Is there no chance Friedman stays in Tampa Bay?

I don't know, his new style of unhinged honesty may play badly in interviews.

I wonder if the Cubs could throw together a deal that nets both Friedman and Maddon.

Or Cashman and Girardi.

Since Billy Beane is not available ...Brad Pitt and Philip Seymour Hoffman

Do we really want Girardi? His handling of pitchers seems...baffling.

Do we really want Girardi? His handling of pitchers seems...baffling.

From the perspective of this Yankee fan I couldn't be much happier with Mr. Girardi's bullpen management. Nothing about his handling of the rotation sticks out at me as being particularly noteworthy one way or the other.

Whitey Herzog will listen if someone calls.

Isn't he, like, 117?

has anyone else noticed how stale the current GM pool is? i think there's only a handful of current GMs who've been hired without A) being promoted from within their organization or B) previously holding the position for another organization. jack zduriencik, dayton moore, neil huntington, jed hoyer, and ned colletti seem to be it.

Since Billy Beane is not available ...Brad Pitt

We ain't selling jeans here.

In years past, some friends say, Epstein has talked about the Cubs' organization as a place with extraordinary growth potential and as a unique challenge. When Epstein took over the Red Sox, Boston had had more than eight decades of frustration before it finally won the World Series in 2004.

Keep in mind that Epstein has carved out a strong position under Red Sox owners Henry and Tom Werner, and friends say he has a deep loyalty to the Boston organization -- and keep in mind that Boston is his hometown and that Epstein is in the middle of his current contract.

But that would not preclude the Cubs from calling the Red Sox and asking whether they could talk to Epstein, presumably with the potential offer of some kind of promotion, such as a club presidency with oversight of baseball operations. There's no telling how Henry would react or how Ricketts would handle that situation or what Epstein would want until those conversations take place.

Here's some fun speculation: Theo Epstein.

The sources said outfielder Jason Kubel and designated hitter Jim Thome, both Minnesota Twins players, and Chicago Cubs first baseman Carlos Pena also have been claimed on waivers. It is not known at this time which teams claimed those players, however.

Recently removed from the Chicago Cubs, former General Manager Jim Hendry may now be removed from a busy northwest suburban thoroughfare as well.

Park Ridge officials want the Illinois Department of Transportation to take down Honorary Jim Hendry Way signs on Northwest Highway, which were authorized in 2009 by Cubs enthusiast and former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

When Hendry got the boot last week, Mayor Dave Schmidt said he was reminded the city still had the sign they would have liked removed long ago.

Schmidt said the request is nothing personal against Hendry, a Park Ridge resident, but the city never wanted the signs mounted in the first place.

Hire Dan Duquette and I become a Cubs fan.

Oneri Fleita is highly respected in MLB circles and his contract reportedly includes a reassignment clause and/or an out for Fleita in the event he and the new GM aren't on the same page (assuming Fleita himself isn't the new GM, which probably isn't completely out of the question). I doubt this will be seen as a factor by GM candidates.

I'm surprised more people aren't discussing Gerry Hunsicker as a possibility. He'd definitely be on my short list, if I were looking for a GM.

The point remains though, what's the rush? And if the reassignment/out clause are true, then there doesn't appear to have been any reason to do the extension now. It's the sign of a poorly run organization, and for an organization that doesn't and shouldn't get the benefit of the doubt.

It is being reported that Boston has given Epstein permission to talk to the Cubs regarding the GM vacancy.

"I am shocked," Sherman tweets. "But in last 36 hrs every exec talk to says believe #Redsox will give permssion and Theo will go to #Cubs to be GM."

Don't get too excited. The next John Lackey and Carl Crawford are out there. Those would be typical Cubs contracts, come to think of it.

Don't get too excited. The next John Lackey and Carl Crawford are out there. Those would be typical Cubs contracts, come to think of it.

Can we please note that the implosion of the '11 Red Sox resulted in a 90-72 season; a record that the Cubs have matched or bested ONCE in the past 22 seasons.

Perhaps it's because most are aware that the front office is the same one that presided over a couple of World Series championships. Is there something specific the f.o. did wrong that caused the implosion, or was it just injuries+bad luck+a few mediocre transactions?

My comment in #69 was mostly tongue-in-cheek. (It should, however, be pointed out that the spirit of what you said above was also true of Francona.)

Meanwhile, two league sources confirmed a report by Sports Illustrated that Epstein could assume the title of president of baseball operations for the Cubs and bring in San Diego Padres general manager Jed Hoyer as his general manager.

Although compensation has been a sticking point in the Epstein negotiations, it's not expected to play as big a role with the Padres because of the strong relationship between Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts and Padres vice chairman/CEO Jeff Moorad, according to numerous major league sources.

But all the talk Saturday by baseball people — both current and former executives — was how badly this was handled on both sides, specifically with a lot of fingers pointed at how big of a detriment the Cubs’ Crane Kenney has been.

The good news? Epstein’s title of president of baseball operations would seemingly slam the door on Kenney’s constant meddling, leaving him only on the business end of operations. In other words, the best way to scare a roach off is to turn the light on, and Epstein just flipped the switch.

Several high-level executives told the Sun-Times that Kenney‘s presence was actually an impediment to the Cubs getting the initial interest for the GM job they were hoping for, until Epstein made it very clear that Kenney would have to disappear into the shadows if he took the job.

The Ricketts family has seemingly agreed, and, according to sources, the next step in the process is that Epstein and new Red Sox GM Ben Cherington will now figure out the compensation.

‘‘The thing with the Cubs, they don’t actually have anyone negotiating that actually has been in [player] development, so they don’t know the players the Red Sox talk about,’’ Gammons said during a Boston radio interview. ‘‘They have the CEO of business and the assistant general manager, who wasn’t actually involved in the farm system.’’

In the case of the business guy, Kenney, Gammons was spot-on in identifying one of the problems with negotiations over player compensation for new Cubs baseball president Theo Epstein.