Red Sox Receive Chris Carpenter: Theo Epstein Compensation Finished

Finally there is a resolution to the Theo Epstein saga that has been dragged out for far too long. Back in October, former Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein, the brilliant mind that brought two World Series Championships to Boston, left the Red Sox to take over the Chicago Cubs organization as their President of Baseball Operations. 

With Boston ownership letting Epstein leave the club with a year still left on his contract, the Red Sox were set to receive some sort of compensation. At first, Epstein, along with former Red Sox assistant general manager and now current Cubs GM Jed Hoyer, tried to negotiate a deal with new Boston GM Ben Cherington, but a deal could not be reached.

From there, commissioner Bud Selig was set to decide on what Boston would receive from the Cubs. Fans had their hopes up for pitcher Matt Garza, shortstop Starlin Castro or even top prospects Brett Jackson or Trey McNutt, but Selig decided on someone else.

ESPN's Gordon Edes tweeted this morning that the Boston Red Sox will receive pitching prospect Chris Carpenter as compensation for Theo Epstein. As part of the deal, since it is an official MLB trade, both teams will receive a player to be named later in the deal. Boston Globe's Peter Abraham tweeted that Cherington will resolve the rest of the deal by the end of spring training.

In order to make room for Carpenter on the 40-man roster, the Red Sox placed reliever Bobby Jenks on the 60-day disabled list, as reported by MLB.com analyst Ian Browne.

Chris Carpenter, 26, split time in Doulble-A and Triple-A last season in the Cub's minor league system. He was rated the fifth best prospect in the Cubs' organization by MLB.com going into this upcoming season.

In ten games with the Cubs in June and July, Carpenter pitched 9.2 innings and posted a 2.79 ERA while striking out eight batters. He appeared in 32 games combined in the minors, going 3-4 with an ERA of 5.91. Abraham tweets that Carpenter has a big arm and can reach up to 100 MPH, but has control issues.

He will only be a reliever and it will be interesting to see if he can make the major league roster by the end of spring training. If not, Triple-A Pawtucket will be the likely destination.