Epstein-to-Cubs Compensation Talks Ongoing

CHICAGO (AP) — The Cubs are still talking with the Boston Red Sox about compensation in a deal to bring general manager Theo Epstein to Chicago, a person familiar with the negotiations said Friday.

Epstein has agreed to a deal with the Cubs and would leave Boston with a year remaining on his contract, the person said on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are confidential. The deal is reportedly for five years.

Whether the Cubs have to send the Red Sox cash, prospects or both was not clear, though various reports say the two sides were not in agreement Thursday. The talks continued Friday for a second day.

Any deal would have to be approved by Major League Baseball.

The potential arrival of Epstein has Cubs fans in a tizzy. It has been greeted with even more fanfare than the hiring of marquee managers Dusty Baker and Lou Piniella in an effort to end a World Series championship drought that reached 103 years after a 71-91 finish this season.

Epstein, 37, was at the helm when the Red Sox ended an 86-year World Series championship drought in 2004 and won the title again in 2007.

Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts fired GM Jim Hendry in July after another disappointing season and wants a GM schooled in both old-school scouting and the new world of statistical analysis. The Yale-schooled Epstein would fit both requirements.

Another potential stumbling block could be which members of the Red Sox’s organization — if any — Epstein would be allowed to take with him to Chicago.

Epstein also has his critics after the Red Sox collapsed in September and missed the playoffs for a second straight year. Some of his big-contract players like John Lackey, Edgar Renteria, Daisuke Matsuzaka didn’t measure up while another, outfielder Carl Crawford, struggled in his first season with the Red Sox.

Epstein’s first order of business — if and when the deal is complete — could be to determine the future of manager Mike Quade, who has one year left on his two-year deal.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.

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