Red Sox Owner: 'I'd Love To Have Theo Back'
(CBS) Red Sox owner John Henry said Friday he would love to have Theo Epstein come back as his general manager, but also talked as if it the relationship was over.
"I'd love to have Theo back. I would have loved for Theo to have been our general manager for the next 20 years," Henry told 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston on Friday.
"That was my hope. That would have been my hope. But you don't always get what you want. I did everything I could, personally -and so did (front office members) Tom (Werner) and Larry (Lucchino) to make that happen. But the fact that is, and I think people don't understand this, the fact is that being the general manager in Boston or being the manager in Boston is a terrifically tough job."
Epstein reportedly has a deal in place to become the Cubs general manager but the two teams are stuck in negotiations for compensation because there is still one year left on Epstein's contract with the Red Sox.
"He never saw the general manager's role as longer than 10 years for himself," Henry said. "I mean, maybe he did early on, but certainly after a few years he knew the stress of this job was too much."
LISTEN: John Henry's surprise appearance on The Sports Hub
Henry made the surprise appearance on the Boston radio station after he had been listening in the car while driving around.
After a Boston Globe story exposed personal issues in the life of former Red Sox manager Terry Francona earlier this week, there was wide speculation that Henry had something to do with leaking the personal information to the newspaper. Henry heard that discussion on the radio and drove straight to the station to set the record straight.
"We didn't. That's one of things you've been discussing that I'm trying to answer but thankfully the author of the article is answering because he thinks it's wrong," Henry said. "It's just… it's unfortunate."
The newspaper story exposed information about Francona's marriage and also accused the former manager of having a problem with pain medication he was taking.
