Fenway Sports Group announced Friday that MLB exec Theo Epstein has “joined its group and will serve as a senior advisor,” according to Darren Hartwell of NBCSPORTSBOSTON.com. The new role “represents a homecoming” for Epstein, who served as Red Sox GM from 2002-11. Epstein had been working for MLB as a consultant with a “focus on improving the game” and “played a role” in MLB instituting the pitch clock as well as other pace-of-play rule changes. FSG announced Friday that Epstein “no longer will serve in that role.” Epstein said that he “won't play a role in personnel decisions” and “will be ‘the one asking questions’ instead of ‘the one making decisions.’” Even if Epstein “doesn't play a hands-on role” with the Red Sox, his return “likely is a welcome sight for Boston fans frustrated by another quiet offseason.” This has “led some to wonder” if John Henry and Co. “will sell the team, but Epstein's addition to the ownership is an interesting plot twist” (NBCSPORTSBOSTON.com, 2/2). In Boston, Mac Cerullo reports Epstein will also “continue his role” as Operating Partner for Arctic Partners, a sports private equity platform and member of FSG’s ownership group since 2020 (BOSTON HERALD, 2/2).
POWER MOVE: MLB Network’s Jon Morosi said, “This is welcome news for Red Sox fans, who have been waiting for a big splash this offseason. The roster maybe doesn’t have the big splash, but the front office does.” This is a “welcome development for Red Sox fans, who have wanted to see that Theo Epstein-level of care everyday that he can give them on the baseball side.” Morosi: “Fenway Sports Group has a lot of different properties. … This is now a baseball guy taking back a lot of control of a baseball team” (“Hot Stove,” MLB Network, 2/2).
