Theo no Mo'

I haven't talked baseball or the Red Sox too much lately, but I have to write about this. GM Theo Epstein has decided mere hours before his contract was to expire that he will not be back with the club.

And who is the blame for this? Everybody. The team, Theo, The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, WEEI and all the blood thirsty shut-ins that call the station.

But the most blame goes to 2 people The Red Sox - specifically Larry Luccino and Globe columnist Dan "Shank" Shaughnessy. According to reports, Theo was on the verge of signing a 3 year deal with the Sox until he read a column written by Shaughnessy on Sunday in the Globe stating that Theo should be thankful to his mentor Luccino for giving him opportunities in baseball and that Theo shouldn't need to "distance himself" from Luccino to prove that he can be successful without interference. Of course, given that the Boston Globe owns 17 percent of the team, it is assumed that Luccino had a hand in the writing of the column.

And that tells Theo all he needs to know about his employers that he cannot trust them.

Of course, the Shaughnessy column was probably written in response to a column written by Tony Massorati in the Boston Herald blasting the Sox for making Theo wait so long before offering an extension and then offering a lowball offer late in the game. Who is to say that someone in Theo's camp didn't whisper something to the Herald thinking that the Globe would never print anything derogatory about the teams handling of the contract talks.

What it comes down is this: It's November 1st, the GMs meetings are next week and free agent period is about to begin and the Red Sox have NO General Manager or even have even a prime candidate as they allowed The Diamondbacks to hire Theo's assistant Josh Byrnes.

I wonder what Dan Duquette is doing these days?