More than two months after abruptly leaving, the former general manager will have more control.

01:56 AM EST on Friday, January 20, 2006

BY SEAN McADAM
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- In a move nearly as dramatic as his abrupt departure 10 weeks ago, Theo Epstein last night rejoined the Red Sox and will again assume control of the team's baseball operations department, a post he held for three years before his stunning exit on Halloween.

Epstein, who had continued to serve as an unofficial consultant to the club, is expected to return to his Fenway Park office next week.

No formal agreement detailing his official title, pay or length of contract is yet in place, but it's known that Epstein will have autonomy over the baseball operations department and will earn approximately $1.5 million per season. He made about $600,000 last year.

Also unclear last night was whether Jed Hoyer and Ben Cherrington, named co-general managers last month in the wake of Epstein's resignation, will retain their titles. But Hoyer and Cherrington will assume increased responsibilities and work in tandem with Epstein, particularly with Josh Byrnes, the team's former assistant general manager, having become general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Journal file photo

Theo Epstein at a news conference on Nov. 2 at which he talked about why he was leaving the Boston Red Sox.

The Sox did not hide that Epstein was being called upon to offer advice to Hoyer and Cherrington, and Epstein visited Fenway on a regular basis even after his exit.

Red Sox principal owner John Henry, who appeared shocked at Epstein's Nov. 2 farewell news conference, brokered Epstein's return in a series of conversations with him over the last two months.

Henry and CEO Larry Lucchino were attending Major League Baseball's quarterly owners meetings and were unavailable for comment. Epstein declined comment when reached last night.

A vaguely worded statement issued jointly last night by Henry, Lucchino, chairman Tom Werner and Epstein said:

"As you know, we have spoken frequently during the last 10 weeks. We have engaged in healthy, spirited debates about what it will take over the long-term for the Red Sox to remain a great organization and, in fact, become a more effective organization in philosophy, approaches and ideals. Ironically, Theo's departure has brought us closer together in many respects, and, thanks to these conversations, we now enjoy the bonds of a shared vision for the organization's future that did not exist on October 31. With this vision in place, Theo will return to the Red Sox in a full-time baseball operations capacity, details of which will be announced next week."

Before promoting Hoyer -- who had been an assistant to the general manager -- and Cherrington -- who had overseen the organization's minor league system -- Lucchino had lobbied to hire Jim Beattie as Esptein's permanent replacement, but was consistently rebuffed by ownership.

It was Epstein's sometimes fractious relationship with Lucchino that contributed, in part, to Epstein's departure. Epstein was reportedly furious that details of his contract negotiations were leaked to media outlets. He was particularly upset at a column published in The Boston Globe the day before he left.

In announcing his decision to leave in early November, Epstein was cryptic about his reasons.

"Sometimes," he said, "you have to take a difficult path because it's the right path -- and that's what I did."

A native of Brookline, Mass., Epstein grew up just miles from Fenway Park and realized a dream when, at 28 years and 11 months old, he was named the youngest general manager in the history of the game on Nov. 25, 2002. He quickly began to assemble a team which qualified for the post-season in all three of his seasons at the helm.

He signed free agents Bill Mueller, Kevin Millar and David Ortiz to affordable contracts and engineered the trade for Curt Schilling, whose improbable post-season heroics in October of 2004 led the team to its first championship in 86 years.

In the middle of the 2004 season, with the team's play inconsistent and its defense suspect, he made the bold move of dealing All-Star shortstop Nomar Garciaparra in a four-team trade, remaking the team's infield and chemistry mix, two key components of the Sox' successful playoff run that fall.

He was less successful last season, when the team's pitching staff was hurt by injuries to Schilling and reliever Keith Foulke and some of his more recent personnel moves -- led by free agent Edgar Renteria -- were met with disappointment.

After leaving the Red Sox last fall, Epstein was offered the general manager's job with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but declined.

smcadam@projo.com / (401) 277-7340