MILWAUKEE - It is mid-November and Theo Epstein is entrenched as the Chicago Cubs’ president of baseball operations.
The Red Sox elected to allow Epstein to resign, though he had a year left on his contract, and agreed to work with the Cubs on compensation. Leading up to that point, the sides tried for weeks to reach agreement on compensation. Epstein sat awkwardly in his office at Fenway Park, waiting it out, at times trying to suggest creative ways to get the matter done.
The Red Sox asked for ace righthander Matt Garza. They asked for young shortstop Starlin Castro, as this correspondent had proposed.
They were rebuffed on those requests, but when the agreement was reached to let Epstein go, as a Red Sox source reiterated yesterday, the understanding was that Boston would receive a “significant’’ return.
Since then, Epstein and new Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington have been at loggerheads as they continue to discuss a settlement.
There was a deadline of Nov. 1 imposed by commissioner Bud Selig. That came and went. There was a week extension granted. And more time was bought when progress was perceived to be made. Then it was time for this week’s GM/owner meetings, and Cherington and Epstein again chatted, but nothing has happened, although Cherington said last night that he and Epstein will not rush the process, and MLB will allow them to do that.
One MLB source indicated that with the intensity of the collective bargaining talks going on, the Red Sox-Cubs compensation issue is low on the to-do list. It doesn’t mean the sides can’t decide the compensation in a flash, so MLB continues to encourage them.
The last thing MLB wants is to set a precedent in such matters by reassigning a player.
It’s difficult to predict whether MLB would want to discourage the future raiding of staffs by making the Cubs surrender a significant player, or whether they would go the midrange prospect route, which may upset the Red Sox but satisfy the Cubs.
The sides have discussed just about everything under the sun.
There have been talks about allowing other Red Sox staffers to leave in exchange for a better player or two. There have been talks about a trade in which the Red Sox would receive the better end of the deal. There have been talks about established roster players such as Marlon Byrd and Sean Marshall. And there have been talks about the Cubs giving up a top prospect such as righthander Trey McNutt.
One problem is that the Cubs have so few prospects in their system. For Epstein to give any up would hurt. His biggest priority - as he and general manager Jed Hoyer have said the past couple of days - is getting good players in their farm system.
