Nice quote from Buck Showalter, via Boston.com:
Orioles’ Buck Showalter ‘Rips’ Theo Epstein
"I'd like to see how smart Theo Epstein is with the Tampa Bay payroll," he barked. "You got Carl Crawford 'cause you paid more than anyone else, and that's what makes you smarter? That's why I like whipping their butt. It's great, knowing those guys with the $205 million payroll are saying ‘How the hell are they beating us?'"
I’m not going to engage in some spirited defense of Theo Epstein, because he doesn’t need me to. I will say this, though ...
It's undoubtedly easier to win with money, than without. But there are challenges when you're supposed to win every year, too. My guess is that if Theo Epstein had been running the Rays these last five years, they would have been pretty good. Maybe not quite as good as they've been, if only because it's hard to imagine them being better than they've been. But pretty good. And I suspect that if the men running the Rays had instead been running the Red Sox, the Red Sox would have done about as well as they've actually done.
Bottom line, you can only be so smart, win only so many games. And both the Rays and the Red Sox have been pushing the limits, given their unique positions in the order of things.
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