Oct. 17--One of the selling points in luring Jon Lester to the Chicago Cubs was the "arrogance" President Theo Epstein displayed in convincing Lester last November that the Cubs' prospects were legitimately good.
"I mean that in a good way," Lester said in referring to Epstein's confidence.
But based on the performances of Kris Bryant, Addison Russell and Kyle Schwarber as rookies, Epstein's forecast was accurate.
Epstein said he learned a lesson during his early days as a staff member with the San Diego Padres in the mid-1990s on the importance of being honest from former infielder Craig Shipley.
During a discussion, Epstein noticed Shipley rolling his eyes.
"Players are very skeptical of the front office," Shipley told Epstein, who wondered why.
"Somewhere along the line, every player has been lied to at some point."
"From that point on," Epstein said. "I tried to make it a point to always be brutally honest with a player. Jon and I have had such a long time together. That probably helped with the credibility."
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