On eve of spring training, Theo Epstein sets serious tone to reverse the Cubs ...
22.02.12
Yes, and my goal is to need hair gel this year, but that's probably not going to happen either.
Still, Epstein had to say it. What else could he say: "Our goal is to finish ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates "?
This was duty talking. This was the Boston Red Sox in him -- and those two world championships he won there -- talking. It wasn't about managing expectations; it was about raising them.
Epstein, who did the Saturday presser with general manager Jed Hoyer and manager Dale Sveum, knows the Cubs aren't going to win the World Series this season. With this roster? With arguably the 20th- to 25th-best team in the big leagues? With a lineup that has holes as wide as the gap between center field and right? Nuh, uh.
But if Epstein was looking to set the tone of this Cubs spring training, he did it Saturday. And he did it with a straight face and with an edge in his voice that was as hard as the outfield bleachers at Wrigley.
"I think patience is important, but urgency is important as well," he said.
Source: ESPN