01:00 AM EST on Friday, January 27, 2006

The pressure's on Theo now.

Larry's off the hook and Theo's back on the hot seat.

Lucchino is going to run the business end of the Red Sox, and business in Boston never has been better.

As for the baseball . . .

Yes, Theo has a World Series ring. The Boy Wonder was instrumental in bringing Boston its first World Series championship in 86 years in 2004.

But that historic triumph was followed last year by a three-game sweep at the hands of the on-their-way-to-becoming-world-champions White Sox, who used their superior pitching to blitz Boston in the A.L. semifinal series.

Pitching? Did somebody say pitching?

It was Theo who allowed future Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez to go to the Mets -- at least Epstein didn't try to justify it by saying Prima Donna Petey was "in the twilight of his career" as Martinez made the lucrative, long-term move from Fenway to Shea -- and also let colorful Derek Lowe, who had a fabulous postseason in 2004 after a disappointing regular season, sign with the Dodgers, where he raised (or perhaps lowered) the term "media friendly" to a new level by having an affair with a television reporter.

To replace that prominent pitching pair, Epstein brought in 42-year-old lefty David Wells and Matt Clement.

You don't have to be Bill James to ascertain whether the Red Sox' starting rotation was better in 2005 or in the championship season of 2004.

As for the bullpen -- Sox fans wince at the very word, the memories of last year still painful -- it was a disaster all season.

While the Sox were struggling to get anybody out, and Epstein was struggling to bring somebody in to solve the problem, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman made a trade with Colorado for Shawn Chacon, who went 7-3, with a 2.85 E.R.A., in 12 starts for New York after having been 1-7 with the Rockies. Cashman also brought up journeyman Aaron Small from Triple-A Columbus. Small hadn't won a big-league game since 1998, with Oakland, but he went 10-0 for the Yankees.

That enabled New York, written off by many after a slow start, to overtake the Red Sox and win its eighth straight A.L. East title.

Speaking of which . . .

I read in these pages yesterday where "While the fan base and some in the organization shared an obsession with the Yankees, the baseball operations department saw the Atlanta Braves as a more apt model. Though the Braves have won just one World Series of late, they have won 14 consecutive division titles and qualified for the postseason every year since 1991."

The head of baseball operations in Boston is, of course, young Theo, who, having gotten his way in the team's front-office power struggle following a three-month snit fit, is now In Charge.

The Red Sox haven't won a division title since 1995, and have finished first in the A.L. East just once in the last 15 years. Although, for the first time in club history, they qualified for the postseason for the third consecutive year in 2005, they're hardly a lock to make it four straight in 2006.

The Yankees have a much more powerful everyday lineup, and Toronto is much improved with the addition of Troy Glaus to the batting order, A.J. Burnett to the starting rotation and closer B.J. Ryan to the bullpen. Then there are Chicago and Cleveland in the Central, and Anaheim and Oakland in the West.

That's why the pressure's on Theo now. He got his way, and now he'd better deliver.

He'd better deliver a center fielder. He'd better deliver a shortstop. He'd better deliver a closer.

One of the reasons Epstein likes the Braves -- who, despite their impressive run of division titles, have been to the World Series only once in the last nine years, in 1999, when they were swept by the Yankees -- is that they are "largely homegrown."

Yet the Sox recently traded away highly touted prospect Hanley Ramirez as part of the (good) deal that brought them young, talented and gutsy right-handed starter Josh Beckett, and now have highly regarded prospect Andy Marte, obtained from the Braves in the Edgar Renteria trade, on the block.

There is talent in the pipeline. Hard-throwing Jonathan Papelbon should open the season in Boston, and the likes of Jonathan Lester, Craig Hansen and Dustin Pedroia may not be far behind. If, that is, Theo doesn't deal 'em.

It was Epstein who made the trade for Renteria, when he could have re-signed Orlando Cabrera. Renteria led the majors in errors last year, and now the Sox are paying part of his salary to play in Atlanta.

So the Sox again need a shortstop, not to mention someone in center field, where they're trying to replace a matinee idol in the immensely popular Johnny Damon, with a guy named after a breakfast cereal -- Coco Crisp.

Theo and Larry said Wednesday they were done talking about internal strife and office intrigue. From now on, they want it all to be about the baseball.

OK, it is. Now the pressure's on Theo to give Red Sox fans a baseball team that's better than the Braves -- whose postseason disappointments have resulted in a struggle to sell out playoff games in Atlanta -- and at least as good as the Yankees, perennial kingpins of the A.L. East.

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