bigbreg7
07-29-2005, 08:10 PM
After a barely over-.500 season in 2001, the Boston Red Sox decided that it was time for a change. The Red Sox management for years had always been one to make dumb trades, and have no prospects of substance. In order to change that, the Red Sox wanted a new general manager with new ideas. Someone fresh, someone young, someone original. Why not that 28-year-old intern from San Diego that big Larry knows so well? What was his name again? Ah yes, Theo Epstein. This is the part we go Men-in-Black on you and erase your memory.
Delete the images of the Red Sox dancing on the field after the World Series, and the ALCS. Remove the words you heard on ESPN or WEEI that Nomar has been traded to the Cubs for a few unknowns. Remove the fact that Theo ever came into the picture. Why? I'll tell you why. Epstein was about three minutes away from signing the Red Sox contract. That's right, three minutes. When Larry gets this call from John Henry. Johnny says to Larry, "we've hit a snag in contracts." What does this mean, you ask? It appears that Theo Epstein had a clause in his contract with the Padres saying that if he is to prematurely terminate his contract, he is due to pay a penalty charge of just under 300,000 dollars back to the Padres within one week of termination. So throw away that contract, Theo is a no-go for the GM spot.
So who's next in line? Well there's a few names out there sure, but John has another announcement to make. John gets together the group of owners and says, "we should promote from within our system now." The boys all dig the idea and think wicked hard about who the next head man of baseball operations should be. They search through resumes, they look at all the interns, the office is buzzing. Then they come upon this kid, his name? Rich Bregnard. Hey, that's me. So I'm walking along the office after lunch break, I throw out my Dunkin' Donuts bag, and I go to my desk. A memo waits there for me. "Meeting with partners, 3:00 sharp." Being an intern, this meant to me that I was going to supply the paperwork for the big guys, or maybe even get the coffee. Imagine my surprise when they said they had chosen me for this general manager thing.
So here we are, about a month later. It's February, and it's still -10 degrees out and snowing. It's my turn to leave my mark on this franchise, and my leash is pretty short. All of my trades need to go through all the partners before even being rumours. This could be an issue because this team needs a lot of work. Here's a little info for all of you on the outside looking in. The Red Sox are due to lose a shade above 40,000,000 dollars. Yes, that's seven zeros with a four in front of 'em. How, you ask? Big salaries, medium budget, small stadium. My goal this year? Dump some salary, but still stay competitive. Also, come up with some ideas to expand the Red Sox organization into new fields to gain more money to use. Easier said then done, as it always is.
We're already expanding into whole new fields as it is. Fantasy camps, ballpark tours, new business deals on Yawkey Way, developing Yawkey Way and surrounding streets, numerous foundations, kid's attractions, even new sandwhiches at food chains like McDonalds and Dunkin' Donuts. We're trying to do all we can without raising ticket prices that much or sacrificing money to our minor-league teams and health plans for players.
So here is where we begin. The season starts in two months, and I want to get a few deals to go through before the season even starts. The media and fans can be hard on a guy in Boston, but hey, winning solves everything right? Now lets just hope we can win something, it has been 84 years afterall.
Delete the images of the Red Sox dancing on the field after the World Series, and the ALCS. Remove the words you heard on ESPN or WEEI that Nomar has been traded to the Cubs for a few unknowns. Remove the fact that Theo ever came into the picture. Why? I'll tell you why. Epstein was about three minutes away from signing the Red Sox contract. That's right, three minutes. When Larry gets this call from John Henry. Johnny says to Larry, "we've hit a snag in contracts." What does this mean, you ask? It appears that Theo Epstein had a clause in his contract with the Padres saying that if he is to prematurely terminate his contract, he is due to pay a penalty charge of just under 300,000 dollars back to the Padres within one week of termination. So throw away that contract, Theo is a no-go for the GM spot.
So who's next in line? Well there's a few names out there sure, but John has another announcement to make. John gets together the group of owners and says, "we should promote from within our system now." The boys all dig the idea and think wicked hard about who the next head man of baseball operations should be. They search through resumes, they look at all the interns, the office is buzzing. Then they come upon this kid, his name? Rich Bregnard. Hey, that's me. So I'm walking along the office after lunch break, I throw out my Dunkin' Donuts bag, and I go to my desk. A memo waits there for me. "Meeting with partners, 3:00 sharp." Being an intern, this meant to me that I was going to supply the paperwork for the big guys, or maybe even get the coffee. Imagine my surprise when they said they had chosen me for this general manager thing.
So here we are, about a month later. It's February, and it's still -10 degrees out and snowing. It's my turn to leave my mark on this franchise, and my leash is pretty short. All of my trades need to go through all the partners before even being rumours. This could be an issue because this team needs a lot of work. Here's a little info for all of you on the outside looking in. The Red Sox are due to lose a shade above 40,000,000 dollars. Yes, that's seven zeros with a four in front of 'em. How, you ask? Big salaries, medium budget, small stadium. My goal this year? Dump some salary, but still stay competitive. Also, come up with some ideas to expand the Red Sox organization into new fields to gain more money to use. Easier said then done, as it always is.
We're already expanding into whole new fields as it is. Fantasy camps, ballpark tours, new business deals on Yawkey Way, developing Yawkey Way and surrounding streets, numerous foundations, kid's attractions, even new sandwhiches at food chains like McDonalds and Dunkin' Donuts. We're trying to do all we can without raising ticket prices that much or sacrificing money to our minor-league teams and health plans for players.
So here is where we begin. The season starts in two months, and I want to get a few deals to go through before the season even starts. The media and fans can be hard on a guy in Boston, but hey, winning solves everything right? Now lets just hope we can win something, it has been 84 years afterall.