Theo Epstein: The Man and The Myth

[LuteHawk]

Theo Epstein had some good years in Boston with
the Red Sox and helped them win World Series.

When the Ricketts family bought the Chicago Cubs
they hired Theo Epstein as the potential architect of
a World Series Champion. Of course that happened
in 2016 and Chicago became the MLB capital of the
universe.

2017 and 2018 were not kind to the Cubs. Now they
are off to a slow start in 2918. Heywood, Darvish and
Chatwood have yet to reach their potential with the
Cubs but Theo is responsible for their presence in
Chicago.

Over this past weekend, Theo said to put the blame
on him for the poor start. He said it is his fault & nobody
else's. Like the rest of Cub World , he is waiting for the
bats of Baez, Bryant, and Rizzo to get clutch hits. He is
also waiting for the pitching staff to get their act together.

 

[lucas80]

There is a whole thread devoted to the Cubs, dumb ass.

 

[LuteHawk]

Thanks for the info, Luc..Ass #80

Theo Epstein came from the Boston Red Sox
He is currently with the Chicago Cubs
In the future he will be with another MLB team

The post intended to generate discussion about
Theo Epstein as a man and the mythology that
has been created by the media.

 

[LuteHawk]

Theo Epstein has made mistakes not only in personnel
acquisitions, but also in his unrealistic expectations.

IF you are going to make your manager a lame duck
in the last year of a contract, then you should perhaps
fire him sooner rather than later. So in this situation
you have a manager and players who are pressing too
much to keep his job.

 

[LuteHawk]

The Chicago Sports media created a myth when they
made Theo Epstein the architect of a dynasty after
the 2016 season. The window of opportunity has begun
to close during the last two seasons.

 

[hawkifann]

He's not perfect, but he ended the two longest droughts in MLB History.

 

[dgordo]

Theo is undoubtably a hall of famer, but not even close to the best.

 

[lucas80]

Thanks for the info, Luc..Ass #80

Theo Epstein came from the Boston Red Sox
He is currently with the Chicago Cubs
In the future he will be with another MLB team

The post intended to generate discussion about
Theo Epstein as a man and the mythology that
has been created by the media.

80 percent of your post is about this year. Try starting off with a title like, What is the legacy of Theo Epstein. Try posting the numbers of his teams to those of other GMs.

 

[noleclone2]

Theo Epstein had some good years in Boston with
the Red Sox and helped them win World Series.

When the Ricketts family bought the Chicago Cubs
they hired Theo Epstein as the potential architect of
a World Series Champion. Of course that happened
in 2016 and Chicago became the MLB capital of the
universe.

2017 and 2018 were not kind to the Cubs. Now they
are off to a slow start in 2918. Heywood, Darvish and
Chatwood have yet to reach their potential with the
Cubs but Theo is responsible for their presence in
Chicago.

Over this past weekend, Theo said to put the blame
on him for the poor start. He said it is his fault & nobody
else's. Like the rest of Cub World , he is waiting for the
bats of Baez, Bryant, and Rizzo to get clutch hits. He is
also waiting for the pitching staff to get their act together.

2017 and 2018 were not kind to the cubs??? I mean yeah, they did not win the World Series but they won 187 games and made the playoffs. Made the playoffs in 2015 too. So the historically bad start to this year and some admitted blunders off season with pitching are not going to take away his legacy of breaking the streak in Boston (and getting a second WS ring there) and then coming to Cubs in 2011 and making them a WS champ by 2016 (and playoff team 2015-2018). There is no myth, just legacy.

 

[Mattski]

Theo is a great drafter and has set up strong player development programs in Boston and Chicago. He's struggled with free agent signings and dealing with managers.

 

[hawkifann]

2017 and 2018 were not kind to the Cubs.

I am going to pick on this a little bit. A lot of people tend to talk negatively about the Cubs for "only" having one championship in this era. How was 2017 "unkind"? The Cubs arguably took out a better Nationals team in the playoffs on their way to a 3rd straight NLCS. In 2018, the Cubs finished 162 tied for the best record in the NL. Unfortunately, that put a team that was out of gas into back-to-back one-and-done scenarios and they lost out (though it's not like they pitched terribly and got crushed, the two games were 3-1 and 2-1 in 13 innings).

But back to the overall point, I don't tend to hear as much negative banter about the Dodgers being this good during the stretch, but not having a Series win or about Cleveland not making another deep run after 2016 or about Boston only having one win through this era.

The Cubs clearly are not a dynasty....but neither is anyone else. I doubt any of these great teams will be a dynasty because it's a really hard time to be a dynasty, as a good 6-8 teams each year could legitimately win a ring if things break right.

 

[LuteHawk]

The last example of a MLB dynasty was the New York
Yankees. They won the World Series four times in five
years. It was 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 for the Bronx
Bombers.

 

[33hawkfan]

Theo ended the Yankees dynasty. He
has won more World Series than them since
he was hired. He made the Yankees just
another team. That is not a myth.

 

[jamesvanderwulf]

The last example of a MLB dynasty was the New York
Yankees. They won the World Series four times in five
years. It was 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 for the Bronx
Bombers.

SF Giants won 3 times in 5 years, '10, '12 & '14. Does that count?

 

[LuteHawk]

I would define a dynasty as at least 3 World Series
Titles in 5 years.

The New York Yankees have won 27 World Series
Championships in their legendary history. While
their rivals the Boston Red Sox have won 9.