Feeling it necessary to take swipes at œcertain tabloids, team president and CEO Larry Lucchino (above) resorted to tabloid-like terminology himself ” œabsurd, œridiculous, and œhogwash ” on the airwaves of Red Sox™ rights-holder WEEI yesterday to deny speculation about his own future with the team, as well as his relationship with former GM and possible future baseball operations member Theo Epstein.
Columnists in both this paper and the Boston Globe, owned by The New York Times ” a 17 percent stakeholder in the Sox ” have speculated in recent days that Epstein and Lucchino were engaged in a power struggle that could result in Epstein overseeing baseball operations, with Lucchino left out of that equation and possibly bound for a new post with the Washington Nationals.
œThat™s absurd, that™s just completely wrong, Lucchino said. œI and my family have dropped our roots and we™re trying to plant our roots even more deeply in Boston. We love it here. It™s a great city to live in and a great region to live in. It™s the best place I have lived. As much as I have liked the other places, there™s just something exceptional that fits me and our personality here. And this rumor, just like those written in certain tabloids, are just hogwash.
As for reports of a rift between him and Epstein, Lucchino said, œThat™s ridiculous. I™ve known him for 14 years and I™ve talked to him a couple of times since his final departure decision that he made. I™m not going to get into that. I don™t feel the need to respond to that type of provocative inquiry.