Reports out of Boston indicate that the Chicago Cubs have asked permission to interview Red Sox GM Theo Epstein for their vacant GM position. Epstein has had a successful run in Boston, winning two championships, the first erasing an 86 year Boston championship drought.

According to sources quoted for the story, Epstein may be interested thinking he could erase the Cubs 103 years of failure.  And, while that may be true, there is a far more interesting part to the story.

"Epstein's resume might have the title 'general manager' in front of his name, but the Cubs' interest goes beyond his on-field success, and his duties could be expanded in Chicago. If Red Sox owners allow Epstein to leave, he also could assume a president's title, leading the charge for the remodeling of Wrigley Field."

Let's focus on this for a second.  If you ran a business that had not achieved success in over 100 years, wouldn't you hire someone to run your on field operations as opposed to letting them run the whole team?  Now, if Epstein has a minion that reports to him as GM, that's fine, do it, but don't ask the guy who leads your on-field operations to also be involved in fund raising to help rebuild your ball park.  These are two huge jobs, rehabbing a baseball team that was awful the last two years and rebuilding a ballpark that is dying.  You can do one or the other, but nobody can do both.

In addition, trying to convince Illinois lawmakers and Chicago officials to help the Cubs renovate the againg Wrigley Field will be tough. Can a guy from out of town come in and charm the locals? Chicagoans are as provincial as Bostonians and for some out of town guy to come in and convince them that tax dollars need to be used to help fix up Wrigley will not be an easy sell.

What would make it easier is if Epstein could win a World Series as GM of the Cubs.  Then, he might have some sway, having slayed the 500 pound gorillia.  But right off the bus?  He'll find out just how tough Chicago can be,

If the Ricketts family is serious about bringing Epstein in, they need to decide, prior to the interview, if he is going to replace Crane Kenney or Jim Hendry. Because no one can do both.  And no one should have to.