The rift between the two alpha dogs in Boston’s front office has been the topics of blog posts, newspaper articles, magazine features, countless hours of talk radio, a book or three, and the muse of many a “man in a gorilla suit” jokes.
From afar however, it looked like Theo Epstein and Larry Lucchino had put that all behind them and found a way to peacefully co-exist in the offices of Yawkey Way. While differences in organizational philosophy existed, Epstein a little more focused on player development and the “long view” with Lucchino a tad more focused on leveraging Boston’s payroll advantage in the here and now, the mentor and pupil had carved out their areas of dominion across Red Sox Nation.
Healthy debate and differing opinions are important in any organization and having to use each others’ points of view as sounding board and vetting process has been beneficial to the organization at large.
But underneath it all, are the same issues that were so adeptly characterized in Seth Mnookin’s “Feeding the Monster” still tearing at the fabric of the relationship between Epstein and Lucchino?
For all that has gone on over the past two years in the front office, the relationship between the President/CEO and VP of Baseball Operations/GM seemingly wasn’t a front and center issue. Or have we all just been naive?
According to Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated, the relationship may be headed back where it did for a brief stint in 2005, a divorce.
People in high places in baseball are starting to speculate about whether this could be the last season together for the highly successful yet increasingly uncomfortable front-office tandem of GM Theo Epstein and president/CEO Larry Lucchino.
Ironically enough, the split may have been exacerbated by the discussions surrounding Manny Ramirez at the trade deadline with Larry Lucchino in a decidedly more pro-Manny camp than Epstein. Could it be that Epstein’s close relationship with the players and leaders in the clubhouse (including manager Terry Francona) gave him insight into the team’s soul that Lucchino didn’t have? Or is Lucchino’s more bottom line approach the more sound way to manage a team?
Larry Lucchino has been a critical part of not only the club’s on field success over the past six seasons, but also as a critical piece to the overall ownership groups’ organizational strategy and direction. That said, if what happened in 2005 taught us all anything, it taught us that Theo Epstein is truly the more favored by both the fans surrounding the team and more importantly, John Henry.
I certainly have my preferences, but I am more interested in hearing from you all. Does the potential front office drama matter to you? Who has been more integral in the two World Series Championships in their joint run at the helm? Who would you rather see in long term control of this franchise? Can the Red Sox survive the loss of either Lucchino or Epstein?
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