Theo Back in Beantown?

"Come on, how was I supposed to know Renteria would suck so much?"


It could happen, but not as General Manager. The Boston Globe is reporting that Theo Epstein could return in an advisory role. (Note: you need to register to view the article, but registration's free.)

So who exactly would Theo be advising? This article reports that it's looking more and more likely that the Sox will give current front office members Jed Hoyer (Assistant to the GM) and Ben Cherington (Director of Player Development) the positions of Co-GMs for the 2006, which is great, since it's pretty much what I was hoping for.

It's unknown how much influence Theo would have in this structure, though Buster Olney speculates that he'll have some degree of decision-making power. Regardless, what's important here is two things:

1. It looks like the front office that has been operating very well for the past month will stay intact.
2. It points to a decrease in the influence of Larry Lucchino, who's been pushing for the likes of Jim Beattie to come on board as GM.

So to summarize, good news for Sox fans, potentially even better if Theo returns in some capacity. Now, if this happens, I'll officially be spooked, having made two posts advocating for the Sox to take a course of action, only for them to actually happen. If John Henry is reading this, I'm available in case the front office shuffle creates an opening in the position of Special Assistant to the GM.