The perfect marriage in sports is Theo Epstein and the Cubs by Jeff Passan
MLB columnist
Sep 28, 2016, 10:06 PM
Theo Epstein
Cubs president of baseball operation Theo Epstein agreed to a new five-year contract worth up to $50 million. (AP)
Of all Theo Epstein’s great discoveries over this last half-decade, a sense of comfort may be his best find. This is not to be mistaken with complacency, because Epstein’s reality is far more focus and drive and obsession than it ever will be lounging in a chair, staring at what he created and guffawing as he pats himself on the back. Comfort is more about knowing who you are and where you belong.
Theo Epstein belongs in Chicago, with the Cubs, with the burden of 108 years on his ample shoulders, with the spoils of his work bearing fruit before him, with an owner who is just the best because he doesn’t allow his fandom to spill over into meddling, with a fan base that is ready to saint him even before he takes that century-long championship drought and pulverizes it. Which is no certain thing, remember, something that Epstein himself acknowledges during those nights he can’t help but wonder if what he has assembled is enough.
Even if it does happen this October – this machine the Cubs have built does to baseball in the final month what it did over the previous six – that wouldn’t so fulfill Epstein that he’d feel compelled to throw up deuces and peace it to retirement as the guy that killed two curses. No, comfort is symbiotic, and as much as Epstein has delivered Chicago, it has brought him so much, too, chief of all a reminder that when you strip away the focus and drive and obsession, this game is still fun as hell.
So when he agreed to a new five-year contract over the weekend with the Cubs that makes him the richest executive in baseball, and perhaps the most well-compensated in American sports, non-mindfulness guru division, Epstein did so without any animus that others may have harbored. There were no threats to leave, no posturing, no nonsense. Just Epstein and Cubs owner Tom Ricketts armed with mutual respect and the knowledge that both wanted a deal done in equal measures.
For Ricketts, signing Epstein – and also locking in general manager Jed Hoyer and personnel titan Jason McLeod, who with Epstein comprise the Cubs’ decision-making Cerberus – was obvious, even if it takes Chicago’s executive pay to the top of the industry. They won two World Series together and laid the foundation for another championship in Boston. They took the Cubs from last-place mess to this 100-win-plus juggernaut that’s well-positioned to win this year and the next five, too. Teams don’t let guys like that go. Well, except the San Francisco 49ers.
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Poster Comment:
It looks as if the Cubs have decided the only way to win is to spend money on staff and players. For too many years, the Cubs have allowed top quality players to get away because they refused to pay them their worth. Maybe this will break the Curse of the Billy Goat.