BOSTON, Massachusetts, 2 November 2005 — Theo Epstein has decided to walk away from the Boston Red Sox general manager’s job just hours after reports that he had agreed to a three-year deal worth $4.5 million, the team announced.
Epstein is expected to work with the Major League Baseball club for a few days in a transitional basis despite the expiration of his contract as of Tuesday, the 2004 World Series champions said in a statement.
The move stunned the Red Sox as Epstein, 31, rejected a deal that would have made him one of the sport’s top-paid general managers and kept him with his hometown organization through 2008. “In my time as general manager, I gave my entire heart and soul to the organization,” Epstein said in a statement. “During the process leading up to today’s decision, I came to the conclusion that I can no longer do so. In the end, my choice is the right one not only for me but for the Red Sox.” Epstein, who assembled the Red Sox squad that snapped an 86-year World Series title drought last year, made only 350,000 dollars last year and reportedly also rejected a three-year deal worth nearly 4 million dollars.
“My decision not to return as general manager of the Red Sox is an extremely difficult one,” Epstein said. “I will always cherish the relationships I developed here and am proud to have worked side-by-side with so many great people, in and out of uniform, as together we brought a world championship to Boston.” Organizational politics and power struggles were responsible for pushing out Epstein, the Boston Herald reported, saying money and length of contract were not factors.
The newspaper reported that Epstein was likely to take a year off from baseball and look outside the sport for work rather than considering vacant general manager jobs with Philadelphia, Tampa Bay or the Los Angeles Dodgers. Adding to the Red Sox woes is that Josh Byrnes, the Red Sox assistant general manager, departed last week to take the general manager job at Arizona.
The arch-rival New York Yankees signed counterpart Brian Cashman to a three-year deal worth a reported $5.5 million last week.
Meantime, the Houston Astros have extended manager Phil Garner’s contract through the 2007 season, the club announced on Monday.
Garner, who led the franchise to its first World Series this year, has a 137-99 record since taking over the club on July 14, 2004.
Garner, 56, led Houston to its first playoff series victory last season. This year, the Astros ousted the Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals to win their first National League pennant.
The only World Series in the team’s 44-year history was short-lived, however. The Chicago White Sox swept in four games.
