This Tuesday night, during the general managers’ and owners’ meetings at the JW Marriott Grande Lakes in Orlando, Fla., I spoke for a few minutes with Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein, formerly the general manager of the Red Sox.
KD: During the World Series, what was your emotional investment watching all the guys you know in Boston – Ben [Cherington, the GM] and [manager John] Farrell. What was that like for you?
TE: It was a lot of fun watching those guys. I still feel really connected with a lot of guys in the baseball operations group. Still very good friends with them. We spent a decade together. So it was great to watch them have success after a really tough seven months of baseball, going back to September 2011 and then 2012. And then John did an outstanding job. Watching the players perform at such a high level was great. Restoring the franchise back to where it had been for most of the last 10 years, it was a lot of fun to watch.
KD: What has it been like for you? Chicago is a great baseball city, but I think Boston is just so intense, especially your role in the rise.
TE: I think the biggest difference is … the difference exists because of where we are in the process. Starting two years ago, really building from the ground up in a lot of ways. Rebuilding the scouting department. Rebuilding the player development operation. Trying to build a base of young talent. But it takes time, and a lot of that work is very enjoyable, but it’s also under the radar, which gives us space and freedom and creativity. But it makes for a different experience. Unfortunately, you can’t provide your fans with what they deserve along the way, which is teams that play meaningful games all year long and play until October. So we just have to take a patient, long view. It’s a different experience.
But I’ve always enjoyed the scouting and player development aspects of the game, the investing in young players, more than any other aspect of it. So to that extent, it’s been really fulfilling. But it’s different. It’s different. It’s strange walking around the meetings and being a little irrelevant, because we’re not major players in some of these deals.
KD: And what about just walking around Chicago? Are you approached a lot less than you were in Boston?
TE: Yeah. It’s been nice. It’s been a little more … Boston’s a great place to live. In Chicago, it’s easier to blend in. There are more teams, more professional teams around. We’re not exactly the talk of the town right now, so it’s easier to go under the radar. It’s nice.
KD: I was trying to think: You had such a special identity in New York. Enemy coaches, there’s plenty of those, but enemy executives, I think you might be No. 1. I just can’t think of any other team where the front-office person was that identified.
TE: It’s funny. I always enjoyed my interactions. I had a lot of special memories in New York. One was just walking around the city before Game 7 of the ’04 ALCS. Just kind of sensing the unease in town. No one knew we were going to win that night, but walking around, sensing what was happening, it was really fun.
I always had an enjoyable back and forth with Yankees fans along the way … except for the beers that have been poured on me in the scout section behind home plate. But that’s another story. But since I’ve been with the Cubs, I’ve been stopped by a lot of Yankees fans: “Hey, I always really respected you. You did a great job with the Red Sox. Just wish you the best in Chicago.” So that’s been nice, to be in neutral territory now and kind of enjoy that rivalry from a different perspective.
KD: You don’t get that grief from St. Louis fans.
TE: No. Not the same.
KD: You obviously came on with great fanfare 10…11 years ago, I guess, with the Red Sox as GM.
TE: I wouldn’t say it was fanfare. I would say I was a novelty item.
KD: OK, exactly (laughs). But now that you’re sort of middle aged in baseball …
TE: I’m about to turn 40, so that’s very middle-aged.
KD: … Is it harder to kind of keep track of the newest analytical trends and scouting trends? Do you rely on younger employees for that?
TE: A little bit. I think the Internet is a bit of an equalizer. It’s a very democratic forum. Anyone from interns to club presidents to fans can access it in the same way. I try to be conscious of not losing touch. For me, it’s more making sure I scout amateur games and making sure I see our prospects play than it is making sure I’m up on the latest metric. I’ve never been too deep into that, anyway. I just know enough to hopefully empower some of the right people.
But for me, I never want to isolate myself and lose first-hand knowledge of the generation of players. I feel like if you take a draft or two off, you can become victim to that.
KD: How many amateur games a year do you scout?
TE: It depends on where we’re picking and things like that. But usually I see at least 20 guys.
KD: You saw [Kris] Bryant.
TE: Oh, yeah. Multiple times.