Chicago Cubs President Theo Epstein could be leaving the organization soon. Could he reunite with Joe Maddon and the Angels in Anaheim?
According to David Kaplan of NBC Sports Chicago, Chicago Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein is meeting with owner Tom Ricketts to discuss his future with the team and impending exit from the organization.
While it’s a near certainty that Epstein will not be signing an extension after his contract is up in 2021, it’s also possible that Epstein departs during the current offseason and heads to his next project to build a World Series contender.
While there will be no shortage of options for Epstein, his track record has largely revolved around building a championship contender from the ground up.
There’s many teams in baseball who could use a Theo Epstein, such as the Cincinnati Reds or New York Mets. Both teams missed the playoffs in 2020 and are ranked in the bottom 2/3 of farm system rankings.
Epstein’s model of a total rebuild could be just the fit for either organization.
On the other hand, perhaps Theo would like to go to a team who already has a respectable base of players and expand his reputation to include a model other than just building from the ground up and taking years to become a contender.
Take the Los Angeles Angels for example.
The Angels are already equipped with the best player in Major League Baseball and one of the top five third basemen in the game, as well as one of the top prospects in baseball.
They also have a proven manager in former Cubs manager Joe Maddon, currently third in all-time wins of active managers. Maddon and Epstein, of course, were together in Chicago from 2015-2019 and won the 2016 World Series.
Oh, and there’s also the fact that the Angels are in the midst of a search for their next front office leader after firing former GM Billy Eppler last week.
