Before the Boston Red Sox hired Craig Breslow as the new Chief Baseball Officer last fall, there was talk of Theo Epstein returning to take the job.
Given that the Red Sox have finished last in the American League East in three of the last four years, fans were certainly clamoring for Epstein’s return.
And while the return didn’t happen in that position, the former Sox GM is returning to the Red Sox in a new capacity, as announced on Friday.
Epstein was named the Red Sox general manager in 2002 and held the position until after the 2011 season, winning two World Series titles.
He then went to the Cubs, winning a title in 2016 and then worked for Major League Baseball, helping implement some of the new rules we saw in 2023.
While Epstein isn’t a decision-maker for the Red Sox, the hope is that of all FSG’s holdings, he may be the most invested in the Red Sox’ success, leading him to spend a little extra attention toward the team that fans feel has been neglected by ownership.
The catcher was a member of the Brewers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Miami Marlins, San Francisco Giants, St.
Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies from 2017 to 2021, but he only logged five MLB appearances with the Marlins and 15 with the Giants in that span.
Heineman returned to the big leagues in 2022, appearing in 10 games for the Blue Jays before the Pittsburgh Pirates nabbed him off the waiver wire.
Heineman played 52 games for Pittsburgh to round out that season, plus an additional three contests early in 2023.
The Blue Jays re-acquired Heineman via trade in April, and he made 19 appearances in Toronto over the course of the season.
As for his track record in the minors, Heineman is a .276 hitter with a .752 OPS in 689 career Triple-A games.
Boston was set to enter 2024 with a platoon of Connor Wong and Reese McGuire at catcher, as they did in 2023.
McGuire was banged up for long stretches of last season, however, so bringing in Heineman gives the Red Sox another backup option if injuries plague the veteran again this year.
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