant Arizona Diamondbacks GM vacancy, which has since been filled by Epstein's former assistant, Josh Byrnes, late last week. Towers worked for Lucchino and with Epstein in San Diego before Lucchino became part of the ownership group of the Red Sox.

San Francisco general manager Brian Sabean, a graduate of Concord (N.H.) High School, has also been mentioned as a possibility.

Internally, the Red Sox will likely take a look at some of Epstein's top assistants, including Peter Woodfork, director of baseball operations; Jed Hoyer, assistant to the GM; and Ben Cherington, director of player development.

Epstein was a leading force in assembling the Red Sox 2004 World Series championship squad. Two of his most notable acquisitions in his tenure was the trade for Curt Schilling three Novembers ago and the free agent signing of David Ortiz in 2003. He traded shortstop Nomar Garciaparra for Orlando Cabrera and Doug Mientkiewicz in the midst of the 2004 season, plus he also signed free agent closer Keith Foulke before the championship season.

A year ago, Epstein was at the helm when the club could not come to terms with free agent Pedro Martinez and would not re-sign pitcher Derek Lowe. Instead, the club signed free agent starters David Wells and Matt Clement.

Some deals backfired for Epstein, including Ramiro Mendoza and Jeremy Giambi, but on the whole his winning percentage was rated quite highly around the game.

When he was hired on Nov. 25, 2002, Epstein was the youngest GM in history at 28 years, 11 months. Epstein is a graduate of Brookline High School, Yale University and the University of San Diego Law School.

[MDS]

wip saying gillick has the job. talk was he gets it for 2 years and paves the way for amaro. that still sucks on top of epstein now being out there.

[Wingspan]

wip saying gillick has the job. talk was he gets it for 2 years and paves the way for amaro. that still sucks on top of epstein now being out there.

thats just goddamned retarded

[PhillyPhreak54]

So it's official that Gillick is the guy?

Even if it ain't official and it turns out to be true, I'm going to cry.

[BigEd76]

Nope, not official.  WIP has been running with the LA Times story all day...

[PhillyPhreak54]

Well...thats good. I haven't listened to the radio today at all.

And how is the LA Times scooping the local papers?

I mean, c'mon.

[Rome]

LOL!  If that's a rhetorical question, it's a doozie, Jay.