Red Sox Front Office Puzzle

Something strange about Bill Lajoie's recent moves. When Theo Epstein walked away this past fall, Lajoie was supposedly also bowing out of the organization out of respect to Theo. Then he agreed to stay on as the "senior guy" until the Red Sox filled the GM position. As the defacto acting GM - Lajoie brought a sense of comfort to Red Sox Nation. There was a sense of warmth knowing that someone who had "been there - done that" was captaining the ship. Then Lajoie pulled off the Josh Beckett trade and the talk radio shows abounded with "who needs a GM - we got Lajoie and the young guns" talk. Then Theo came back to the fold and just recently Bill Lajoie said goodbye to the organization. Now today comes news that Bill Lajoie is going to work for the Dodgers as "senior advisor".

Something about this unfolding of events just strikes me as strange.

Did Lajoie feel that with the maturing of Epstein in Boston that he was no longer needed? Or was Lajoie one of the things that made Epstein uncomfortable about the organization to the point where he walked away from his dream job? Epstein has said that the things he was concerned about and that made him walk away as GM have been changed but the only real organization personnel change has been the exit of Lajoie. What are we to make of this?

I've never met Epstein or Lajoie and I like them both in the abstract but is it possible that behind closed doors that these guys did not mix well? Pure speculation on my part but could the Josh Beckett trade be exhibit A of the rift that existed? This trade was Lajoie's baby and in Beckett the Red Sox got a Cy Young caliber young pitcher but one with a serious injury history. A history so bad that Guillermo Mota had to be thrown in the deal. Lajoie took a gamble.

Is this a gamble that Theo would have taken if he was in charge? The Red Sox gave up two blue-chip prospects to land Beckett (Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez). Theo's stated goal has been to build the Red Sox up through the farm system.

Maybe this deal was the exception that proved the rule? And maybe Theo would have made the same deal. But the combination of the deal and both Beckett and Mota turning out to be potential damaged goods combined with the departure of the healthy enough to work for the Dodgers Lajoie may point to something else entirely.

Maybe it wasn't a rift with Larry Lucchino that made Theo walk away. Maybe it was having Bill Lajoie hovering over (around) Theo checking his work like Salieri. Maybe Amadeus Epstein only agreed to come back when it was agreed that Lajoie would no longer be in the orginization chart.

It all just strikes me as a strange set of coincidences.