How long has the Theo deal been on the table? Now the deal is done? and it's just the BoSox getting compensation?

If I was the BoSox I would ask for , hmmm, anything I could think of, then when they say NO, ask for more. You have nothing to lose if you are Boston.

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

This is another classic episode of the "unwritten rules of baseball". They may very well wait until the off day before the world series so they don't "officially" detract attention from the playoffs.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

I don't think so BF. Look at it from Boston / Boston fans perspective. Say this falls through and Epsein ends up back there? WAY BAD. Bad blood, ...he doesn't want to be there, the red sox owe him a 1 yr contract and a 3.5M exit bonus so they would have a guy there for a year who supposedly told them he is gone after his contract is up...and the red sox are going to pay him nearly 7M to sit around? Plus, they have their own mess on their hands with free agents, the collapse, the fired manager...and so on. Put all that together....and the cubs are on almost equal ground in this negotiation

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Proud to be UNVERIFIED.

Plus, if they want to attract the best people to work in their front office or as a field manager, maintaining a reputation as an organization that treats their people fairly is a good idea.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Epstein told the BoSox he wasn't going to be back before this Cubs stuff gained any heat in the media. I don't know if he knew then he was going to become the Messiah, but he knew he wasn't staying in Beantown.

Boston radio is reporting that the deal has hit a huge snag on compensation from the Cub.

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Kevin Bernstein......I mean Kevin Goldstein said the same thing when he was on with Hub. He said Boston wants prospects while the Cubs want to give money. He expects things will get resolved but there is a fairly decent divide right now.

Give them whoever they want. Just tell them they have to take Soriano, too.

Who's making the decision? Is it Ricketts? What does he know about the value of the players. Randy Bush? Same thing. Tim Wilken? He drafted them so you know he's overvaluing them and won't want to give anyone up. This is a very odd situation to say the least.

Yep. If Im Ricketts, he is my guy. Whatever it takes with the exception of Castro.

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Actually, the weirder thing about this. Ricketts has completely overspent for this team. Obviously he needs to generate a lot of revenue to help pay off his debts. He wants to build through the farm system because it is going to be too expensive to build through free agency. Given this, why do you go after Epstein who spends like money is going out of style?

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The deal will get done. Hopefully Ricketts doesn't overpay.

I don't get the Castro love. I'm more of a Che guy. ¡Viva La Raza!

1. Surprised, but we dont know that some type of players were not defined prior to the Cubs talking to Theo. Maybe anyone from A ball, except ____. So we dont know where this was ?

2. MLB already gave the teams mandates to not turn this into a huge mess. What can they do if it does become a mess?

3. Worst case scenario for Red Sox, they send Theo home with $3M, but rumors are he has a $7M payment coming next year? But if they don't let him leave, next year he can take whoever he wants.

4. Cubs can say "Thanks, but not thanks." and move on. Sure they have a nice PR issue if they do, but they can.

I see MLB stepping into this one and actually creating rules for this type of transaction for now on. It will be you need to agree on the price before you allow execs to talk.

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

I hope Bud stays out of this. He'll make an asinine decision that will set the Cubs back another 103 years.

he already stepped in, look for more from Bud's office real soon

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

Not worried about negotiations, it's just like NFL/NBA lockouts. Boston trying to put pressure on the Cubs by releasing this to the media. They have no leverage.

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Git on back there.

Agree they dont have leverage but they also dont need to do anything except pay Theo his $3 Mill and make sure he cant talk to any other teams during the next year.

However, I think he would be able to talk to everyone who works for the BoSox and it might be really disruptive.

Imagine if his contract expired and no language exists about him taking scouts and he ends up taking 10-15 guys! That might look really bad, so while Boston has some leverage now, it could really hurt them.

Will be interesting

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

Reports seem to think that Theo will hire Josh Byrnes as assistant GM. If Boston doesn't let him go (not happening) they could have Byrnes be interim GM for a year and then slot Theo above him in a year plus what you said.

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Git on back there.

He has a 3m contract and a 3.5m exit payout...so bosox would be paying him 6.5m. Cubs had agreed to pickup the exit cost...thus 5 yrs at 18.5m

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Proud to be UNVERIFIED.

wait, so Epstein on the Cubs is not official yet?

he's still the GM of Boston?

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Epstein has put Boston together from both the draft AND free agency. But given that Andrew friedman has done a great job in Tampa Bay with ONLY the draft (for the most part) supplying the talent....why wouldn't he have been the first choice?? Epstein has chosen and developed some very good players as well, but if improving the team strictly through the minor league system is the plan, Friedman would have been my choice. If the compensation gets hung up and no agreeement looks acceptable, perhaps it might make sense to talk with Friedman and see if he might be a good fit for Ricketts. It would look like the Bears had handled things, but if the Red Sox want Brett Jackson or Starlin Castro....forget it.

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Go Cubs!!!!

The Cubs have to compensate Boston for all the people Epstein is going to take with him as well. Or at least Boston wants them to. I'm assuming that will be like 2-3 more people that Boston will lose.

I would be willing to give a couple lower level prospects, maybe even a prospect like McNutt, Lemathieu (not Jackson if possible) if Theo could bring in some of his people from boston.

The more people he brings in from boston, the better.

I still don't know why the Red Sox wouldn't push a bad contract on the Cubs rather than take a player as compensation. Theo signed Lackey, let him live with him.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Whoever "wins" Theo gets homefield advantage for next year's world series?

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Bud would side with the cubs on this though.

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Git on back there.