PITTSBURGH – Whether Cubs manager Joe Maddon is back next season, it seems clear at least that team president Theo Epstein will be.
Epstein, who is under contract through 2021, refuted a report in the Boston Globe suggesting he could be a candidate to return to Boston to replace recently fired Red Sox baseball operations president Dave Dombrowski – and said he plans remain in Chicago.
“There’s nothing to that story,” Epstein said Wednesday before the Cubs’ game against the Pirates. “I’m here. We have a lot we need to work on to get back to the level we’re accustomed to. I’m invested in that. That’s what I’m focused on.”
Epstein, who grew up in Boston and was the Red Sox general manager from 2003-2011, said earlier this month that neither he, GM Jed Hoyer or executive Jason McLeod were linked to the Red Sox position.
“That’s still true,” he said Wednesday.
He added: “I have really good relationships with a lot of people there, and I certainly wish them the best, but there’s nothing to that story.”
Epstein joined the team Wednesday and is expected to remain with the club through the season-ending road trip. That was to include meeting with Maddon to discuss the Cubs future of the manager, whose five-year contract expires after this season.
