Say it’s so, Theo!!!

Three an a half months ago Theo Epstein left the Red Sox. And while I haven’t been gnashing my teeth as much as other Red Sox fans, I admit I was a bit concerned about the long-term direction of the club. So it’s nice to say that Theo’s back, baby!!! Principal Owner John Henry, Chairman ...

By , a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

Three an a half months ago Theo Epstein left the Red Sox. And while I haven't been gnashing my teeth as much as other Red Sox fans, I admit I was a bit concerned about the long-term direction of the club. So it's nice to say that Theo's back, baby!!! Principal Owner John Henry, Chairman Tom Werner, President/CEO Larry Lucchino and Epstein issued the following joint statement: "As you know, we have spoken frequently during the last 10 weeks. We have engaged in healthy, spirited debates about what it will take over the long-term for the Red Sox to remain a great organization and, in fact, become a more effective organization in philosophy, approaches and ideals. Ironically, Theo's departure has brought us closer together in many respects, and, thanks to these conversations, we now enjoy the bonds of a shared vision for the organization's future that did not exist on October 31. With this vision in place, Theo will return to the Red Sox in a full-time baseball operations capacity, details of which will be announced next week." Here's a link to the AP story as well. David Pinto asks all the right questions: So is he going to be somewhere between Lucchino and the co-GM's? Will he get a seven-figure salary? Are the differences smoothed over? Join us next week for another episode of As the Sox Turn.UPDATE: For those of you who know about sabremetrics, this is pretty funny: "You had me at VORP."

Three an a half months ago Theo Epstein left the Red Sox. And while I haven’t been gnashing my teeth as much as other Red Sox fans, I admit I was a bit concerned about the long-term direction of the club. So it’s nice to say that Theo’s back, baby!!!

Principal Owner John Henry, Chairman Tom Werner, President/CEO Larry Lucchino and Epstein issued the following joint statement: “As you know, we have spoken frequently during the last 10 weeks. We have engaged in healthy, spirited debates about what it will take over the long-term for the Red Sox to remain a great organization and, in fact, become a more effective organization in philosophy, approaches and ideals. Ironically, Theo’s departure has brought us closer together in many respects, and, thanks to these conversations, we now enjoy the bonds of a shared vision for the organization’s future that did not exist on October 31. With this vision in place, Theo will return to the Red Sox in a full-time baseball operations capacity, details of which will be announced next week.”

Here’s a link to the AP story as well. David Pinto asks all the right questions:

So is he going to be somewhere between Lucchino and the co-GM’s? Will he get a seven-figure salary? Are the differences smoothed over? Join us next week for another episode of As the Sox Turn.

UPDATE: For those of you who know about sabremetrics, this is pretty funny: “You had me at VORP.”

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner

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