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October 19, 2011, 4:19 pm
Updated: Thursday, Oct. 20, 12:27 a.m.
By David Kaplan
CSNChicago.com
Baseball sources have confirmed to me Wednesday afternoon that significant progress has been made in the negotiations between the Cubs and the Boston Red Sox and a deal to allow the Cubs to finalize the hiring of Theo Epstein could be announced fairly soon if baseball commissioner Bud Selig allows a major announcement on an off day during the World Series.?
If an announcement is not allowed, then Epstein?s hiring would have to be put on hold until the Cardinals and Rangers complete play.
There is no agreement yet, but both sides are united in their goal to get the deal done and it appears that they have moved beyond some of the early talks that had both sides extremely far apart and entrenched in their positions. Epstein is expected to be the head of baseball operations but he is also expected to bring a GM into the Cubs organization to work directly for him as they begin a massive overhaul of the Cubs baseball operation.
Several sources confirmed to me today that while Epstein was the top choice of Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts all along, he was not the only candidate that Ricketts interviewed as he explored every avenue before making a hire. One candidate who interviewed and requested anonymity spoke of Ricketts long term plan.
?I was very impressed with Ricketts' openness and honesty to do whatever it takes to make the Cubs one of the elite franchises in all of baseball," he said. "He is focused on the organization as a whole, not just a quick fix to stabilize the major league club. He is fully prepared to spend significant dollars on baseball operations and he is going to allow the next GM total authority. I wish it was going to be me but they are getting a great one in Theo Epstein and he and his staff should have the ability to appropriate how they want to spend the budget which should be in the area of 150 million dollars including the draft and amateur signings."
Ricketts has spoken with a multitude of people as he looked for advice and counsel before settling on Epstein as his choice. Ricketts was unsure he could land the Red Sox GM prior to their first conversation but the same source told me that they clicked immediately and Ricketts made it clear to Epstein that he would have a phenomenal situation in Chicago with total authority on baseball decisions.
In addition to hiring Epstein, the Cubs are expected to name several assistants to help him in the quest to end a 103-year streak without a World Series title. Current San Diego GM Jed Hoyer could be in line to receive an offer to join Epstein in Chicago and sources tell me that the Cubs will also be hiring several more scouts and personnel types as they expand the front office dramatically from what it has been over the past 20 years as it has traditionally been one of the smallest in baseball.
Late Wednesday night, I learned the following and tweeted:
In addition, a Peter Gammons report out of Boston characterized the compensation talks as dragging on because the Cubs had no one from their farm system involved in the negotiations. However, another baseball source confirmed to me that the Cubs have been using both scouting director Tim Wilken and farm director Oneri Fleita to evaluate every Red Sox proposal and that the delay has simply been both sides trying to make the best possible deal for their respective franchise.
Gammons' report also was highly critical of the Cubs farm system, ranking it one of the worst in the game. In an interview with WEEI Radio in Boston here is some of what Gammons had to say about the negotiations:?
?This thing with the Cubs, they don?t actually have anyone negotiating that actually has been in development, so they don?t know the players the Red Sox talk about. They have the CEO of business, and the assistant general manager who wasn?t actually involved in the farm system. So, it?s been a difficult negotiation. And frankly, I think everyone involved knows the Cubs are a bottom-three farm system. Trey McNutt would be Red Sox prospect [No.] 25. For the Cubs to act like they?re giving up the next Billy Williams is kind of absurd.
"But at the same time, holding that thing up has also hurt the Cubs, because they need Theo there building that organization. There isn?t a lot there. They need him to go out and not only find a manager, but to fill several roles in scouting, development and all the rest. The absurdity has hurt the Cubs, and it?s certainly hurt the Red Sox, because they need to move on and let Ben take over, Ben and Mike Hazen, be running the organization and get the right people in place.?
However, Baseball Prospectus? minor league expert Kevin Goldstein told me this afternoon that Gammons was not accurate in his assessment of McNutt.
?I would rank him as a very good prospect who would be somewhere in the Red Sox top 15 if he was their property,? Goldstein said.
Another MLB source put Gammons comments in perspective saying, ?Peter lives in Boston and he has always been a Red Sox guy. I would take what he says with a grain of salt.?
While not sure about McNutt's inclusion in the deal, I can say the following:
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