Lucchino, Epstein headed for breakup in Boston?

[Lil Bit Special]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/jon_heyman/08/11/heyman.lucchino/

One big part of the Red Sox championship teams has already moved from Boston to the Dodgers. Could another be on the way?

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, and one logical ending would have Lucchino joining Manny Ramirez in Los Angeles. It's all speculation now, but it's not all that farfetched.

Despite the well-documented difficulties and differences of Epstein and Lucchino -- Lucchino is said by people familiar with the just-departed Ramirez soap opera to have been much more committed to keeping Ramirez, no matter how badly the man-child superstar behaved and how much he risked undermining the clubhouse -- the two innovative Yalies have engineered this Red Sox renaissance and combined to bring two World Series titles to the previously star-crossed and storied organization. Yet there is burgeoning talk among baseball's elite that the end of their baseball relationship could be at hand.

Epstein's rise in stature from boy wonder to one of baseball's best GMs has brought him considerable cache and clout. So it's no surprise that baseball people believe he's more likely to be in position to win any potential power play if he desires, especially with his three-year contract expiring after this year.

When Epstein's previous contract ran out after the 2005 season he was very nearly gone for good -- and he did actually leave for a few weeks, exiting Fenway Park disguised in a monkey suit to avoid reporters the day he announced his resignation -- but club owner John Henry lured him back for three more years with a seven-figure salary and the promise of greater autonomy.

Nobody inside baseball sees Henry, one of baseball's best owners, letting things get so hairy again.

Lucchino has served Boston well, and it was he who headed the front office in Epstein's absence when the team pulled off the blockbuster trade of top prospect Hanley Ramirez and other youngsters for pitching star Josh Beckett and third baseman Mike Lowell. But Epstein surely is seen as the future of the franchise, as much as any of the young stars he has protected so eagerly and wisely. Plus, Epstein is known to be beloved by Henry. So this time top baseball executives view Lucchino, a high-priced baseball mercenary who previously worked in Baltimore and San Diego, as the more likely to go.

Lucchino is brilliant but is said by antagonists to unfailingly and annoyingly view himself as the smartest person in any room. His management style is reputed to alternate between charming and abrupt, and he is said to wear on colleagues. Some actually liken Lucchino to basketball vagabond Larry Brown, though history shows Lucchino isn't nearly that mobile.

Previous rumors have Lucchino going to Toronto, but the Frank McCourt-owned Dodgers are a more logical landing spot. While Lucchino has a history of uneasy relationships with top baseball people he has employed (Randy Smith and Josh Byrnes are two of many examples), McCourt doesn't seem to mind a little front-office friction. Plus his obsession for all things Red Sox borders on a fetish; he has already acquired or hired a dugout full of former Red Sox, including Ramirez, Nomar Garciaparra, Derek Lowe, Grady Little and Bill Mueller, not to mention longtime Lucchino associate Charles Steinberg, a top PR man for Lucchino in San Diego and Boston who was supposedly paid the extraordinary annual salary of $1 million per year to make things seem better in L.A.

And McCourt and Lucchino already have common ground: They are both admirers of Ramirez.

More Ramirez Fallout

• Epstein was said by associates to have been upset about the leaking of an alleged story claiming Ramirez's agent, Scott Boras, called him back an hour after the trade to try to have the blockbuster deal rescinded and get Ramirez back to Boston without the option years. It isn't known who provided this info about the alleged phone call, but it isn't believed to have actually occurred. It certainly doesn't make much sense in that Ramirez was thrilled to have gone to the Dodgers. In any case, what upset Epstein was the unnecessary smearing of Ramirez's name. My view: I agree. Ramirez did enough to besmirch his own name without someone connected to the team piling on.

• While folks were understandably upset over Ramirez's terrible behavior leading up to the trade, no one could reasonably expect MLB to actually tie Ramirez's childish antics to Boras. Ramirez's lay-down behavior was so outrageous that MLB should indeed investigate him. But there's no belief from anyone credible that they'll find anything, certainly nothing against Boras.

The reality is that Ramirez behaved beautifully for half a season under Boras, then became irritated over the club options that could tie him to Boston for two more years. But let's not forget that Ramirez's behavior had been erratic throughout his eight years in Boston, including long before he hired Boras, and Red Sox people have covered up a lot of it in the past. Is it possible that Boras mentioned to him that the club options in his Red Sox contract were not a good thing? It is. Will Boras benefit from the options being dropped? Presumably he will, assuming the erratic Ramirez stays with Boras for the signing of his next contract. But the real question is: Would Boras risk his seemingly excellent relationship with the Red Sox and overall reputation to orchestrate Ramirez's ridiculous behavior? According to one GM, it's just the opposite, that perhaps no agent is better than Boras at dealing with off-field issues of players. Anyway, the orchestration idea is farfetched and nothing more than misguided media musings advanced in some cases by sworn Boras enemies.

• It was reported that Ramirez wouldn't mind playing for the Yankees. Don't believe that for a second. Ramirez's longstanding complaint about Boston was that he didn't like the fishbowl existence, so it makes no sense that he would want to play in his hometown. He has never shown any interest in playing in New York before, and the only plausible reason that it comes out now is as a bargaining tool. Beyond all that, Man-Ram isn't the type of personality that Yankees GM Brian Cashman is going to want to invest in. The teams Ramirez was said to have preferred in past years were Anaheim, Arizona and Cleveland, none of which resembles his hometown.

• Epstein's decision to claim Brian Giles was a wise risk on the off chance Tampa Bay also filed a claim. (Rays GM Andrew Friedman did acquire reliever Chad Bradford via a waiver claim but declined comment as to whether he also claimed Giles.) While Giles had a $2 million kicker in the event of a trade (plus a $3-million buyout for next year), he wouldn't have been a terrible addition for Boston had he agreed to a deal.

However, Epstein probably figured Giles would invoke his no-trade provision, as no one likes to leave San Diego who doesn't have to (although Epstein once was a rare baseball person to make that very move, from San Diego to Boston).

• Anyone expecting stars to be traded after the waiver deadline is probably going to be disappointed. "Teams are being more aggressive than ever in blocking,'' one GM said.

• Among the better relievers on the block before the deadline, Huston Street was already claimed, and can no longer be traded since a deal wasn't agreed to. Meanwhile, George Sherrill and Brian Fuentes have "no chance'' to get through waivers, according to one GM.

• Street just wasn't throwing well enough to get market value for a reliever of his stature. And eventually he was demoted out of the closer's role, replaced by rookie sensation Brad Ziegler, who's up to 37 consecutive scoreless innings. If Street gets his stuff back together in the second half, look for A's GM Billy Beane to put him back on the trade block this winter.

• Jarrod Washburn was put on waivers Friday, and if Seattle can sneak him through (or he gets as far as the Yankees, at least), perhaps they can re-do their decision not to unload his contract.

• Raul Ibanez, incidentally, is never going to get through waivers. Not on his hot streak, and not with that oddly low $5.5 million salary of his.

• After 13 straight years in the playoffs, the Yankees may finally have hit a wall. New manager Joe Girardi seems to have gotten the most out of a no-name middle relief corps. But with Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes contributing no victories to date, their chances are looking bleaker by the day.

• Kennedy, by the way, has annoyed teammates and club officials with a ****iness normally associated with someone with more than one career victory.

• Saw a headline the other today in an NY paper: "Pavano Solid.'' And I can't think of any bigger waste of space. To learn what Pavano's about, read John Feinstein's interesting book Living on the Black, about Mike Mussina and Tom Glavine. In one story, when Mussina was offered slightly less than $10 million a year in a new contract by the Yankees, he told Cashman, "I can't be paid less than Pavano,'' or words to that effect, and Cashman understood completely. Mussina was then paid $11.5 million a year, or slightly more than the sedentary Pavano.

• The Angels look like a World Series favorite now. "There aren't any great teams,'' says one GM, "but if there is one, it's the Angels.'' I agree.

• Seven of nine top draft choices have yet to sign, with Friday's deadline approaching. One GM said he doesn't like the new deadline. "We used to have players signed and playing by June,'' he says. "Now they think by waiting they might get a few extra dollars.''

• The Rays are the story of the year so far, and former No. 1-overall pick David Price is going to come up and help, either as a starter or reliever.

• And no one should count out the Marlins yet, either, meaning the teams with the 29th (Tampa Bay) and 30th (Florida) payrolls are still very much alive. They made it this far mostly without young pitchers Chris Volstad, Josh Johnson and Anibal Sanchez. Now those three give the Marlins respectable pitching, and a chance. Johnson was throwing 95 in his win over the Mets on Sunday.

• Marlins pitching coach Mark Wiley has been one of the true unsung heroes this year.

• Rays manager Joe Maddon has Manager of the Year locked up by now, no? Good move to bench B.J. Upton for not hustling. That's at least two managers (Charlie Manuel being the other) who've benched key players this year. Good for them.

• The Mets' youngsters look a lot better than anyone said they would, especially Daniel Murphy, who is both intense yet patient at the plate.

• Mets veteran second baseman Luis Castillo is due back next week. And here's hoping manager Jerry Manuel sticks with Argenis Reyes and Damion Easley. The team has been better with those two manning second. And Mets star shortstop Jose Reyes has been better when paired with those two.

• David Lennon of Newsday recently pointed out that one of the keys to the Mets' resurgence has been the installation of Dan Warthen as pitching coach. A majority of Mets pitchers seemed to welcome the change.

• Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe suggested that Rangers president Nolan Ryan will convince club owner Tom Hicks to spend this winter. And that may be so, but I'm told that what Ryan would most like is to convince Hicks to sell -- that is, to sell the team to him. There is no evidence to this point that Hicks is interested in selling, though.

• It was funny to see Bob Costas interviewing President Bush in Beijing on TV Sunday night, as those two have often been rumored at different time to be candidates for commissioner of baseball. Of that pair, I'll take Costas. But it's hard to imagine anyone doing a much better job than Bud Selig has.

[anskyruben]

[JonEJet]

Can we please get Thea out of town rather than Lucchino

[Thor99]

If Larry goes, does Garb come back?

[DaBrick Wall]

I told you I want to smash his teeth in with a crowbar. I really do. I hope I never see that faggot pitching in pinstripes ever again.

Yes because the smart thing to do is say a pitcher sucks and call him a gutless faggot after about a month and half's worth of poor outings.

[anskyruben]

Yes because the smart thing to do is say a pitcher sucks and call him a gutless faggot after about a month and half's worth of poor outings.

Look at his attitude after every abortion of a start. He shows no desire to improve himself . Do you watch the post game interviews on YES ? Have you seen the stupid look on his face as he says his usual mumbo jumbo about how he doesn't see anything wrong in his pitches ? Don't fawking come and tell me what I need to say about a gutless young chump. He is the second coming of Ed Whitson. He is a GUTLESS FAGGOT who doesn't have what it takes to pitch in NY. The more I think of it the more I want to take a tire iron to his face.

[Jetlag]

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, and one logical ending would have Lucchino joining Manny Ramirez in Los Angeles. It's all speculation now, but it's not all that farfetched.

Despite the well-documented difficulties and differences of Epstein and Lucchino -- Lucchino is said by people familiar with the just-departed Ramirez soap opera to have been much more committed to keeping Ramirez, no matter how badly the man-child superstar behaved and how much he risked undermining the clubhouse -- the two innovative Yalies have engineered this Red Sox renaissance and combined to bring two World Series titles to the previously star-crossed and storied organization. Yet there is burgeoning talk among baseball's elite that the end of their baseball relationship could be at hand.

Garb...calling Garb...could you please explain?