Theo Epstein is smarter than you

Red Sox Nation is full of wanna be GMs, many of which probably shake their heads with frustration every time they see Manny hit another home run in a Dodgers uniform. But it’s been over a month now since Theo Epstein was finally able to shed the ball and chain that was Manny Ramirez… and the Red Sox have been a better team because of it.

The Red Sox went 18-9 in August and swept the Orioles to kick off September, giving them a 0.70% winning percentage since the trade. I’d say that’s a tad better than the 11-13 (0.46 W%) the Sox posted while Manny played “How to lose a team in 10 days” through July.

If you’re wondering why those numbers sound familiar, its because that’s the exact same winning percentage the Sox had through the last 60 games of the 2004 season … you know, after a young Theo Epstein shocked the Nation by trading the face of the franchise, Nomar Garciaparra. The Red Sox went 42-18 after Nomar was shipped off to Chicago in a last minute, three-team deal (freaky). And, oh yeah, they won the World Series… I almost forgot.

Epstein has admitted to having a few sleepless nights after trading Nomar, but he had the cajones to make the right move then, and the chill of déjà vu probably made it a little easier for him to pull the trigger this time around.

“We didn't have to move Manny, but we had to take a good hard look at it what we could do to make it a positive situation for us to make the playoffs and do some damage in October. The team comes first. We just had a meeting, 25 guys down there feel like a team. We haven't felt like that for a while.”

Now that 30+ days have passed, it’s clear to this fan, that Theo knew what he was doing. Sure, Manny has been on fire, batting .407 with 10 ding-dongs and 29 RBI since donning the Dodger blue, but the shenanigans continued in L.A., first with Manny’s playful refusal to cut his dreads and later the mid-game bathroom break… while Jason Bay and his refreshingly quiet confidence, has hit .305 since coming to Boston and driven in exactly 29 runs of his own.

Theo knew that addition by subtraction was going to help this team succeed; after all, he’d been to that party before. He knew that Jason Bay could hold his own in the middle of the line up. He knew he could replace Craig Hansen (10.34 ERA w/ PIT) with Justin Masterson (1.58 ERA since Aug 1). And Paul Byrd has won three starts in a row and Mark Kotsay is batting .333 with 7 RBI in 6 games since Theo snatched them off the wire.

Bottom Line: It took me a while to admit it too, but it’s true: Theo Epstein is smarter than you. He’s smarter than all of us.