Dan, you are entertaining as always and offer much food for thought.  Here's hoping the boys reach .500 by the end of the season.

A big Thank You Dan. 

Finally somebody has addressed this glaring Boston media oversight....ahem....agenda.

Epstein was never held to account for much of anything when he was working in this town. Any media criticism that came Theo's way was wrapped in soft crushed velvet......with one exception. No one has ever taken a poison pen to Theo in this town except Dan Shaughnessy and the mature Theo fled the city in an monkey suit when that happened. 

Now that Theo's gone to Chicago his local media fanboys are not about to take an honest view and criticize their boy. Tony Masserotti is STILL kissing Theo bum. It's soooo embarrassing!!

Another reason Theo has gotten a free media ride here in Boston is because he's intentionally portrayed as the benign, brilliant, local boy genius counterpart to the evil, smarmy, carpetbagging Larry Lucchino.

Here's the Boston media playbook - If it was good for the Sox is was Theo. If it was bad for the Sox it was Larry.

The same playbook is in use today. Just insert the name Ben Cherington.

In the mind of the BBWAA any criticism of Theo is seen as an endorsement of Lucchino and they're never going to go there.

They're incapable of separating out the two.  Pathetic isn't it?

Thrilled to see that a national magazine has taken a good look at Mr. Epstein. I look forward to reading it.

None of us will believe they're talking about the same guy the Boston media has been portraying and protecting lo these many years. 

Just remember this about Theo Epstein. His ego is as large as Lucchino's and he's the one and only who negotiated ALL those horrendous FA contracts.

Thanks again Dan. I'm sure the howling protests from Theo's cabal will be rather loud tomorrow.

I have no problem with the theory that in 2004 Epstein was tinkering with Duquette's blueprint because that's what really happened. Problem with Duquette was that he had personality problems. Wasn't likable or able to deal with the media. Duquette was doomed because he wasn't the new owners' guy. Shaughnessy is right on in this piece.

I have no problem with the theory that in 2004 Epstein was tinkering with Duquette's blueprint because that's what really happened. Problem with Duquette was that he had personality problems. Wasn't likable or able to deal with the media. Duquette was doomed because he wasn't the new owners' guy. Shaughnessy is right on in this piece.

I have no problem with the theory that in 2004 Epstein was tinkering with Duquette's blueprint because that's what really happened. Problem with Duquette was that he had personality problems. Wasn't likable or able to deal with the media. Duquette was doomed because he wasn't the new owners' guy. Shaughnessy is right on in this piece.

"Sox owners don’t like the notion of blaming it on “the monster.’’ It brings it back to their doorstep. They, after all, are the ones who insist the monster be fed. Ultimately, they signed off on Lugo, Crawford, and the rest." This is the classic no win situation for ownership and it's very unfair. On the one hand they get blamed for signing off on Epstein's deals yet if ownership objects and stops Epstein's deals they're accused of meddling in baseball ops and are scolded for interfering. Either way ownership get hammered and it's not right. Hey Dan, is it ownerships fault for not knowing Theo outbid the Angels by THIRTY TWO MILLION DOLLARS for Carl Crawford???? Boy genius "my A#%"!!!

If the Sox (which in my view, includes all its incredibly loyal fans) really want to rid itself of negativity and poison, perhaps Shaughnessy should be shipped out, as well.  A good writer, but I'm sick of his overbearing negativity.

Dan, nice 2004 and 2007 championship omissions. Also the Van Riper piece omits the 2007 championship as well as any decent signings, like Shilling. No wonder Werner was worried about distortion. Sure Epstein made many mistakes and left the team in a bind, but two championships in 8 years is still TWO CHAMPIONSHIPS.

Don't forget to get rid of Vincent "the Headhunter" Padilla while you're at it.

I've been saying this for years about Theo and been dismissed as a heretic. It's about time "the boy genius" is getting his due. And to the poster who wants to get rid of Vicente Padilla - he attended Johhny Pesky's funeral - I'd keep him just for that.

Dan is right on witone his article. I have thought for years that Epstien made more poor trades and signings than good ones. A Sox fan only needs to reflect a bit on Epstien's moves. The biggest bone head move in my opinion was the signing of Crawford and Not re-signing Adrian Beltre, but a Sox fan could go on and on about the head scratching signings of Epstien........

So handsome, so well spoken, what boodlines ... and in end, a GQ model with a gee whiz mind. yes, with all that money and all that staff, now and then he had to get a few things right. he will be forever recalled as our home boy who did ... OK ... our own " boy blunder ".

The Jenks signing was so bad that it seemed to me, that after bringing in Gonzo and Crawford, that Theo wanted to win one more championship last year and then be able to jump ship with jobs open in Chicago, LA and New York.  Duquette should get plenty of credit for 2004 - the Pedro trade and the Slocumb for Veritek and Lowe are the two best trades the team has ever made, including the Dodgers.

Epstein probably got way too much credit when things went right (and Duquette got far too little credit) and now is probably being blamed by ownership (and others) too much now for what went wrong. He was never as smart or as talented as was once believed nor is he the complete goat some want to be paint him to be now (there are many goats to blame on the mess that is the Sox now). He was, in retrospect, a rather average, sometimes above average baseball mind working for an organization with a lot of money. He wasn't the genius he used to be proclaimed to be. I could be proven wrong if he turns the Cubs into a powerhouse. But there is no evidence of that yet, and we have lots of evidence now in the wreckage of the Sox that he probably made more bad decisions than good (though as someone said, TWO World Series wins is, well, TWO World series wins -- it's just that at least one of those was probably more Duqette's than Theo's).

The main question I have never had a satisfactory answer for is why the heck did the Sox ownership/brain trust let Theo go (and break his contract) without extracting something significant from the Cubs??? The Cubs would have given just about ANYTHING to get him and the Sox could have easily kept Theo for another year, making their bargaining position extremely strong...I mean, the Sox would probably not have done much worse if he had stayed through this season. Ownership picked the manager anyway (they didn't allow Cherington to do it) so why would it have mattered if Theo had stayed?? I would love to know what the heck the ownership was thinking when they made the bone headed move to let him go for nothing. One of the stupidest baseball decisions I've ever seen.

Ugh. Dan. DanDanDan. This whole "villian" role that you've assigned yourself to play is growing old. You're the kid in high school who "embraces" the bullying remarks. You "love" how everyone hates you. You think its so hilarious that even teachers and parents find you unbearably annoying.

C'mon. Posting verbatim the ownership's email responses from your "theories" of their emotional standpoint on their ex-GM? Serious? You sound so ... sad.

...and don't forget Dice-K.  Even though they won two World Series (as several pointed out, mostly due to Dan D.) I still wish Dolan had been allowed to buy the team.  We would not now be condemned to watching the circus on Yawkey Way for many years to come.

Say what you want about Theo's moves (I agree they weren't good).  But unless I mis-read this article, Shank's headline says, "owners irked" and then he proceeds to THEORIZE that they must be angry, even though none of them commented.     I don't blame the long line of super-stars (including not just Beckett, but also Ted Williams, Yaz, Nomar) who left this town pisssed at the media.

Sensationalism.  Hack job.  Get a life and an editor and try reporting instead of crystal ball gazing.  (and yes, I know it's a column, not news, but the headline is still horribly mis-leading)

Here we go again. The Dodgers lose three games and Danno is planning his next work of fiction :"the curse of gonzo." Give it a rest.