The column contained a lot of history between the two executives, including one item that possibly reopened an old wound.
Here's how it played out:
Late last week, it was pretty clear that Epstein's contract negotiation was coming to full boil. It seemed that the parties were getting close, and after much haggling about money and power, they were ready to announce a deal. I left messages with both parties Friday and that night they made a joint call to my home, insisting (on the record) that they were in radio silence and would have an announcement probably early this week.
Off the record, there was quite a bit of conversation, and it seemed genuine and convivial. Epstein and Lucchino talked about mutual respect and working out differences and both indicated there probably would be a positive resolution Monday. Theo even made a joke about cleaning out his desk and Larry made a joke about Theo thinking he was Henny Youngman.
I believe that the deal was effectively done. If you could hear the tape, you'd say the same thing.
So what happened?
Possibly it goes back to their differing versions regarding a midsummer deal involving the Sox and Colorado that was squashed by Sox ownership -- Lucchino. The Orioles and Rockies had worked out a preliminary trade in which Eric Byrnes went to Baltimore and Larry Bigbie to Colorado. The Rockies made that deal because they thought they had a deal with Boston to send Bigbie and Ryan Shealy to the Sox in exchange for Adam Stern, Abe Alvarez, Kelly Shoppach, and another minor leaguer.
Then, according to the version put forth by Epstein's camp, Lucchino killed the deal unilaterally, damaging Epstein's reputation with the Rockies and other clubs. Lucchino was routinely trashed by (among others) national baseball scribes Peter Gammons and Tracy Ringolsby.
In Sunday's column, I offered the version held by Lucchino's camp (three sources): that the deal had been made by Theo's assistant, Josh Byrnes (who took over as GM of Arizona Friday), but Theo preferred to make a different trade with Arizona and asked Lucchino to invoke the ownership clause, squash the deal, and take the hit -- a role Lucchino is accustomed to.
