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October 21, 2011

Tribune From the 'Kid' to the 'Savior' After a remarkable rise to the top in Boston, Epstein brings his passion and formula to Chicago By: Phil Rogers

BROOKLINE, Mass. — Nine years ago, after the made little-known assistant the youngest general in baseball history, a steady stream of reporters visited this peaceful hamlet, just beyond the shadows of the Prudential Center and in bustling Boston.

Leslie and Ilene Epstein, Theo's parents, pulled out photo albums and told stories about their daughter, Anya, and the twins, Theo and Paul. They talked of the night in 1986 when the ground ball went through Bill Buckner's legs. They told the so-called "spanking'' stories, about the times when the children misbehaved. Theo blushed, and everyone else laughed.

It was an innocent time, a sweet grace period for a city that can be hard on its sports teams.

But the Epsteins haven't been as welcoming this month, not with the heightened attention swirling around his potential move to Chicago. The Red Sox and Cubs are trying to agree on the athletic value of a GM who brought Boston championships in 2004 and '07. The Cubs reportedly are offering a package that is worth almost $20 million over five years and apparently comes with an unprecedented ability to spend money in an effort to bring the Cubs their first championship since 1908.

That's how strongly Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts has come to believe in Epstein, 37, whose hiring will become official when the teams agree on a compensation package. He ended an 86-year championship drought in Boston and in doing so revealed a formula others believe will work for him in Chicago.

"I would tell you if he spends the same amount of time he spent in Boston in Chicago, you'll have a World Series,'' said , an ESPN baseball analyst who was an ace for the Red Sox's two championship teams. "I don't question that for a second.''

When Epstein took charge of the baseball operations department at Fenway, he and his cadre of hard- working, light-sleeping disciples turned the once-quiet offices into a corporate version of "Animal House," at least in the late hours.

After the 9-to-5 staff had gone home, Epstein, , , , and others would put in marathon hours of grunt work analyzing data, producing manuals for scouts and minor-league coaches and writing Carmine, the organization's computer program used to analyze players' statistics and tendencies. At some point someone would bring out wiffle ball bats or golf clubs and whack balls down hallways and into offices, at times shattering glass or damaging drywall.

"It was a crazy place to work, but I don't think it's like that anymore,'' said Byrnes, who now is an assistant GM with the . "Theo was probably working 20 hours a day then, and midnight golf was just a thing we did. There were times we'd work through the night, and it got wild … (But) when Theo took the job, he was single. Now he's married with children. He's got reasons to get home.''

Epstein isn't as open as he was when he took over in Boston either. He closely guards the privacy of his wife, Marie Whitney, and 3-year-old son, Jack, and his own family has become wary about bringing out the scrapbooks for reporters.

The great family stories go back at least two generations, to his grandfather Philip and great uncle Julius, screenwriters who count the movies "Casablanca" and "Arsenic and Old Lace" among their credits. Leslie, who is the director of Boston University's creative writing program, is a Rhodes scholar and prolific novelist. Ilene has operated a thriving boutique in Brookline Village for decades.

Leslie responded warmly to a recent request for an interview but cautioned he would meet a reporter only after he had gotten Theo's blessing and eventually declined. The timing seemed too sensitive with the Red Sox making the Cubs play games to get him.

Epstein, who had gotten to know when he interned for the while attending Yale, started his career in San Diego. He had been recruited by Lucchino, then the president/CEO of the San Diego Padres. He followed Lucchino to Boston in 2002, after new Red Sox principal owner John Henry had hired him as club president.

Epstein was Lucchino's protege, but the two would clash and grow distant over time. Epstein quit for nearly three months after a disappointing 2005 season — sneaking away from a Halloween function at Fenway Park wearing a gorilla suit — but returned. The relationship between Lucchino and Epstein remained a challenge, however, and eventually pushed Epstein away from his beloved Red Sox again last week, this time for good.

"Larry's a difficult guy,'' said an executive with another major-league club. "We all know that. He's a difficult person. We all love Larry because he has such great passion for whatever he gets involved with, but Larry the Lawyer pops up a lot, the arrogant guy. I don't know anybody who has worked with him long without his arrogance getting in the way. I'm not surprised that things are ending the way they are in Boston. I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did.''

When Epstein was hired to the Red Sox, he was a rebound choice after Henry had been rejected by the object of his affection, "Moneyball'' star of the . "You can have more than one good choice,'' Lucchino said at the time. It turns out he was right.

Epstein, 28 — or "almost 29,'' as Lucchino called him — was The Kid in those days. He comes to Chicago with a different tag: The Savior.

Same guy. Similar challenge. Proven model and work ethic. But Epstein will join the Cubs under totally different circumstances than he did his hometown team and without the innocence that made his rise so much fun for him and those lucky enough to be along for the ride.

Paper trail

When Beane stunned Henry by turning down baseball's second-highest revenue team to stay with one of its smallest franchises, Lucchino told Henry to hire the incredibly smart workaholic he had discovered as a PR intern, first in Baltimore and then San Diego.

He had been brought to Lucchino's attention by Rick Vaughn, who in 1993 assigned Epstein to write a piece on Baltimore's Negro League connection for the Orioles' game program. Epstein worked overnight on the paper and far before the deadline turned in an essay that Vaughn passed along untouched. It was the perfect paper.

"It was pretty clear he was destined for something bigger than the PR office of the Orioles, not to denigrate the PR office of the Orioles,'' said Vaughn, now a vice president with the Tampa Bay Rays. "It was pretty clear he was special, clear he had a lot of skills. He was very mature. He was the intern who was more mature than his 35-year-old boss was.''

After Epstein earned his degree in American Studies at Yale, Lucchino put him to work in San Diego. , who had just become the Padres GM, handed him a radar gun and a seat behind home plate when Epstein voiced a desire to move from media relations into baseball operations.

"He's one of the smartest, most intelligent guys I've ever known,'' Towers said. "He's so bright that it's dangerous. … His work ethic is unbelievable, absolutely off the charts. And he has such a great way about him. I introduced him around to agents, other people, and he was somebody everyone liked, everyone wanted in the room. He learned some things from me, but I learned a lot from him. I looked at things from a scout's perspective and he knew analysis. He made me see you don't have to be a baseball player to know baseball.''

While working long days assisting Towers with scouts and minor-league staffers, Epstein also put himself through law school at the University of San Diego. Legend has him swapping Padres tickets to classmates who would keep detailed notes, helping him essentially be in two places at once.

Pouring through scouting reports and crunching numbers, Epstein became fascinated with undersized David Eckstein. He urged Towers to put in a claim when Eckstein waivers in 2000, calling him "an on-base machine.'' Towers passed, then watched as Eckstein helped lead the Angels to a World Series championship two years later.

After Epstein finished law school, he was recruited by several firms. Towers recalled how Epstein called him to say that he had gotten a job offer with a chance to make three or four times as much as his $50,000 salary with the Padres. Towers said that was great, then asked Epstein if that was "what you want?''

Epstein said "absolutely not'' and added he wanted to see how far he could go in baseball. Towers bumped up his pay, gave him a title as director of baseball operations and then fought successfully to keep him when the offered him a bigger job.

Epstein was a regular visitor to Towers' house in those years, frequently coming over for "Monday Night Football" games and other sporting events, and often shared his desire to try to help his hometown Red Sox end the so-called . Towers knew Lucchino was going to take him along when he got an offer to join Henry as Red Sox president in 2002.

Towers said he and his wife felt "like we lost one of our first-born'' when Epstein moved to Boston.

When Lucchino and Henry hired Epstein to be their GM, he was the youngest ever to hold that title in baseball, supplanting , who was 29 when he was hired to run the Tigers in 1993.

"What's all the fuss?'' Leslie Epstein said wryly in a Yale Magazine article. "At Theo's age, Alexander the Great was already of the world.''

Lucchino said Epstein understood "Red Sox gestalt,'' and he was right about that too. At age 12, Epstein and his twin, Paul, were initiated into the ranks of the long-suffering by watching Mookie Wilson's ground ball go between Buckner's legs in of the .

"We wanted to be off the ground, if possible in midair, when the ball went into the glove for the last out, so we got on top of the couch to jump,'' Epstein said in a New York Times interview. "We were standing on top of the couch for about half an hour. It was painful.''

When Epstein went to Florida for his first spring as Red Sox general manager, 23 players on the 40-man roster were older than him. As focused as he was to get that team over the hump in 2003, he was equally consumed with players who were getting ready for their college and high school seasons. His goal upon taking the job, he said, was to "build a scouting and player-development machine.''

Fair to say he wanted to win the World Series a few times too.

The new wave

When Epstein's hiring was followed by two championships in his first five years, it inspired an ongoing movement within the major leagues to hire general managers with management degrees and Wall Street cred, not guys who had hung around dugouts and bleachers their whole lives.

Jon Daniels, whose team is in the World Series for the second consecutive year, might not have gotten an opportunity without Epstein's success. Ditto the St. Louis Cardinals' John Mozeliak, the Rays' and Byrnes, among others.

These are guys who chew on numbers, not leaf tobacco. They are information gatherers and analysts more than baseball purists. But they have no secret handshakes or decoder rings.

"I think a lot of people misunderstand what it is Theo does,'' said Hoyer, who with Byrnes and Cherington (Epstein's likely replacement in Boston) was a top assistant for Epstein from the beginning. "People see the computer, talk about moneyball. He uses those things, but it's just a part of what he does. He's always had tremendous respect for scouts. He's a good listener and he involves everyone in the process. That's what makes him successful, not Carmine.''

Epstein weighs scouting reports from boots-on-the-ground guys in the field alongside complicated statistical metrics that could have come off a blackboard at MIT or Cal Tech. He calls his approach "looking through two lenses to improve the focus.''

While the Red Sox often have spent more money on payroll than every team except the Yankees, Epstein's process has helped him make more than his share of smart decisions, especially with unproven players like , and .

"What he did in Boston was build a player-development machine,'' said Schilling, who joined the Red Sox after Epstein recruited him over Thanksgiving dinner. "He did it with more budget, but I'm not sure he had to have the budget. … You can argue that the budget has actually hurt him because it brought more players into the equation.''

Hoyer remembers how difficult it was to find information on players before the 2002 draft, the first he and Epstein prepared for together.

"I got a hold of people at the NCAA headquarters and got permission from them for us to collect information,'' Hoyer said. "We sent a couple of guys from our office to photocopy stats and bring them back. We got a leg up on the competition by doing that.''

After the beat them to the punch, Epstein and his lieutenants designed computer programs that made the Red Sox the second organization in the majors to have its own computer spitting out fresh statistics and projections every morning on thousands of major-, minor-league and college players.

While the software that went into Carmine is considered Red Sox property, Epstein is certain to create an updated version of it in Chicago, just as Hoyer did in San Diego.

"It's all in your head anyway,'' Hoyer said. "It's not like there's some secret sauce recipe that can't be replicated. It takes a hell of a lot of time and effort to get it in place, but that's what you've got to do.''

'Ruthless' passion

Epstein is confident. He knows how to have a good time. He's comfortable in his own skin in situations that have nothing to do with baseball.

He counts Pearl Jam leader Eddie Vedder among his friends and rarely seems happier than when he's on stage playing his Rickenbacker guitar with Trauser, a cover band that has made Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World'' its signature song, or with members of New England bands like Dropkick Murphys and the Lemonheads.

Schilling says one of Epstein's gifts as a general manager is knowing how to be at ease in the clubhouse and especially keeping players at ease. Schilling had played 16 years in the big leagues before joining the Red Sox but says he never had played for a GM who had a sense of when to mingle with players and when to leave them alone, as well as how to be trusted by players whose futures were dependent on the decisions he makes.

Henry, in better days, praised Epstein for respecting players without losing perspective.

"The thing I love about Theo is that as much as he cares about the players, he's not afraid of them,'' he said. "He's not afraid to be ruthless.''

Epstein never was more bold, if not ruthless, than on July 31, 2004. He traded , a career .323 hitter who had won back-to-back batting titles, because he had become a defensive liability and was showing signs of unhappiness after Epstein declined to write a new contract based on past performances.

According to someone involved in the process, the Red Sox had offered Garciaparra $15 million per year for four years in the spring of 2003. It was $2 million a year less than he wanted, and he turned it down. When talks resumed a year later, with Garciaparra thinking he held the upper hand over his young GM, Epstein cut his offer to $12 million a year for four years. "Once that happened,'' said the source, "Nomar was something of a goner.''

No one quite realized it until Epstein worked with the Cubs' to engineer a four-team trade at the deadline, sending Garciaparra to the Cubs while getting shortstop Orlando Cabrera from the Angels and Doug Mientkiewicz from the Twins.

"Theo has courage,'' Towers said. "He's got the best instincts and the most courage of anyone I've seen in the game. When you're a kid GM in Boston and you trade Nomar Garciaparra — a guy who people all around New England have named their children after — you believe in your analysis and your people.''

Epstein has recalled how he was heading to the Fenway Park interview room to discuss the trade when he got a call from his brother, Paul, who is a high school social worker. It was a recounted in a piece by Magazine's Neil Swidey after Epstein had been named Bostonian of the Year.

"What happened?'' asked Paul.

What do you mean?

"That's all you guys got for Nomar?''

"Paul, these are good players. This is a really good trade.''

"Well, I'm listening to talk radio now.''

"All right, what are they saying?''

"You're getting killed. People are furious that Nomar was traded for a couple of .240 hitters.''

Later that night, Epstein would call Henry to tell his owner it was "the right trade'' even if fans hated it. He would have troubles sleeping, reportedly taking Ambien for the first time to slow his mind.

And three months later, after the Red Sox had won their last eight playoff games — recovering from a 3- 0 deficit to the Yankees in the ALCS and sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series — Epstein was riding hide aboard Duck Boats with Cabrera, Mientkiewicz and October hero Dave Roberts, celebrating Boston's first baseball championship since 1918.

Another miracle?

Over nine seasons, Epstein's Boston's teams would spend $1.2 billion on payroll, an average of $133.3 million per season, and return an average of 93 wins — two fewer than the annual goal set by Epstein and his staffers. They won two pennants and played for the pennant four times. Their farm system would improve from 28th in 's rankings the year before Epstein took charge to second in 2008, largely because they attacked the draft-compensation system with the predatory eye of day traders.

Stockpiling compensation picks for free agents big and small, they held 43 top-3 picks in their nine drafts — 14 more than the Yankees and 18 more than the Cubs. Team Theo used those picks to land a cast of homegrown stars, including 2008 AL MVP Pedroia, Ellsbury, Jonathan Papelbon and , and still-young prospects and Reymond Fuentes, who were traded with sixth-round pick for Adrian Gonzalez.

None of this meant much last month, however. The Red Sox collapsed worse than the 1969 Cubs, going 7-20 in September to lose the wild-card race to the Rays on the last day of the season.

Two days after the final loss in Baltimore, a game in which they were one Papelbon strike away from clinching at least a one-game playoff for a postseason berth, Epstein sat next to as Henry explained that the highly respected manager had lost control of his clubhouse and would not be coming back.

There had been whispers about Epstein's restlessness and job dissatisfaction since at least August, when the Red Sox were considered by many as the strongest team in the majors, and a day after the Francona departure speculation shifted to Epstein's interest in the Cubs.

Ricketts, whose family purchased the Cubs from Tribune Co. in 2009, asked Henry for permission to talk with Epstein on Oct. 4, and when that request wasn't answered by the Red Sox announcing a contract extension for Epstein, the best era in Epstein's life — and one of the most remarkable stretches ever for a baseball executive — was over.

Fans who had forgotten what life was like before the Red Sox's information age bashed Francona for allowing idle players to drink in the clubhouse and Epstein for signing too many underperforming free agents.

This wasn't 2004 or even '07, and better than anyone, Epstein — who somewhere was still the kid waiting to leap off the back of his family couch — knew it never again would be for Red Sox Nation. He's off to , eventually, hoping to make miracles happen.

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Tribune Cubs will act fast when Epstein hiring official Ballclub ready for news conference and has prospective sidekicks lined up By: Paul Sullivan

Theo Epstein went to work at his Fenway Park office Thursday, as usual, awaiting his coronation at Wrigley Field.

Jed Hoyer did likewise in San Diego, awaiting his escape from paradise.

The Cubs' new front-office tag team has yet to become official, but no one was denying the Epstein- Hoyer show is coming soon to a baseball shrine near you.

In the vision of Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts, the two Red Sox Nation expatriates will become the Cubs' version of Butch and Sundance, taking risks, outsmarting rivals and bringing lasting change to an old- school franchise mired in a century-long rut. Of course, things didn't end well for the brash outlaws.

Though Ricketts famously said in June he didn't need "a baseball guy to watch my baseball guy who's watching your baseball guys," he apparently changed his mind and decided two guys were better than one.

Speculation over when Epstein will be announced officially as head of baseball operations became a hot topic of debate Thursday, as the Cubs prepared for the possibility of a Friday news conference in case a deal could be announced.

But Red Sox owner John Henry, perturbed the Cubs seemingly were leaking news the deal was done before it was, texted the Boston Globe that it was "not close."

Ricketts is making himself unavailable for comment and is not reputed to be much of a texter anyway. But whether it was a text, tweet or any other form of communication, no one disputed the notion Epstein and Hoyer are Wrigley-bound in the near future.

ESPNBoston.com's Gordon Edes reported via Twitter that the Hoyer part was "done" and that the Epstein compensation package was hung up as the Red Sox waited for medical reports on players. As of late Thursday, no news conference was scheduled.

But the Cubs can change their plans quickly to get Epstein to Chicago if a deal gets done. The last time they had a major news conference at night was the announcement of the Sammy Sosa trade to the Orioles in 2005.

As for Hoyer, the Padres GM was silent Thursday amid reports he was leaving for a lateral position under Epstein. The Cubs apparently will compensate the Padres with low-level prospects. CEO Jeff Moorad gladly will agree to let Hoyer leave for a more lucrative job, in part because he has former Epstein and Hoyer colleague Josh Byrnes on board to assume GM duties.

Padres assistant GM Jason McLeod, like Hoyer a former Red Sox executive, also is planning to join the Cubs as assistant GM.

Whenever it ends, the Epstein-to-Cubs saga will go down as one of the more fascinating front-office searches in club history. It began Oct. 1, when New York Post columnist Joel Sherman tweeted: "I am shocked, but in last 36 hrs, every exec talk to says believe Red Sox will give permission and Theo will go to Cubs to be GM."

Few in Boston believed Epstein would leave after the Red Sox collapsed in the wild-card race, but he met with Cubs executives on an unseasonably warm and sun-splashed Oct. 8.

The Cubs quickly struck a five-year deal with Epstein reportedly worth $18.5 million, then began compensation talks with the Red Sox. The rest of the story is murky, as the negotiations have dragged on ever since. The Cubs tried to portray the Red Sox as being obstructionists, while the Red Sox sniffed that the Cubs were undervaluing the trade value of Epstein.

Which side was embellishing most is probably a debate best left for historians in the inevitable documentary on the Cubs' championship season.

Not that anyone should get ahead of themselves.

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Tribune Expect Hoyer as Epstein's right-hand man Padres GM likely will reunite with mentor to revamp Cubs By: Dave van Dyck

When he was a small college coach seeking a big league baseball job, Jed Hoyer spent six months preparing for his interview.

Before he was hired at age 28, he might have known more about the Red Sox than the man for whom he eventually worked, Theo Epstein.

Then, at 36, he was just as he prepared when he interviewed for the job as general manager of the Padres.

"He came to our first meeting with a binder full of analysis on the Padres as well as focusing on the kind of organization he would expect to build," Padres' CEO Jeff Moorad said. "Extremely impressive. Extremely thorough. Compelling."

For his next job, believed to be with the Cubs, Hoyer won't need to show his diligence. He certainly won't have to impress the boss with his knowledge.

All indications are Hoyer will be allowed to leave the Padres to re-join Epstein, with the two expected to have total control over all Cubs' baseball decisions. That's even more control than they had when they helped build the Red Sox into World Series champions for the first time in 86 years.

Cubs fans, however, should not expect some sort of old-fashioned title such as "assistant" general manager. They should consider him 1-A on the depth chart. There is no No. 2.

In other words, Hoyer is expected to be co-savior for those hoping to end the century-plus drought of despair.

How about co-curse buster?

The Cubs seemingly will have two general managers peering into one computer and analyzing all the data spewed forth as they lead the Cubs into a supposed new age.

Well, no one in San Diego is denying it. And there have been plenty of chances.

Plus, Hoyer already has an heir-apparent GM as his "assistant." That would be Josh Byrnes, another graduate of the Theo Epstein Boston School of Baseball Thought. The Diamondbacks fired Byrnes in July 2010 and his former boss in Arizona, Moorad, took him on with the Padres.

And then there's Jason McLeod, who is expected to leave the Padres with Hoyer. He worked with the Padres when Epstein did and then worked for Epstein in Boston.

Small world, huh?

For the naysayers — and there are always pessimists among the "Wait Till Next Year" crowd — the truth is neither Epstein nor Hoyer enjoyed a particularly fruitful winter a year ago (undoubtedly part of the reason both have become available).

It could be Epstein's decisions that discolored his Red Sox reputation may have been made partly because he had no dissent from such long-trusted lieutenants such as Hoyer and Byrnes. You know, the ones who disagree because they know they are allowed to, the ones who do the real fine-print poring- over of all the statistics strewn around the office.

Hoyer had an interesting quote about the so-called "Boston model" when he was hired in San Diego:

"In Boston, one of the things Theo always preached was to be a small-market team with big-market resources."

Epstein's final roster didn't reflect that as an over-bloated payroll contributed to a collapse down the stretch that resulted in a failure to make the postseason.

Hoyer worked with less than a third of Epstein's payroll last year (and maybe a third of what the Cubs are expected to spend next season).

So exactly who is Jed Hoyer?

Well, he is another one of those born-bred-and-schooled New Englanders. The son of a pediatrician became a small college shortstop- who still holds the saves record at Wesleyan College in Middleton, Conn.

For the record, he is three weeks older than Epstein.

Like Epstein, he grew up dreaming of working for the Red Sawx. So if his hiring comes to pass, the city will share with Boston more than the University of Chicago being known as the MIT of the Midwest. The Cubs will become the Red Sox of the Midwest.

In Boston, Hoyer not only pored over data, but he became actively involved in player development and major league scouting. He sat in the room as Epstein actively recruited pitcher Curt Schilling for three days before he agreed to a trade to the Red Sox.

When Epstein took a brief hiatus, Hoyer was named co-GM (for 44 days) and helped complete a trade for .

Of course, once you work for Epstein, you are seemingly forever labeled as a whiz kid who relies more on computer data than a scout's eyes.

But after taking over the Padres, the likable GM increased the number of amateur scouts helping in the draft from 14 to 21.

"There's no magic formula that I learned in Boston, there's no special sauce," Hoyer has said. "It comes down to the building blocks of baseball, which are scouting and player development."

He also has said: "Everything we do revolves around the minor leagues and player development."

If, as expected, be brings McLeod along, the Cubs would have another so-called "expert" in scouting and player development, considered a strong suit in the Padres organization.

That "everything revolves" philosophy would be soothing words to Chairman Tom Ricketts' ears, although they may not be as comforting to such holdovers as director of scouting Tim Wilken and player personnel director Oneri Fleita.

Hoyer is his own man, despite his association with Epstein. He was not afraid to make sweeping changes in the Padres' front office and, in his first season, was almost uncanny in player acquisitions.

The Padres won 92 games, staying in contention with eventual the World Series champion Giants until the final day of the regular season.

In his second season — minus star Adrian Gonzalez, whom he traded for salary purposes to Epstein's Red Sox — the Padres finished with 91 defeats.

And if that sounds familiar, it's because that's the same number the Cubs lost.

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Sun-Times If Theo Epstein deal keeps dragging on, could get involved BY: GORDON WITTENMYER

Amid breathless tweeting and over-reaching blog posts by some Chicago media, the Cubs finished Thursday a lot like they started it: waiting for a compensation deal that has been inevitable for more than a week to get done in time to announce Theo Epstein’s hiring as the team’s baseball boss Friday.

Sources left open the possibility that an announcement could be made Friday — significant because it’s an off day between World Series games — but the likelihood decreased as the business day ended without resolution and with Epstein still in Boston.

Major League Baseball officials already have consented to an off-day announcement during the Series, pending formal notification; the other off day is Tuesday.

Information leaked in Chicago early in the day of a deal being nearly done turned out to be premature and appeared to rile Boston brass, which already was taking a hardball approach to negotiations — made more difficult by the Cubs’ ‘‘backward’’ approach of reaching agreement with Epstein before starting compensation talks.

Red Sox principal owner John Henry’s response to the Boston Globe regarding the leak: ‘‘Not close.’’

Sources said late Thursday that progress has been made and a deal remains imminent, with Epstein getting a five-year, $18.5 million contract to become the Cubs’ president of baseball operations in an expanded front office that also will include Jed Hoyer — currently the Padres’ general manager — as his GM.

Reports suggest a similar length of contract for Hoyer, who is to be replaced in San Diego by current assistant Josh Byrnes — San Diego CEO Jeff Moorad’s GM in Arizona when Moorad ran the Diamondbacks. Hoyer is under contract through 2013 with a team option for ’14.

San Diego assistant GM Jason McLeod also is expected to leave the Padres for Epstein’s staff. Epstein, Hoyer and McLeod teamed in the Boston front office during the run that included 2004 and 2007 championships.

While the Cubs are expected to provide minor-league compensation for Hoyer and McLeod, that process doesn’t figure to be nearly as difficult or protracted as the Red Sox negotiations, if only because of the strong relationship between Moorad and Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts — and Moorad’s desire to promote Byrnes, who was still the Arizona GM and unavailable when Moorad hired Hoyer.

Despite Moorad’s respect for his current GM, many saw the handwriting on the wall in San Diego when Moorad added Byrnes and his former Arizona manager, A.J. Hinch, to the front office over the last 13 months.

Three weeks ago, Ricketts stayed an extra night in San Diego, where the Cubs finished the season, and had dinner with Moorad, presumably at least laying the groundwork for later discussions.

Meanwhile, the Cubs’ late-week optimism may have sprung from success in getting the Red Sox to back off demands for top pitching prospect Trey McNutt, who sources said Thursday night was off the table.

If the Cubs-Red Sox talks get any more contentious and drag much longer, baseball commissioner Bud Selig said during a SiriusXM radio interview that he might actually get involved to mediate.

‘‘It is a possibility,’’ he said. ‘‘No question it is a possibility.’’

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Sun-Times Cubs manager Mike Quade has wait on his shoulders By: Gordon Wittenmyer

Cubs manager Mike Quade has been spending a lot of time on the water at home in Bradenton, Fla., lately, waiting for a good catch.

But what comes next for him, his coaching staff and their baseball team that struggled to a fifth-place finish in 2011? Well, that’s a whole different kind of waiting game that involves the immediate futures of almost everyone in the Cubs’ baseball operation from interim general manager to players, scouts and minor-league instructors.

And with more delays in the player-compensation talks with the Red Sox that could take the Theo Epstein announcement into early next week, the fates of dozens of team personnel remain in limbo for at least a few more days. And that doesn’t even count the secondary layer of changes in the front office, involving Epstein’s friend and San Diego GM Jed Hoyer joining the front office as Cubs GM.

Quade, who has a year left on his contract, hasn’t heard from anyone in the Cubs’ front office since the season ended and the pursuit of president-in-waiting Epstein began — something he says makes sense and doesn’t give him a second thought.

Even as he follows the slow drip of updates on the talks with the Red Sox, Quade said he doesn’t spend nearly as much time thinking about his job status as he does possible solutions to fix what went wrong with the team.

‘‘Until things are in place, there’s no sense getting too carried away with that,’’ said Quade, whose coaching staff includes three guys similarly signed through next season: bench coach Pat Listach, bullpen coach and hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo.

Mostly, these days are about home, quiet time on the water and fresh seafood for dinner.

‘‘There’s only so much you can do when you’re waiting to see who the new boss is going to be,’’ Quade said. ‘‘There’s a lot of work to do. Hopefully, they’ll get the thing done, and they can start sorting through some of the winter stuff. . . . It’s probably been a long grind, for [chairman] Tom [Ricketts] and Theo, and I hope for them and a lot of the other people involved they can get it done and get started with [team business].’’

Meanwhile, Quade waits, with no illusions about what could be coming — but no preconceived concerns.

‘‘You wait and see,’’ he said. ‘‘Once it happens, you look forward to the opportunity to talk to the new boss and see where we’re going with this. I could have all the ideas in the world, and the new GM could say we’re going in a different direction.

‘‘And every general manager’s different. I don’t know Theo at all. I’ve done the research and done my homework to a certain extent. But everybody’s a little different in how they go about business and look at stuff.

‘‘You hear stuff and get excited about this and that, but let’s just hope Tom gets the guy he wants and gets it done, and we’ll go from there.’’

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Sun-Times A sharp skipper is key to World Series success BY: CHRIS DE LUCA

ST. LOUIS — Nine days ago, Theo Epstein agreed to a five-year, $18.5 million deal to become the new guiding force in the Cubs’ baseball operations, and as the Cubs and Boston Red Sox struggle to close this deal, one question sticks out.

Now what?

We all knew the Cubs were getting a new baseball braintrust that will include Epstein, San Diego Padres general manager Jed Hoyer and possibly Hoyer’s assistant GM, Jason McLeod. All are considered to be bright baseball minds, but let’s see how they do in their first big move: Finding a manager to replace the overmatched Mike Quade.

Remember, this blockbuster rebuilding of the Cubs’ baseball department — one that figures to squeeze out the bumbling Crane Kenney — is designed to deliver the Cubs to a World Series in a hurry.

And if you’ve been watching the 107th World Series between the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals, it’s clear a razor-sharp manager is key to that winning formula.

Sacrifice flies by and in the ninth inning off the Cards’ vaunted bullpen lifted the Rangers to a 2-1 victory, evening the Series at 1 entering a scheduled day off Friday.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa and Rangers manager Ron Washington were again uncomfortably shoved into the spotlight during these nail-biters in the first two games.

Managers in the spotlight? This is what happens on baseball’s biggest stage.

Hope the Cubs’ new bosses are watching.

If the Cubs were simply trying to rebuild and wait out the process, any no-name or even Quade would work in the early years. But if you’re building a World Series team at hyper speed, you had better find the right manager.

And if we learned anything from 2008, Cubs fans won’t settle simply for a division title and ticket to the playoffs. It’s World Series or bust.

With that in mind, the Cubs might want to look beyond a relatively inexperienced Ryne Sandberg, unless he can persuade old friend, and vastly experienced major-league manager, Larry Bowa to be his bench coach. Or, as long as they’re raiding the financially strapped Padres, they could move to pluck the respected Bud Black.

Whomever they pick better be able to withstand the heat of October. In this World Series, we have watched Washington get scorched, such as his questionable pinch-hitting choices in Game 1. It’s not so much the moves he made, but the confidence — or lack of confidence — Washington displayed. It led to two days’ worth of grilling.

“Mostly it comes down to you make a move; if it works, ‘Hey, good move,’ ” La Russa said. “If it doesn’t work, ‘What was he thinking?’ ”

The difference here is La Russa’s a veteran comfortable playing this October chess game. He might spar with second-guessing reporters, but deep down, he doesn’t care what the world thinks.

He makes moves with clear confidence — the sign of a manager in complete control.

By the way, La Russa’s pinch hitters this season had gone 10-for-22 (.455 average) after Allen Craig’s RBI single in the seventh gave the Cards a 1-0 lead in Game 2. Just before the at-bat with runners at first and second and two outs, Washington lifted starter after 87 pitches in favor of right-hander Alexi Ogando. More second-guessing?

It was the identical scenario from Game 1, when Craig delivered the go-ahead run against Ogando. Washington is making his second straight trip to the World Series. But his unease has been evident this postseason. Even when asked about going head-to-head with La Russa before Game 2, Washington showed his confidence needs a boost.

“I don’t think I can win a chess game against Tony,” Washington admitted. “The best I can do is try to put my players in a position to be successful and hope they execute, and if they execute, I think the chess matches take care of themselves.”

That philosophy works in the regular season. In the postseason, chess matches almost always come into play. Hope you’re watching, Theo.

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Daily Herald Conflicting reports on Cubs, Red Sox deal By: Mike Spellman

Multiple outlets are reporting that the Cubs will officially announce the signing of Theo Epstein on Friday. Other reports, however, say it will take longer.

Epstein and the Cubs reportedly agreed to terms last week on a 5-year deal worth somewhere around the $20 million range, but the announcement was held up by protracted discussions over what kind of compensation the Cubs would give Epstein’s employer, the Boston Red Sox.

Now that those discussions are nearly complete, and with Friday being an off day in the World Series, the Cubs have apparently been granted permission to introduce Epstein to the media.

But, according to The Boston Globe, Red Sox owner John Henry said Boston was “not close” to reaching any agreement with the Cubs. And assistant general manager Ben Cherington characterized the reports of a settlement as “premature,” according to The Globe. Still in question is exactly what title Epstein will hold with the Cubs. ESPN is reporting that Epstein will be named president of baseball operations and eventually hire San Diego general manager Jed Hoyer to serve as the Cubs’ GM. Once Epstein is in place, the Cubs must seek permission from San Diego to talk with Hoyer.

Epstein was running the Red Sox when they won it all in 2004 to end an 86-year World Series championship drought. And Boston added another title, with Epstein at the helm, three years later.

Once Epstein departs, the Red Sox are expected to announce assistant GM Ben Cherington as his replacement. The Red Sox, who collapsed in September and missed the playoffs for a second straight year, must also find a new manager to replace Terry Francona.

One of the first chores in Chicago is the future of manager Mike Quade, who piloted the team to a 71-91 record in his first full season. He has another year left on his deal.

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Daily Herald Can’t wait for Epstein to get to work By: Mike Spellman

Heavy meddle:

Usually a meddling boss is the last thing you’d want in the workplace.

But if Theo Epstein is named president of baseball operations for the Cubs on Friday as expected or even later, and Jed Hoyer is brought in as general manager, all Cubs fans can hope for is that Theo meddles and meddles and meddles and ...

Epstein’s handprints all over everything baseball in that organization is an absolute must.

Burying the lede:

Wasn’t the most interesting part of Jay Cutler’s news conference — other than not apologizing for zinging Mike Martz — the revelation that a pair of beat writers got into a fight at Halas Hall?

Toot, toot:

The Chicago Express is handing out train whistles at its home opener Saturday at the Centre Arena in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for most train whistles used at one time.

Yeah, that’s not going to be too annoying when the guy next to you is still tooting his caboose off midway through the second period.

Reluctant kudos:

Not a fan, but gotta say Tony LaRussa is pretty good at his job.

Overdue kudos:

If it were possible for someone to smile for five straight hours, my money would be on Bobby Hull this Saturday when he and fellow Blackhawk great Stan Mikita are immortalized in bronze during a ceremony at the United Center.

Rest in peace:

Don’t know why, but I tuned into the IndyCar race at Las Vegas on Sunday, just minutes after the multicar wreck that cost Dan Wheldon his life.

Riveting coverage. Truly. And so, so sad.

BTW:

How in the world did they get a field of 34 drivers for the Las Vegas race when they’ve seemed to struggle lately just to fill the 33 spots at Indianapolis for the 500?

Be prepared:

The Sprint Cup Chase continues this weekend at Talladega.

Talladega, where the “big one” is always lurking.

Quick quiz:

Who was the Bulls top draft pick in the 2011 Draft?

Tiger shots:

Greg Norman and Geoff Ogilvy are probably right when they say Tiger Woods doesn’t deserve to be on the Presidents Cup team this year. But it’s the fact that fellow competitors have gotten the nerve to say such a thing about Woods that is the new twist. Such comments wouldn’t have come out a few years ago.

And don’t think Tiger will just slough them off — that’s just not part of his DNA … and suddenly we have a Presidents Cup that is must-see TV.

Bulls quiz answer:

Nikola Mirotic

Time travelers:

I don’t like the way things set up this weekend for the Bears.

While Tampa Bay left for London early in the week and got a few days to acclimate themselves to the time change, the Bears didn’t leave until late Thursday.

Anyone who has made that trip knows the players will be in a jet-lag haze Friday and part of Saturday and maybe, just maybe will finally be back to normal by Sunday.

That’s kind of risky planning, isn’t it?

Blackhawks vs. Canucks:

AHL-style, Friday night, Allstate Arena.

Should be fun.

He texted it:

“Not interested.”

— White Sox GM Kenny Williams to DH beat writer Scot Gregor, when asked to respond to the latest fuss between Ozzie Guillen and Don Cooper.

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Daily Herald Cubs’ Ricketts has changed ... and that’s good By: Barry Rozner

It was in June that Tom Ricketts offered up a line which — up to that point — was his most infamous. “I’ve never bought into the (idea) that I should have a baseball guy to watch my baseball guy and his baseball guys,” Ricketts said at Wrigley Field. “Then what do you get, a baseball guy to watch the baseball guy who’s watching your baseball guys?”

And there have been numerous times the last two years in which Ricketts expressed complete confidence in Crane Kenney.

He was the right man to be the team president, to oversee the entire operation.

But Kenney did not meddle in baseball operations and he was the guy to get a new stadium deal done, Ricketts insisted.

Well, stop the world I want to get off.

Of all the unexpected and head-spinning moves of the last few months, nothing can be more shocking than Ricketts preparing to put a baseball guy in charge of the baseball team, and allowing him to bring in a GM and yet another baseball guy to work for the GM.

Yes, a baseball guy will be watching a baseball guy, and together they’ll be watching all the rest of the baseball guys, and Kenney — at least in theory — will have nothing to do with baseball.

Titles will be the focus of much debate, but what they call Theo Epstein — President of Whatever Kenney isn’t — and whether Ricketts allows Kenney to retain his title — President of Not As Much As He Used To Be — is essentially irrelevant as long as Epstein and his new GM (Jed Hoyer) don’t have anything to do with Kenney.

Ricketts has executed what we’ve called for here for years, that he put a baseball man in charge of the operation.

Furthermore, with Ricketts’ backing, Epstein has been trying hard to bring with him Jonathan Gilula, a Red Sox VP of business affairs for nine years and a man in the center of the Fenway Park renovations.

These are all signs that Ricketts no longer believes Kenney is the reason the planet remains on its axis, and that Ricketts has listened to the avalanche of criticism he’s received the last two years.

It remains to be seen how much of this comes to fruition, but in the process Ricketts — without saying a word publicly — has admitted he was wrong about nearly everything he thought when he got here, knowledge any of us could have given him and information many of us tried to offer him.

It is a wonderful sign.

Most baseball owners — and frankly, most baseball executives — are unapologetic egomaniacs. For proof, just take a look at the dismantling of the Red Sox’ World Series-winning hierarchy the last few weeks.

But Ricketts is saying he doesn’t have all the answers and that he’s made some big mistakes.

Now, he’s taking big steps to correct those mistakes and it takes a big man to admit that.

It bodes quite well for the future, indicating that Ricketts — after refusing to accept reality — now realizes he can change his mind. He can try to right wrongs and he can fix what’s broken with help from those who know what they’re doing.

It’s no guarantee that Epstein is going to be the savior or that he’s going to be the one who ends the drought. He’s not going to reinvent the game.

Epstein will be competent and he will expand a front office dreadfully behind the times in staffing and modernization.

But Ricketts’ sudden acceptance that he needs help and that he’s not a baseball genius is a terrific step in the right direction.

For this he should be roundly applauded and for this he deserves much credit.

No matter what you’ve thought of Ricketts the last few years, and you had every right to think the worst, it’s now time to hope for the best.

Good for you, Tom Ricketts.

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Cubs.com Sox, Cubs continue to work on Epstein deal By: Carrie Muskat

CHICAGO -- Theo Epstein continued to work at Fenway Park Thursday while the Red Sox and Cubs discussed compensation options to allow the 37-year-old general manager to take over baseball operations in Chicago.

No news conference was scheduled at Wrigley Field for Friday, which is the travel day for the World Series. Several reports said Epstein could be introduced at that time, but such an announcement would have to be approved by Commissioner Bud Selig because discourages teams from making major announcements during the World Series. CBS Sportsline reported Thursday no one from the Cubs had asked MLB for permission to hold a news conference.

During a radio interview prior to Game 2 of the World Series on Thursday at Busch Stadium, Selig said he may step in to help resolve the negotiations between the Cubs and Red Sox regarding compensation for Epstein. Speaking on SiriusXM's Mad Dog Radio, Selig was asked if he expected to act as arbitrator between the Cubs and Red Sox.

"It is a possibility," Selig said. "No question, it is a possibility."

Depending on where you were, resolution was either imminent or not close. On Thursday, Comcast Sportsnet Chicago and ESPNChicago.com both reported the two teams were close to finalizing an agreement to bring Epstein to Chicago. ESPNChicago.com quoted a "source with knowledge of the negotiations" as saying, "The two sides are on the 5-yard line."

However, Red Sox owner John Henry told the Boston Globe on Thursday the deal was "not close." Boston assistant general manager Ben Cherington, expected to be promoted to GM when Epstein leaves, also told the Globe that reports of a deal were "premature." Baseball sources also confirmed to MLB.com that it was too soon to say the deal was complete.

ESPNBoston.com reported the deal was delayed so the Red Sox could review Cubs' prospects medical exams.

The Cubs and Red Sox have been working on details since word leaked last week that Epstein had agreed to a five-year, $18.5 million contract with the Cubs.

The Cubs would not comment on the reports.

Multiple reports have Epstein hiring Jed Hoyer, currently the Padres' general manager, to become the Cubs' GM. The Padres were not expected to ask for compensation for Hoyer.

Epstein also was expected to add Padres assistant general manager Jason McLeod to the Cubs staff, according to multiple reports. McLeod was the director of amateur scouting in Boston with Epstein. Among the players he picked in the First-Year Player Draft were Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Clay Buchholtz, , and Justin Masterson.

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CSNChicago.com Commissioner Selig may step in to Cubs, Red Sox negotiations By: Jeremy Lynn

With conflicting reports swirling over the progress of negotiations between the Cubs and Red Sox for Theo Epstein, there's no telling when an ultimate resolution will come.

However, if no agreement is reached soon, MLB commissioner Bud Selig said he might have to get involved.

In an interview with Sirius XM radio host Chris Russo, Selig answered the question about stepping in to the middle of the impasse by saying, "It is a possibility. No question, it is a possibility."

While the Cubs haven't ruled out an agreement and press conference during Friday's World Series off day, such a situation is unlikely. That leaves the next off day following Game 5 on Tuesday, Oct. 25.

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CSNChicago.com No deal? Cubs, Red Sox drag out Epstein talks By: Patrick Mooney

Major League Baseball would no doubt rather see the Cubs and the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. Just think of the ratings bonanza that would be for FOX.

There would be two iconic backdrops at Wrigley Field and Fenway Park, plus all those eyeballs in two major markets. There would be the ultimate cliffhanger: Could the Cubs end more than a century of heartbreak?

That’s exactly why Theo Epstein will be coming to Chicago to erase that history and make this a cutting- edge organization, the scouting and player development “machine” he promised Boston. The question remains when, not if.

Instead, the country gets the St. Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers, two fine teams that won’t generate all that much buzz. And it sounds like they’ll have to keep fighting with the Cubs and Red Sox for attention.

A source familiar with the negotiations said Thursday that the Epstein compensation deal is “not done,” and confirmed that the Red Sox general manager remained in Boston, working on Yawkey Way. The source doubted that the two sides had reached the point where they were exchanging medical records on players.

Clearly, this is a fluid situation that seems to depend on how long ago you refreshed your Twitter feed. The Cubs weren’t ruling out a news conference on Friday, but they also didn’t have any immediate plans to organize one either.

Why the delay? In part, because the Cubs did this deal in reverse, and the Red Sox feel like they have all this leverage.

Sources said that the Cubs hadn’t started putting together possible compensation packages when word leaked out that they had asked for permission to interview Epstein, or when reports began circulating that he was on the verge of agreeing to a new five-year deal in Chicago.

Compare that to the timeline Florida Marlins president presented at the Ozzie Guillen press conference last month.

At the ownership level, Jeffrey Loria and had agreed on the compensation by Sept. 25, which allowed Guillen to interview in Miami. The next night, he managed his final game in a White Sox uniform. Two days after that, he was introduced to the South Florida media.

“(There was) an agreement between Jerry and Jeffrey on who the players would be in a scenario where there would be compensation for permission to speak with Ozzie, who was still under contract,” Samson said on Sept. 28. “Ozzie was not traded to the Marlins. That never did take place. What did take place is that compensation was worked out (so that) Ozzie would have permission to speak with us. And if a deal were consummated between Ozzie and the Marlins, then that compensation would happen.”

The White Sox received two prospects, reliever Jhan Mariñez and infielder Ozzie Martinez, which should eventually be the framework for this deal.

Mariñez entered the 2011 season ranked by Baseball America as the No. 4 prospect in the Marlins system. He appeared in the Futures Game and went 3-8 with a 3.57 ERA and 74 in 56 relief appearances at -A Jacksonville.

Martinez spent most of last season at -A New Orleans, and some time with the major-league club. He was Florida’s minor league player of the year in 2010, a Southern League All-Star who also went to the Futures Game.

The Cubs need Epstein as much as – if not more than – the Marlins needed Guillen. Both could be viewed as transformational hires, though a general manager certainly has more influence over a franchise’s future.

Is there an end in sight? It depends on who you talk to and what you read.

At this point, it is becoming hard to tell what can be termed new information. No one disputes the idea that Epstein will be the next baseball czar at and Addison. But the optimism that was seen in certain Chicago outlets on Thursday morning was met with resistance in Boston.

Red Sox principal owner John W. Henry and assistant general manager Ben Cherington – Epstein’s expected replacement – told The Boston Globe that the two sides weren’t close to a done deal. Chief executive officer Larry Lucchino is not one to give in easily, and his negotiating team doesn’t appear to be in a rush.

Momentum seems to be gathering for general manager Jed Hoyer to leave the San Diego Padres and take a similar position with the Cubs, according to multiple reports. In a new management structure, Hoyer would be reunited with and report to Epstein. Together they helped assemble Red Sox teams that won World Series titles in 2004 and 2007.

Padres chief executive officer Jeff Moorad could elevate Josh Byrnes, another former Red Sox staffer, and have him run baseball operations. Byrnes was the general manager when Moorad owned a piece of the team.

The World Series has an off-day on Friday, which would be a good time to parade Epstein and Cherington around for news conferences. The next window could be Tuesday. With all these games of front office chess playing out, commissioner Bud Selig has to be wondering when the focus will shift back to the field.

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ESPN.com Time for Cubs to raid rivals By: Johnette Howard

Theo Epstein hasn't even officially begun running the Cubs yet, let alone set up a suggestion box. But this can't wait. At the top of Epstein's to-do list, even before banning in-game beers and fried chicken in the clubhouse, you know what Epstein has to scribble in, right? By the end of this World Series, he has to know every little thing about Albert Pujols, from his favorite at-bat music to what question could've ruined his perfect score on his 2007 U.S. citizenship test. And Epstein has to learn every last detail about Tony La Russa, too, down to whether La Russa's devoted animal-rights activism makes him for or against the catch-and-release of the Rally Squirrel from Busch Stadium to a nice leafy spot somewhere upstate. Then Epstein has to figure out how to get Pujols and La Russa to the Cubs.

Nothing against Dusty Baker, who has won his division wherever he's been manager, but after watching the uncanny roll that La Russa was on in the playoffs and Wednesday's Game 1 of the World Series as he mixed and matched , you get the feeling if La Russa were managing the Cubs in 2003, he'd have pulled a double switch and had Moises Alou sitting in Bartman's seat and the bewildered Bartman taking his place in left field before that fateful foul ball went hooking down the line and changed everything.

La Russa is just plain showing off how smart he is right now. But better yet -- for the Cubs, anyway -- the 67-year-old manager and the Cardinals have a shared option to decide whether he'll return to St. Louis for a 17th season.

And Pujols, who's just 31, is a free agent after this season, too.

There's not a better package deal or way for Epstein to jump-start the franchise than bringing La Russa and Pujols to Wrigley Field.

Pujols' deep roots in the St. Louis community are a huge hurdle to prying him away. But he also finally wants to be paid like the best player in baseball.

For years, there've been murmurs about La Russa looking elsewhere for the last act of his career. Boston was rumored as a possibility when Terry Francona was on the hot seat and Epstein was still there. The White Sox job came up, too, because of La Russa's personal history there and friendliness with ownership. And La Russa refused to shoot down the talk in late September.

Reminded that refusal would surely only spur the speculation even more, La Russa smirked and told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "It's healthy to have fun, isn't it? They say if you smile 10 times a day, you're healthy. I hope everyone is having fun."

Managing the White Sox again would've been a been there/done that move for La Russa.

Getting the Cubs to a World Series -- and then winning it for the first time since 1908 -- is the sport's last great frontier. The Cubs' curse is the Rubik's Cube of baseball. Solving it is the greatest unaccomplished team achievement left in American sports, period. Nothing else comes close.

Epstein should find a way to get La Russa and Pujols to buy into the romance of that challenge like he did. Appeal to their egos, their sense of theatre and history, their love of baseball's rituals and touchstones. Flaunt the Cubs' big-market payroll. Whatever it takes.

(Why not chase first? No. With no designated hitter spot to fall back on, the Cubs should forget Fielder if Pujols will listen. I'm with that unnamed baseball executive who recently told Sports Illustrated that when he looks at Fielder, who's already rotund at 27, he worries he's the second coming of . And anyway, after the / signings in Boston, Theo needs a sure thing. And Pujols is as close to that as you can get.)

The Cards have so far balked at the $200 million starting point it might take to get a Pujols deal done. Pujols cut off contract negotiations once this season began, and he declined to discuss the matter again as the Cards prepared to host Texas this week in the first two games of the World Series.

But people who have spoken to Pujols off the record during the year say he wasn't thrilled that it's been allowed to come to this, and he'll have little tolerance if the Cards treat him as if all's fair in love and contract wars, the way the Yankees insulted last winter.

So now what? Memo to Theo: Make a short list of the best Chicago schools for Pujols' kids. Start Googling La Russa's favorite vegetarian dishes and Springsteen songs. See if there's not some Nobel Prize-winning psychologist bumping into the furniture at Yale, your alma mater, who has some genius theory about how people make these emotionally freighted decisions and what tripwires to trigger. Or throw your wholesale faith in with the Boras Theory of Relativity: The most zeroes on the contract wins.

La Russa has always been able to pencil in Pujols, the greatest hitter of his generation, on his lineup card the past 11 years. And Pujols, who has never played a big league season without La Russa, has helped La Russa to three of his six World Series trips.

They're better together than they would be apart.

So if you're a Cubs fan -- or just a baseball nut, period, who would like to see the Cubs finally win it all -- it makes sense to root like hell against the Cardinals getting a storybook ending to their startling season. No sense letting everyone get all sappy and sentimental over there. Then they might actually start sniffling that they can't possibly leave now.

There's no better new landing spot for both Pujols and La Russa than the Cubs.

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ESPNChicago.com Source: Cubs set to hire Theo Epstein By: Bruce Levine

The and Boston Red Sox are finalizing a deal that would make Theo Epstein the Cubs' president of baseball operations, according to a baseball source.

The source said it could happen Thursday, but as of early Friday morning, the deal was not done.

A source with knowledge of the negotiations said: "The two sides are on the 5-yard line." Major League Baseball already has told the Cubs that they can have a news conference Friday to introduce Epstein, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

Sources confirmed to ESPNChicago.com and ESPNBoston.com that San Diego Padres general manager Jed Hoyer will be named Cubs GM a few days after Epstein's news conference.

Hoyer will be granted permission to leave when San Diego promotes senior vice president of baseball operations Josh Byrnes to vice president/GM, a source said. Byrnes was GM of the Arizona Diamondbacks when Padres owner Jeff Moorad was part-owner of that team. Sources said Moorad has wanted Byrnes to return to the job, even though he respected Hoyer, whom he hired in 2010.

The Red Sox aimed high in asking for compensation for Epstein. A baseball source told ESPNBoston.com that they initially asked for the Cubs young star shortstop Starlin Castro. Whey they were rebuffed, the Red Sox asked for arguably the Cubs best in Matt Garza.

A major league source told ESPNChicago.com that at one point Boston proposed that the Cubs take pitcher John Lackey's contract. Lackey has three seasons remaining on a five-year, $82.5 million contract. He was 12-12 with a 6.41 ERA in 28 starts for the Red Sox in 2011.

But the expected agreement will include Cubs minor leaguers, although not top prospects Brett Jackson, Trey McNutt or Matt Szczur, the source said. Cash will not be part of the compensation.

The Red Sox would not confirm a deal is imminent. In fact, owner John Henry told the Boston Globe that a deal is "not close." Still, an official with one of the teams involved suggested it was possible an agreement has been reached, but that it would be unlikely for either the Cubs or Red Sox to make an announcement before the Red Sox review the medical records of the player or players they will receive.

If compensation talks can't be pushed over the goal line, baseball commissioner Bud Selig told Sirius XM that he may have to step in to help mediate the impasse.

"It's a possibility," Selig said on the radio. "No question, it is a possibility."

A source told ESPNBoston.com that Epstein originally asked Byrnes to join him in Chicago, but Byrnes declined. Epstein then turned to Hoyer, his longtime friend and former assistant. Hoyer went to Moorad, told him of the offer from Epstein and said he would stay if the Padres gave him a five-year extension. Moorad, though reluctant to lose Hoyer, the source said, said he would not grant him the extension and told him he was free to take the Cubs job.

In an email to ESPNBoston.com late Wednesday night, though, Moorad said that the Cubs had not asked for official permission to interview Hoyer.

In another Cubs staffing development, ESPNBoston.com has confirmed that Padres assistant GM Jason McLeod will also join Epstein and Hoyer in Chicago.

There will be no compensation for Hoyer, a source told ESPNChicago.com and ESPNBoston.com. Moorad and Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts have become friends since the Ricketts family bought the Cubs in October 2009. Ricketts was in San Diego on Sept. 28, the last day of the regular season, and did not return with the Cubs on the flight back to Chicago. Ricketts met with Moorad and sat with him, Byrnes and Hoyer during the season finale.

Byrnes and Hoyer worked with Epstein in Boston before leaving for their new jobs. Hoyer took over as Padres GM in 2010 after Kevin Towers was fired. McLeod worked for the Red Sox in the scouting department for seven years before going to the Padres. One remaining piece missing from Epstein's original team of key advisors is Red Sox special assistant Dave Finley, who could also possibly be in play for Epstein in Chicago.

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Boston Herald Albert Pujols makes sense for Theo Epstein’s Cubs By: Bob Klapisch

ST. LOUIS -- Sometime on Friday afternoon Theo Epstein will be officially crowned as the last hope for a franchise reeling in the outer limits of irrelevance. The Cubs are betting $20 million that Epstein, the new general manager, can fix them in the next five years. It’s a smart wager. The man who ended the Yankees’ reign as the AL East’s best team in the mid-2000s is about to launch a pre-emptive strike at the heart of the Cardinals’ empire.

If Epstein has his way, Albert Pujols just might end up at Wrigley, a move that makes sense on so many levels.

Pujols is (or was) the game’s greatest right-handed slugger. Putting him in the middle of the Cubs’ lineup would satisfy two agendas: the Cubs, who were eighth in the league in runs scored in 2011, would become an upper-tier threat. And the Cardinals, who still think they’re hurtling toward a world championship despite a 2-1 loss the Rangers on Thursday night, would lose an irreplaceable weapon.

What better way for Epstein to pull the Cubs out of NL Central’s cesspool than to land their rival’s biggest star? Luring Pujols to Chicago’s north side would be an even greater coup for Epstein than delivering Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford to the Red Sox [team stats] Nation last winter.

OK, so that didn’t quite work out. The series of catastrophic miscalculations not only cost Terry Francona his job, but hastened Epstein’s exit from Fenway, as well. But that’ll only strengthen the GM’s resolve to embarrass Boston owner John Henry. If ever there were a can’t-miss, quick-fix solution for the Cubs, it’s Pujols, and Epstein knows it.

Except for a nagging factoid, of which Epstein is equally aware: expensive, long-term contracts are baseball’s equivalent of the money pit, even for the game’s uber-talents. The most obvious example is Alex Rodriguez, whose 10-year $275 million pact becomes more of an albatross every summer. The list doesn’t stop there, as SI.com’s Joe Posnanski recently documented.

Among others, Ryan Howard (five years, $125 million), Barry Zito (seven years, $126 million), Vernon Wells, (seven, $126 million) and John Lackey (five, $82.5 million) are examples of how similar Major League Baseball is to the federal government in casually torching sums that would feed third world nations.

Epstein is supposed to be smarter than that, which is why the Cubs were so eager to pry him away from the Sox. It’s going to take a patience and vision to re-make Cubs – scouting and player development – not awarding Pujols a deal that’ll take him into his late 30s.

The great slugger is only 31, but it’s worth comparing him to A-Rod as a player who may have already begun his decline phase. Pujols’ numbers (.299, 37 homers, 99 RBI) were respectable in 2011; most hitters would consider that to-die-for production. Yet, Pujols’ slugging and on-base percentage have been receding since 2008 and his 17 percent line-drive rate was the second-lowest of his career.

Physically, Pujols still seems as big and indestructible as an NFL lineman, but that’s only if you’re willing to ignore the broken wrist he suffered in June. Who knows what the long-term effects will be as he ages? That’s where the comparison to A-Rod becomes especially poignant: once nearly impossible to dent or puncture or wound, the Yankees’ third baseman is having increasing difficulty staying on the field.

There’s a number of reasons why, the most obvious of which is his age. At 36, A-Rod admits he’s more susceptible to breakdowns now, and takes longer to heal. The after-effects of steroids, although unquantifiable, is another factor. Either way, the back of Rodriguez’s baseball card says he’s changed radically in the last decade.

After all, he played 1,114 gams in his age 25-through-31 seasons, an average of 159 per. Since 2008, however, hobbled by hip, knee, shoulder and calf problems, A-Rod’s durability is no longer a given. His average dipped to 133 games a year. This year Rodriguez played in only 99 games, his fewest in 12 seasons.

The Yankees are loathe to admit they’re stuck with a decelerating Rodriguez. Instead, cheerfully talks about returning A-Rod to his everyday duties at third base in 2012, but who’s kidding whom? Team officials wince in private when forced to think about the remaining six years on A-Rod’s contract.

One rival executive predicts the Yankees will eventually trade A-Rod as his value continues to shrink. "Imagine what he’s going to (play) like when he’s 40." Only, who would take A-Rod unless the Yankees were willing to subsidize the entire contract?

These are some of the questions running through Epstein’s mind as he begins the process of rescuing the Cubs. One thing is certain: he needs power to challenge the Cardinals and Brewers. With Aramis Ramirez heading for the open market, there’s a void that only someone like Pujols or Prince Fielder can fill.

But how much will Pujols command as the Cubs’ second savior? And, better question, how much will it be worth to him if the Cardinals continue their unlikely sprint to a world championship?

Pujols’ relationship with ownership hit an all-time low in spring training, when he rejected a reported nine-year, $195 million deal. The clouds only continued to darken after Pujols hit .245 in April and managed just two HRs in 111 at-bats in May. Then came the wrist injury.

The chemistry has improved dramatically since then, however, which is what the Cardinals hope to capitalize on during an exclusive negotiating window immediately after the World Series. They can go one-on-one with Pujols for 15 days, during which Epstein can’t touch him.

That’s when Pujols has to decide whether his current marriage to the Cardinals is worth more than a possible future with the Cubs. It’s a fascinating triangle because, ultimately, someone’s going to cave. Someone’s going take the Yankees’ lesson with A-Rod and toss it right out the window.