Theo Epstein Speaks: Surprise About the Roster, In-Season Moves, Happ, Kimbrel, Souza, More

The Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein did a couple radio hits yesterday and today, talking about the vibe at camp, the offseason, and more.

I paraphrased some of what stuck out to me as I listened, and I’ve included links to the full interviews so you can give them a listen at your leisure.

670 The Score:

  • If Epstein were dropped straight from last fall – talking about a reckoning – straight into camp as it stands right now with this roster, how would he feel? Well, I’d feel really optimistic about what we have. I think I’d be surprised at the lack of change, because we set out to make broader changes, and that was not the environment in the trade market this year. Just was not an active trade market. But I still think I’d be really encouraged by the attitudes and performances.
  • People are so quick to write off Ian Happ, but he’s just different this year. He’s in such a good place – what he and we went through last year has led to transformation. Everything about him is different offensively right now. It won’t be perfect, but he’s aware of his issues.
  • The many organizational changes we made have been contemplated for a while, and didn’t have anything to do with not being able to transform the roster. It was all about addressing the long haul.
  • Steven Souza Jr. runs really well, is a great defender. He lit up our scout when he worked out for teams in January. He hasn’t seen a lot of live pitching, so there are still some heaters in the zone that he’s just missing. But the potential is there.
  • The sickness hasn’t been pervasive through the full clubhouse, but there have been some pockets of guys who’ve been hit.
  • I thought yesterday was a real positive for Craig Kimbrel, sitting 95-96 mph without effort. The breaking ball looked really good. Based on where he’s been in the past, the build up of his velocity, I thought it was a positive.
  • Jon Lester may need to get back to his bread and butter – glove-side four-seamer, cutter working off of that – and then let everything play off of that.
  • ESPN1000:

  • Workmanlike vibe at camp, attention to detail. David Ross is so engaged in how he wants to run the clubhouse, and make relationships.
  • This winter, our number one concern was having to build a bullpen without spending any money. The early returns are really, really good.
  • We’ll see how we proceed in-season. Usually the situation speaks to you, and hopefully we’re playing so well that it’s obvious how to proceed. But if it’s in the middle ground, we just have to be smart about it. It’s not binary where you’re giving up or going for it – there are shades of gray, balancing short-term and long-term factors.
  • We’ve tried to sign guys to long-term extensions, but we have not been able to do so with some. Players don’t have an obligation to sign, they should do what’s best for them. It’s unfortunate we haven’t been able to do it.
  • The Cubs will have a compliance meeting near the end of Spring Training to make sure players know the rules, and so that we win with integrity. If you win without integrity, it’s not worth anything. You can’t be proud of it.
  • There is a little feel of wanting to fight back against last year around camp. I believe last year was a bottoming out, and it was maybe too easy the year before to fall back on “yeah, but 95 wins” – but last year, losing a lead in the division in September, losing nine straight games, winning only 84 games, finishing in third place. There’s no escaping that.
  • written by

    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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