The Boston Red Sox made the most notable acquisition of the offseason. No, he's not a player.
Fenway Sports Group, the holding company led by Red Sox owners John Henry, Tom Werner, Sam Kennedy and Mike Gordon, announced Friday that Theo Epstein He will join its board as a senior advisor.
The new role represents a homecoming for Epstein, who served as Red Sox general manager from 2002 to 2011 and ended its 86-year championship drought by winning World Series titles in 2004 and 2007. The president of baseball operations rebuilt the club into a 2016 World Series contender to end a 108-year title drought.
Epstein worked as a consultant for Major League Baseball and focused on improving the game and played a role in establishing the MLB pitch clock and other speed-of-play rule changes. FSG announced Friday that Epstein will continue in that role in an “informal” capacity and will “advise FSG owners John Henry, Tom Werner, Mike Gordon and Sam Kennedy on the company's sports operations across the portfolio and advise on strategic development and investment initiatives.”
“It's a great honor and I'm very excited,” Epstein said he told Sportico in a video call. “It's exciting to join such a dynamic, exciting company across so many sports, doing so many innovative things with everything happening in sports these days. For me, it was perfect, I was looking for a path to ownership.”
Epstein said he would not play a role in personnel decisions and would be a “questioner” rather than a “decision maker.” The 50-year-old's focus is not limited to the Red Sox, as FSG also owns several business ventures, including the Premier League's Liverpool FC, the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins and RFK Racing.
“With his strategic mind, leadership and unwavering passion for the game, Theo brings invaluable assets that will drive us forward in our sporting operations across our various organisations, particularly in hockey, EPL football and baseball,” said Henry.
Even if Epstein doesn't play hand-to-hand with the Red Sox, his return could be a welcome sight to Boston fans frustrated by another quiet season. New general manager Craig Breslow has made only two major moves so far — signing Lucas Giolito to a two-year, $38.5 million contract and trading Chris Sale to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for infielder Van Grissom — and the Red Sox seem destined for them. A third consecutive last-place finish in the American League East.
That fact led some to wonder if Henry and Co. would sell the team, but Epstein's addition to the franchise was an interesting plot twist.
