Say it ain't so, Theo

Theo is gone.

It's only been 3 years, but forgive me if I say that I really liked the tenure of young Theo Epstein as general manager of the Sox. I will admit to some initial skepticism when Epstein was hired -- I at first couldn't get over the initial shock of the fact that the GM was younger than me (the 'image' of the GM, to me and many others, is of some old guy chomping on a cigar, but those days have been surrendered to the era of sabermetrics). But once I got over this and started to understand some of his moves, I really liked this guy. The Nomar trade was, in hindsight, a stroke of genius. Again, at the time, there was initial shock, but soon realized that Nomar had to go. The picture of him sitting in the dugout at Yankee Stadium while all his teammates were on the top step cheering spoke more than any words ever could, and he had to go. So Theo pulled the trigger, and he got more value than he gave up. If that's not a trademark of a good GM, I don't know what is.

So it is with sadness today that I read that news that Theo turned down the Sox latest offer, and even greater sadness that this appears to not be about money. Initially they couldn't agree on a salary, but apparently they had closed that gap, and the differences were now about power. Let's hope Larry Lucchino knows what he is doing, and perhaps they will be better off. But Theo was the GM of a team that won the Sox first title in 86 years, and he pulled some of the significant strings that made it happen. That earns you some clout in my book, so I am saddened by his departure. But in baseball, as in many things, one individual does not make the team, and they will move on.

Anyone have Billy Beane's cell numbah?