Theo Epstein Loves His Meat Loaf

Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Scott Cordischi, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

In 1977, American rock star Meat Loaf reached #11 on the Billboard charts with his song “Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad.”

If you believe that adage to be true, then Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein “ain’t” doing bad.

With the recent struggles of starting pitcher John Lackey, Red Sox Nation is viewing their GM with a critical eye once again.

Now in his second year of a 5-year deal worth a total of $82 million dollars, Lackey has been a disaster for Boston. After yesterday’s loss where he yielded 9 hits and 7 runs to Toronto in just 2 1/3 innings, he was booed off the mound by the Fenway faithful. He is now 5-8 with a 7.47 ERA for the season.

The strange thing about Lackey’s subpar performance is that it matches that of many high-priced free agent acquisitions of Epstein that have failed miserably here in Boston.

Just last week Epstein took the blame for the 2-year $15.5 million dollar deal that he signed Mike Cameron to on the same day he released the struggling slugger from the team.

And those aren’t the only high-priced free agent busts for Theo.

While the jury is still out on Carl Crawford, does anyone really think that he will come even close to living up to the 7-year, $142 million dollar deal he signed with Boston this offseason?

How about Diasuke Matsuzaka? Epstein and the Sox coughed up more than $103 million dollars for the Japanese pitcher ($51 million dollar posting fee and a 6-year, $52 million dollar contract). He hasn’t come close to living up to the hype.

J.D. Drew? Try 5 years and a total of $70 million dollars. Granted, Drew did come up big in the 2007 ALCS against the Cleveland Indians to help Boston rally from 3-1 down to win that series. Other than that, however, he has been a major disappointment.

And don’t even get me going about the shortstop position. Epstein and the Sox gave Julio Lugo a 4-year deal worth $36 million dollars and signed Edgar Renteria to a 4-year deal worth $40 million bucks.

Disaster, disaster, disaster, disaster!

But as bad as Theo has been wasting John Henry’s money on high-priced free agents, he has done an outstanding job in two other areas. Epstein’s ability to draft and develop talent and his ability to trade for talented players have both been terrific.

In chronological order from 2003-2006, here are just some of the names that Theo and the Sox plucked out of baseball’s amateur draft:
2003: David Murphy, Jonathan Papelbon
2004: Dustin Pedroia
2005: Jacoby Ellsbury, Clay Buchholz, Jed Lowrie
2006: Daniel Bard, Justin Masterson, Ryan Kalish, Josh Reddick, Lars Anderson

Most of the players drafted from 2007-present are still developing in the minors and, in some cases, have been traded away to acquire such stars as Adrian Gonzalez and Victor Martinez.

Which brings us to Theo’s ability to acquire significant contributors through trades. Because he has been able to stockpile talent through the draft, Epstein has been able to acquire significant pieces to Boston’s two championship puzzles in 2004 and 2007 and what he hopes to be another in 2011.

Is there any doubt that Adrain Gonzalez is one of the best hitters to ever come through the Red Sox organization? Granted, he has only been here for half of a season, but he may have the sweetest stroke Boston has ever seen since Teddy Ballgame did his thing over a half century ago.

The aforementioned Martinez was an All-Star in his nearly two seasons in Boston.

Going back a few years, Theo’s trades prior to and during the 2004 season were instrumental in helping the organization break the 86-year old “Curse of the Bambino.”

In November of 2003, he convinced Curt Schilling to waive his no-trade clause to come to Boston. One bloody sock later, the rest is history.

He also made what was considered a very controversial move at the time of trading away shortstop Nomar Garciaparra midway through the season for the defensive-minded Orlando Cabrera. Cabrera’s glove and bat were a big part of Boston’s World Championship season.

In November of 2005, the Sox acquired Josh Beckett from the Florida Marlins. While Theo wasn’t technically the GM at the time, most believe that he was calling the shots from behind the scenes.

When the enigmatic Manny Ramirez was sent packing, Theo acquired Pittsburgh slugger Jason Bay in 2008 who did a fine job of filling Manny’s big shoes.

And the list goes on and on.

In baseball, a team that wins two out of every three games it plays will finish the season with 108 victories which is considered extraordinary!

In Theo’s case, he can draft players and make trades with the best of them despite not having an eye for free agents.

Like Meat Loaf said, “Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad!”