Theo Epstein aka (Boy Wonder) is now the Vice President of the Cubs. A big statement by the Cubs and Red Sox for letting Theo go. Is Theo Epstein worth all of this hype? Yes, his record speaks for itself. Scoreboard... That being said Theo Epstein took over a Red Sox team that won 93 games the previous season and had Pedro, Manny, Varitek, Lowe and Johnny Damon with an average (at the time) DH named David Ortiz added from the Twins . It was the under the radar moves like Kevin Millar, Dave Roberts, Orlando Cabrera and trading away fan favorite Nomar Garciaparra that ended the curse in Boston. The Cubs team Epstein takes over is nowhere close to 90+ wins and will take at least 3 years to correct. Just like in Boston there is a culture to change as well as a team. Both Chicago and Boston have die hard extremely loyal fans in big city markets but the culture of losing runs deep still in Chicago with curse issues as well. Putting all that aside the Cubs are a bad team with bad contracts. It will be interesting to see how Theo Epstein goes about restructuring this team. Epstein will probably work hard on building a strong farm system while sprinkling in big money free agents to plug holes. One thing in his favor is there is no team called the New York Yankees to battle. The Cardinals are a bitter big time rival but will not spend like the Yankees to compete. If Theo Epstein ends the Cubs curse as well, he will go down in baseball history. No GM or VP will ever be able to top ending the championship droughts of the Red Sox and Cubs. Nothing could be done to top that, nothing. It will also be interesting to see how the Red Sox fare now without Theo. That will be a good indicator of Theo's influence and performance in Boston. I think Epstein will win in Chicago, be in the playoffs by 2014 but winning the World Series is a whole other argument. Over 100 years of futility is not a overnight fix but it has to end soon, right? It can't continue, the great fans of the Cubs can't keep being disappointed year after year., can they? Nobody thought the Red Sox would ever win either! One thing that can be guaranteed is the Cubs will field a playoff contending team every year. The Cubs fans will enjoy a better product on the field, giving them some hope at least, which is a far cry from recent years. Cubs fans want more than a contender however, they want a Champion. It's now up to the Boy Wonder to do it again,bring a Championship home to Chicago and break another curse.Brad Gray/President Scuffedballs.com
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
