another overrated gm... has the money to cover the mistakes made. With any small market team he'd have bankrupted them already. Arrogant with no good reason to be. The AL East is a lock for Boston or NY every year. Not a bad position to be in due to the vast revenue that comes from TV and the luck of team territory sitting in the middle of large populations with money to burn.

Word on the street is that this guy's back in the office. He's a bright guy and modeled his strategy after the great Billy Beane (not bad footsteps to follow) but I was surprised at his exit this Halloween. He left Fenway Park in a gorilla costume because he didn't want to get mobbed by the media. I wonder if he will play second fiddle to the two guys who took over for him. I also wonder Luccini will step out of the picture a little, because that seems to be what drove him out in the first place.

He did a nice job in Boston. Like any general managers he made some deals that worked out and others that didn't turn out the way he would have liked. On one hand over the past three years he's acquired players such as: Scott Wiliamson, Bill Mueller, Kevin Millar, Curt Schilling, Keith Foulke, Orlando Cabrera, Dave Roberts, Mike Myers, etc. All of the above players had a positive impact on the team even if it was only temporarily. He had the guts to pull the trigger on the Nomar Garciaparra trade which some GMs would probably never risk. Theo did an outstanding job finding some great prospects for our organization with such names as Jonathan Papelbon, Craig Hansen, Dustin Pedroia, Hanley Ramirez, etc. Having said that I do feel that he could have done a better job in the area of re-stocking the team in the off-season after the 04 season.

Genius. I can't hear this enough, The Boston Red Sox have won the World Series !!!!!

I hate to see all of this Theo bashing going on. Obviously in his few years of being the GM of the Red Sox he has done a great job. We have seen the Red Sox make it to the world series in both 2003 and 2004. This could be the year that we see our team win, all with Epsteins leadership. Theo has shown dedication to the Red Sox his whole life, i am glad to see someone with so much passion for our team. He spends his time in Florida with the team for spring training and is doing everything possible to keep the players happy while also making the Red Sox an even better team! I am so jealous that num1n personally knows Theo- because he is the type of guy that i would love to marry. Long live Theo! and his career with the Boston Red Sox!

prolly the msot overrated gm in the game today. im sorry i just dont see what potential this guy has. i mean he has then 2nd highest payroll and were only 14 games above. i really dont think this gm is 2nd best buy this poll. i mean he goes and sings byhung hung kim after he gives the finger to someone and he had to go down to pawtucket because hes fastball is only 83mph. im sorry i just dont see why evreyone rates this guy so high.

Why is he good? I don't get it. My hometown Sox continue to do nothing but disappoint so why the heck is this guy so good????

I actually know Theo Epstein in Person and not to mention his entire family up to his sister in law. I hate to see ppl posting clueless opinions about him, when clearly he has nothing to do with Brawls, or anything of that sort, what happens on the field during the game is not his responsibility. The job of the General Manager is to trade players, and work out contracts for the players and employees. He is not responsible for brawls at all, and i think he has done a load better than most GMs we have had on the Red Sox team, we got pretty far last year. Theo is an amazing GM. Mayb i'm a little bias because i know him. but i hate to run across forums of ppl who have ignorant opinions about whether Theo is doing his job or not, when he has done a great job for someone just coming onto the team. He has tried to get good players for the Red Sox, but unfotunately it is hard for the Red Sox to out bid a lot of these rich teams (like the Yankees). It is only a matter of time b4 we get to the World Series, and i believe if any GM can get us there Theo Epstein is the one.

He is a very good general manager. He is very young. And he will soon lead the red sox to the world series.

It's early. (AMENDED: lost A-Rod to Yanks, obviously a ownership limitation but lost out because front office didn't see this comming) However, Epstein should get some credit for showing that younger minds in baseball can get the job done and creativity won't kill the sport any more faster than the old fossils that work in many of the front offices on losing teams. Great find in D. Ortiz, I live in Minny and Tom Kelly's few if not only mistake was cutting Ortiz a season after he clearly showed a talent for hitting in 1997 only to make a point. DO spent a meaningless season destroying pitching in St. Lake City and set back his progression 2-3 seasons. As far as Boston is concerned, Theo will be a bust unless they win a ring. I will bet the Sox do not win a ring and it will not be because of Theo.

good job so far.

Chauncey...WAAH-WAAH!! How many Red Sox rings does Theo have on his fingers? How many years has he been on the job? One, you friggin' idiot. He can't GM and he also should be held accountable for starting that Game 3 brawl between his Nation and my Evil Empire in the 2003 ALCS. 1) How does one GM? 2)Curt Schilling, Keith Foulke, Alex Rodriguez 3) How in the hell does a man sitting in the stands start a brawl? God damn Yankee fans are idiots. It's his fault for not punishing his players and showing accountability. MLB punishes players, not the GM. He got Karim Garcia and Jeff Nelson to stand trial as of this date since he won't take any responsibility for the brawl .... What in the hell are you talking about? Seriously, does wearing an NY on the top of your head make one a drooling idiot? I think Theo Epstein had as much to do with the bullpen brawl as Kurt Bevacqua. I feel for Garcia and Nelson. So does The Convicted Felon (Steinbrenner). He felt so much for them, he didn't give them a job for the 2004 season. So you probably won't give a sh!t about them either. Garcia was beaned near the back of the head by Pedro Martinez and instead of Pedro getting suspended for the 2004 season, Karim and Nelson have to be in court. How long was Roger Clemens suspended for actually beaning Piazza in the head? And besides you lobotomized-schmuck, the trial is for attacking a Red Sox employee. Epstein should know better. Both Garcia and Nelson are classy Yankee individuals who know what it takes to win. Jeff Nelson? Classy? The guy who made derrogatory comments toward officials of his own teams (Yankees and Mariners!) And how many world Series has Karim Garcia won? Zero. I feel especially bad for my players. One guy who comes to this site, told me that Jeff Nelson is a Neo-Nazi and I go, say what! Where's the damn evidence that Jeff Nelson had ties to a Neo-Nazi group? Just because Nelson has short red hair and a small red mustache does not make him an affiliate to any hate group. Your players? Is that you Steinbrenner? Idiot. If that guy told me that he looks like one, that's fine. But Nelson's no white supremacist. And what proof do you have that he's NOT? Theo Epstein's club plays the game like Neo-Nazi's. Well, hell, it's okay for YOU to throw stupid references out I guess... Typical idiot front-running Yankee fan. I'm sure you were a big fan back in the late 80's and early 90's. Enjoy those class-acts Sheffield and Brown. Oh, and enjoy second place...if your guys are lucky.