Compensation For Theo Epstein Still Not Settled

John Henry and the rest of the Red Sox front office couldn't have handled this situation any worse. Theo Epstein resigned as the Red Sox GM back on October 21st and a deal has not been agreed upon. They lost all of the leverage the second they let Epstein walk out of the Fenway Park gates and head for Chicago.

The last time a GM left his team for another position with a different team was back in 1994 when Minnesota Twins GM Andy MacPhail was allowed to leave the team with two years left on his contract to take over as the Cubs President. Ironic, huh? The Twins received a 30th-ranked prospect and $200,000 for compensation.

When the talks of Epstein surfaced between the Cubs and Sox back in late Septemeber, the Cubs promised "substantial compensation" if the Red Sox let Epstein walk. Well, from the way things have been going, Red Sox president Larry Lucchino says the Cubs have not met those expectations. This is where Bud Selig comes in. Larry Lucchino recently asked the commissioner to intervene on their behalf and help fix the situation and to make sure the Red Sox don't get screwed in this deal.

The best case scenario for the Red Sox would be to create a deal for Matt Garza. Pitching has been the main focus of the offseason and Ben Cherington and the crew must do everything they can to get this guy. Garza would fill a big hole in the Sox rotation and would allow for Daniel Bard to stay in the pen. I think this was their plan at the beginning of all of this, but where they went wrong was letting Theo Epstein walk out the door without any compensation settled. It seems highly unlikely that the Red Sox will receive "substantial compensation" for Epstein at this point, but with Bud Selig involved, hopefully the Sox receive more than a few bats and some pine tar.