Boston Red Sox GM Theo Epstein to Move to Chicago Cubs

MLB Team, Boston Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein has an agreement in place to become head of the Chicago Cubs baseball operations.

Sources indicate Epstein’s move from the Red Sox should be completed within a couple of days. Sources say the two teams were still discussing Boston’s compensation for allowing the move, but this is not expected to derail a deal. It will either be cash or minor-league players going to Boston, but according to people familiar with the deal, the the Red Sox will be content with cash.

Epstein has led the Cubs’ wish list for a new GM since they began the process after parting ways with Jim Hendry this season. People who speak to Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts say he has long praised the “Red Sox model.”

Epstein will make about $15 million over five years with the Cubs. He is also to receive a “conclusion bonus” or “buyout transfer,” money that was part of his Red Sox deal but will now be paid by the Cubs, bringing his total take to about $18.5 million over the five years.

The deal with the Cubs was first reported by WEEI after The Boston Herald reported Tuesday he was close to going to Chicago.

After helping the Red Sox break an 86-year championship drought with World Series titles in 2004 and ’07, Epstein will be entrusted to try to do the same with the Cubs, who haven’t won a World Series since 1908.

Epstein sought and received permission to interview with Chicago last week, and sources indicate that once Red Sox owner John Henry perceived Epstein was entertaining thoughts about leaving, he wasn’t prepared to “chase” him. Though Epstein has long had a close relationship with Henry, his relationship with club president Larry Lucchino had its share of tension even as Lucchino let Epstein largely handle the baseball work over the past few years.

Ben Cherington, an Epstein assistant, appears to be the likely new GM in Boston. Among his first tasks will be taking up a managerial search for Terry Francona’s replacement.

Similarly, Epstein first task will be a managerial search of his own. It seems all but assured Mike Quade will not be retained.