Everything is beautiful, at least in Red Sox words

Thursday, January 26, 2006

On Baseball: Kevin Thomas

BOSTON - Tarps covered dirty cardboard boxes at the entrance. Off to the side were broken pallets, mounds of gravel and a pile of construction scraps. Fenway Park, undergoing a makeover, sure looked like a mess Wednesday morning.

But, we're told, everything will be dandy when it's time for baseball.

We will see.

Fenway is sure to be fine, as the Boston Red Sox front office continues to stretch the confines of this cozy park, finding room for more overpriced seats.

But what of the front office? A popular general manager quit three months ago because he said he couldn't put his heart and soul into the job.

Then after some vague process of talking it over, and then talking some more, Theo Epstein now says his heart and soul fit; the final two pieces of the complicated puzzle on Yawkey Way.

"It's a much, much much better situation, one that has a clear direction and a clear vision," said Epstein, sitting next to the Red Sox president, Larry Lucchino.

The newly demoted Jed Hoyer and Ben Cherington also attended, all in an attempt to explain (but not elaborate) what went on the past 85 days, when Epstein resigned, Lucchino promoted Hoyer and Cherington to replace him, only to have Epstein return.

"We had 10 weeks of very difficult, very honest, but very constructive conversations that started slowly, but built momentum as we went along."

The explanation presented Wednesday, and in a five-page press release faxed Tuesday, was Epstein had smoothed out his differences with the team, including a relationship with Lucchino that turned bitter during Epstein's contract negotiation.

And now, everybody gather for a group hug.

It's easy to be cynical. We want to believe there is a juicier story. We want a soap opera. Remember the night-time soap "Dallas," when Bobby Ewing died at the end of one season, only to return the next season because his death was just a bad dream?

We want to know there was more to the return than weeks of good-faith talks between Lucchino, Epstein and the owners, John Henry and Tom Werner.

We want a back-stabbing J.R. Ewing, a role Lucchino seemed to fit perfectly.

But Lucchino wasn't wearing a cowboy hat Wednesday. He did have a gaudy World Series championship ring on his finger, a sign that this Red Sox administration has accomplished something besides melodrama.

"We reaffirmed to ourselves that the central motion of our business is baseball," Lucchino said, "and baseball success is the undergirding for all that we do."

If we can't make Lucchino the bad guy, how about Epstein? He is the wonderkid general manager who once was praised for leaving the Red Sox because of his principles. But be wary of pedestals in Red Sox Nation.

Lately, Epstein has been called spoiled and immature in print and the airwaves.

For Hoyer and Cherington, there is sympathy. They are pronounced the losers, pawns used to fill in.

But were there are any losers in this? Yes, it is hard to swallow the hand-holding, united statements from the Red Sox. But somewhere between the spin and the cynicism, there is truth, as well as lessons learned.

So where is the team now?

In terms of Lucchino and Epstein, they insist their struggle was not over power, but one concerning communication and philosophy.

"Chain of command was not an issue," Epstein said. "One thing we talked about is to have the difficult conversation. There were times in the past, we would have been better served to have the difficult conversation instead of putting it off."

As for philosophy, it seemed Epstein is concerned about the player development "machine" he talked about creating when he was first hired. Epstein will want some of his prospects to have a chance to play in the majors, rather than always going for the veteran talent.

"There is a balancing act between just how much we're going to value our immediate future vs. our long-term stability and our long-term outlook," Epstein said. "It's important to understand how much weight you place on those factors, just how important the future is."

When there's a potential trade or free-agent signing, "we now can refer back to the overriding philosophy that we've all embraced in order to guide us."

Concerning the Red Sox and the media, look for the Red Sox to follow the tight-lipped approach of the New England Patriots. Epstein was upset when his own contract negotiations became public. Look for the front office to seal the leaks.

"We have a mechanism in place," Epstein said, "to improve how we can preserve confidential information."

As for Cherington and Hoyer, it probably would have been better if the "interim" tag was attached to their co-general manager titles, so their new "assistant" titles would not look like a demotion.

Both Cherington and Hoyer insist they knew the reality of their situation. "We were confident (Epstein's return) would work out. We just did not know the timing," Hoyer said.

Cherington said his career was not harmed. Not only did he get some GM experience, but Cherington said Epstein's return makes Boston better and "our best interest is to build the strongest front office possible. We benefit from that, too."

Look for Hoyer and Cherington to follow in the footsteps of Josh Byrnes, who left his assistant GM job with Epstein for a general manager's job in Arizona.

The Red Sox spin is everything is beautiful. Epstein knows the skeptics are out there.

"These concepts of vision and togetherness are only words if we don't live up to them," Epstein said. "We understand that our actions are much more meaningful than our words."

But to get to this vision and togetherness, was it necessary for Epstein to quit in the first place?

"I'd be lying if I said that (question) didn't keep me up at night a couple of times," Epstein said, "wondering if there was any way we could have gotten to this point without me having to leave.

"In the end, I actually think it was an essential step, an essential catalyst to get us to this point. I don't think we'll let it get to this point again. But under the circumstances, it was necessary."

Sometimes you have to make a mess before you can fix up the place.

Staff Writer Kevin Thomas can be contacted at 791-6411 or at:

kthomas@pressherald.com

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