Up until 2004, the Cubs and Red Sox suffered under the same shroud of misery -- their last World Series wins had come in the early years of the 20th century, and many wondered if they'd ever win a Fall Classic again. The Red Sox left that sad club as a direct result of general manager Theo Epstein's savvy moves and brave trades. Now, the Cubs may be looking to see if lightning can strike twice, as they're reportedly considering targeting Epstein for their vacant GM position. Epstein has a good thing going in Boston, but would the opportunity to turn around a second flagging franchise be too good to pass up, especially if the Cubs decide to promote him to president?

• "Looking at Epstein's tenure in Boston, his success is primarily a result of a. successful trades, and b. drafting/amatur scouting (which is/was not completely done by Epstein). In spite of the big wallet, in Epstein's tenure Boston's track record of free agent signings has been quite poor. Renteria, Lugo, Drew, Lackey, Crawford, Matsuzaka, Clement, Smoltz, Wells, Scutaro, Cameron, Jenks, Foulke all under-performed relative to the contracts they were given." -- SN commenter OverGreta906
• "Epstein is a huge longshot. I think Friedman would be a great hire. Hopefully he can bring some of his talent scouts with him. Wilken is a great director, but not sure about the people that surround him. " -- SN commenter scott.brecht

---

---

---

---