Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein is arguably the top MLB executive, but he's still waiting to get paid like it. The 42-year-old's contract with the Cubs expires after this season and he's still negotiating with team owner Tom Ricketts.
The Los Angeles Dodgers made president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman the league's highest-paid exec last offseason when he was given a five-year, $35 million contract. Epstein's five-year, $18.5 million deal he signed before the 2012 made him the highest-paid in the sport at the time, and he's likely going achieve that milestone again after his stellar work with the Cubs.
Here's the latest regarding his ongoing talks with Ricketts:
Theo Epstein-contract status "We haven't talked a lot about it The talks we have had very amicable productive ,moving in the right direction
— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) April 11, 2016
Last week both Epstein and Ricketts were candid about the talks. Both said progress was being made and that a conclusion is expected in the near future, but they also expressed there is no urgent timetable or deadline to reach an agreement, which likely indicates the two sides are planning on sticking together and getting this done on their own terms.
Additionally, with Epstein ready to make more than Friedman's $35 million, Ricketts is likely trying to figure out a pact that would be fair to both sides - one that would put Epstein back atop the fraternity of baseball executives without severely gouging Ricketts' wallet. Ricketts indicated this offseason that he plans to make Epstein the highest paid, but there are clearly some obstacles to overcome if a deal has yet to be agreed upon at this point. Chicago did most of the teams heavy lifting in terms of free agent signings and trades very early in the offseason, so there was (seemingly) ample time to get a deal done for Epstein in order to put this distraction behind them as the 2016 season approached.
The Cubs have high expectations this year as the World Series favorites, so the last thing they need is an unsettled contract situation with MLB's top front office executive. Epstein led Chicago to its first winning record since 2009 last year as well as its first playoff appearance since 2008 and first NLCS appearance since 2003.
The future for the Cubs is perhaps the brightest in baseball, but Epstein has oversaw the team's development for the past four-plus years and was responsible for their growth. He'll need to be in the front office if the team wants to break their record championship drought.
