New York Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman. (Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images
The greatest World Series that never happened, at least in recent years, was the New York Yankees or the Boston Red Sox against the Chicago Cubs in 2003. All that history, all that potential for curse-busting, went poof in a ghastly collapse at Wrigley Field.
The Red Sox have won two championships since then, and the Yankees have captured another. The Cubs have not won a playoff game, and two weeks ago they fired their general manager, Jim Hendry. No surprise that the architects of the Yankees and the Red Sox were quickly said to be candidates for the job.
"I can't comment on everything that's written out there," Theo Epstein, the Red Sox' general manager, said this week. "But I'm completely focused on the Red Sox in 2011 and working very hard with my staff to make this into the organization we want it to be."
Even if he did want to leave, the timing is all wrong. Epstein is under contract through 2012, and the Red Sox – thriving on the field and off – have no incentive to let him go.
Brian Cashman, the Yankees' general manager, is not signed past this season. But, like Epstein, he has had the freedom to reshape and streamline his organization's baseball operations department. Leaving now would be like constructing a dream house for somebody else.
"I'm not looking to leave," Cashman said. "My preference would be to stay. I've worked hard to build something that's very good, very strong. This is a fantastic place. We are looked at as a model, efficiently run franchise, and I'm proud of that. We're spending the money that we can spend, which is a lot, but we're also developing top players."
Epstein has worked elsewhere – in Baltimore and San Diego – and the spotlight is harsh in Boston, where years ago he clashed with the team president, Larry Lucchino. But Epstein aspired to the job he has now, and he has led his hometown team to remarkable success.
Cashman has worked only for the Yankees. He spent more than two decades under George Steinbrenner, perhaps the most intense and demanding boss in sports history. With Steinbrenner's more rational son Hal now in charge, there is no motivation to look elsewhere. All indications are that the Yankees will happily sign Cashman to a new deal after the season.
As for the idea that Epstein and Cashman would be eager to take on a new challenge, well, the American League East is a challenge in itself. The Toronto Blue Jays continue to make smart decisions under general manager Alex Anthopoulos, and Andrew Friedman has guided the Tampa Bay Rays to four consecutive winning seasons and two playoff trips.
Friedman's name has also surfaced in Chicago, because the Cubs' owner, Tom Ricketts, has said he wants a GM with experience and a strong track record. But if Friedman goes anywhere, he would seem more likely to land with his hometown Houston Astros, if a new owner fires the incumbent, Ed Wade.
The Oakland Athletics' Billy Beane has experience and a track record, and it would be fascinating to see what Beane – or Friedman – could build with a high payroll. The Athletics' endless quest for a new stadium has frustrated Beane and kept him from mapping a coherent strategy for the organization. But he also holds a small ownership stake in the A's.
Whoever it is, you can see the pattern. Epstein, Cashman, Friedman and Beane – and Jon Daniels, the young Texas Rangers general manager who is signed through 2015 – are all well known for their openness to new ideas. None is afraid to consider advanced statistics, as well as traditional scouting, in making decisions.
The Cubs made the playoffs three times under Hendry, a respected evaluator whose 2008 team had the best record in the National League. But in the past three seasons, as overpaid players and erratic personalities have weighed down the roster, the Cubs have come to be regarded as slow to adapt, lacking a consistent and disciplined approach to player moves.
If Ricketts wants an executive with previous experience as a general manager, Josh Byrnes, a former Epstein assistant who recently ran the Arizona Diamondbacks, could be a fit. If he is willing to consider a first-time general manager, Rick Hahn, the assistant for the crosstown White Sox, would be a natural candidate.
Hiring Cashman or Epstein is not realistic. But luring a top assistant – like Billy Eppler, Mark Newman or Damon Oppenheimer of the Yankees, or Allard Baird, Ben Cherington or Craig Shipley of the Red Sox – might be.
Ricketts would be wise to consider them, if only because he seems a little like Hal Steinbrenner or John Henry, the Red Sox owner. He is genial but does not crave attention, and is driven to win and willing to spend, good qualities for the caretaker of a signature franchise. Whoever gets the job will inherit a century of misfortune, to be sure, but also a rich opportunity.