BOSTON – The Boston front office is keeping one eye on 2006 and one eye on the future, and they’ve become the equivalent of a distracted driver. Entering yesterday, the Red Sox were veering off the road to the postseason, and an ugly crash was a real possibility.
During a 25-minute on-field session with Boston and New York writers, general manager Theo Epstein defended Boston’s team-building philosophy against mounting criticism from fans and media. The Sox have lost 11 of 15 and are a season-worst 5 ½ games behind the Bombers following last night’s 8-5 Yankee victory.
“Sometimes you don’t have an uberteam,” Epstein said before last night’s game with the Yankees. “That’s not our dynamic. We’re not going to try to build an uberteam every year.
“We’re going to try to build an organization that can sustain success over the long run. We are going to have some years where there’s less margin for error.”
Epstein used the phrase “uberteam” to describe a club with an impact player at every position and one without any discernible weaknesses. When asked whether that was a synonym for what the Yankees annually attempt to build, Epstein said it wasn’t. However, he noted his team’s chief rival sometimes achieves that lofty look.
A recent criticism is that Epstein stood pat at the trade deadline while the Yanks acquired Bobby Abreu and Cory Lidle from Philly. Boston’s whiz kid GM made a stunning trade of Nomar Garciaparra in 2004, which yielded the franchise’s first world championship in 86 years.
But Epstein said the Red Sox didn’t have the financial flexibility to take on Abreu’s contract this season and next. That’s also why they’re heavily reliant on young, cheap players.
“We are not the Yankees,” Epstein said. “I admire the Yankees. I respect them.
“We have to do things different. Our approach is a little bit different. Given our resources relative to the Yankees, we feel our best way to compete with them year in and year out is to keep one eye on now and one eye on the future. And to build something to sustain success.”
Asked whether he feels the Yankees are the better team, Epstein used the Bill Parcells bromide that you are what your record says you are. But he absolutely feels a playoff berth and long postseason run are possible.
“We’re an imperfect team,” Epstein said. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t win. That doesn’t mean we can’t get better, play much better baseball and get hot.”