If you're a fan of the Boston Red Sox and you're wondering who Dan Duquette is, it's probably because you weren't a fan of the team until Kevin Millar started screaming "Cowboy Up!" in 2003. Maybe I'm being too generous in that assumption.
Duquette was the Red Sox GM from 1994 until 2002 when John Henry, the man who turned the Red Sox from a baseball club into a marketing gimmick, took over. On Duquette's watch the likes of Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramirez, Jason Varitek, Derek Lowe, Tim Wakefield, Johnny Damon, Kevin Youkilis and just about every prospect Boston used in its successful trades over the past nine seasons came to Beantown (now that I mention it, nine years ago those names were probably as foreign to "Sawx Nation" as the name Duquette).
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Dan Duquette with a pre-dreadlocks Manny Ramirez. |
But Duquette also brought in his fair share of bad moves. Criminal elements such as Jose Canseco, Jose Offerman and Ugueth Urbina, a bunch of never-weres including John Wasdin, Dante Bichette, Darren Bragg, Darren Lewis and Ed Sprague, and some guys who just didn't work out like Hideo Nomo.
"So what's your point Flan?" My point is for a long time, a lot of people, including myself, took a dump on Duquette because it appeared the longer he stayed in Boston the more he sucked at his job. Getting Damon was a good move, picking up Pedro and Manny were no brainers and one could argue that those other guys I mentioned amounted to dumb luck.
Enter Theo Epstein, now also a former Red Sox GM, but one who can tag two World Series titles to his resume, whether he deserves to or not. Epstein took over in 2003 and after another playoff defeat that, in terms of Red Sox history was par for the course, brings in Curt Schilling, David Ortiz, the aforementioned Millar, Bill Mueller and Keith Foulke, gets rid of Nomar Garciaparra and gets a few of the prospects, namely Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury and Jonathan Papelbon and is labeled The Boy Wonder by "Sawx Nation."
Tell me something "Sawx Nation?" How's Wily Mo Pena doing? Edgar Reteria? Julio Lugo? Javy Lopez? Mike Cameron? JD Drew? Carl Crawford might be going on this list in a year or two.
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| I love it when other people write the captions. |
"But Flan, what about Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell?" That transaction occurred after Theo left Fenway Park in a gorilla suit and before he and Larry Lucchino kissed and made up. And let's not forget that the Florida Marlins only traded Beckett on the condition that they take Mike Lowell (translation: Florida didn't want to pay him anymore).
On the flip side of saying Duquette was awful, I was saying Epstein was a baseball God. Now that his tenure in Boston is over it's looks similar to Duquette's: Good moves (Nomar for Cabrera and co.), no brainer's (Schilling) and dumb luck (go ahead, pretend Theo signed Ortiz, Millar and Mueller knowing they'd become Boston heroes).
Maybe it's the passage of time, but there seems to be more bad Epstein moves than Duquette ones. The difference is Theo's mistakes get thrown under the rug for two reasons:
- For lack of a better term, Duquette was a d*** to just about everyone (in particular the Boston Sports Media) while the entire John Henry enterprise has been very diplomatic.
- Winning two World Series. Duh. The problem is the clowns who call WEEI every day and fill the ballpark 81 games a season with their "Rem Dawg" signs don't have the first clue about the history of the Red Sox.
Under the right circumstances, it's pretty easy to say one guy's an idiot and another's a genius. As an actual Red Sox fan back in 2001 things were pretty ugly. On the flip side, things were pretty good in 2003. So the easy answer is Duquette was horrible and Epstein was a genius.
But, looking back at both careers, I'm not seeing much difference. The 2004 Red Sox was, in my opinion, a joint Duquette-Epstein squad. No doubt that 2007 was 99 percent Epstein, but it doesn't take a "Boy Wonder" to win a title when you buy the best players. Just ask Brian Cashman.
So in case you just skipped over everything I wrote, the fans ripping Dan Duquette and praising Theo Epstein don't have a clue what they're talking about. Duquette brought in a lot of guys that never have to buy a drink in New England ever again, but there's a reason he got fired. The same goes for Epstein. Winning two championships doesn't change the fact that he made about five good transactions since 2004.
Remember that next time you're listening to The Big Show or whatever crap WEEI puts on from 3-6 p.m. and some Southie calls in and says "Theo's a genius! He traded Nomahhh!"
Out.
