Chicago Cubs: Theo Epstein’s made few mistakes in Chicago

When the Chicago Cubs hired Theo Epstein to oversee the “rebuild”, it’s highly unlikely they saw it going as smoothly as it has. But it doesn’t mean there weren’t a few “missteps” along the way.

You have to wonder when it was that Chicago Cubs‘ owner Tom Ricketts decided Theo Epstein would be the man for the job. After watching him break the “Curse of the Bambino” when did Rickett’s start thinking about breaking the curse of that damn billy goat? Whenever he first thought about it, it was October 12, 2011, that they made it happen.

The Cubs, unlike the Boston Red Sox when he took them over, were not a winning team. And things got worse before they got better. But that was exactly what Epstein preached. Trust the plan. Five years later the Cubs raised their first World Series trophy since 1908. Two of the longest droughts in baseball history had been ended by one man.

I’d love to say that it was smooth, but we all know that wasn’t the case. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, or so the saying goes. In the end, all of these were things that Epstein hopefully was able to learn from. So we give to you five of Epstein’s “poor” choices–but all outweighed by the good ones.