ARLINGTON, Texas -- Talks to determine the compensation for the Red Sox from the Chicago Cubs for allowing Theo Epstein to leave Boston with a year remaining on his contract are on hold until after the teams introduce their respective executives Tuesday, a source familiar with the negotiations said.
After 10 days of back-and-forth proposals failed to produce a settlement on the matter of compensation, Epstein resigned as executive vice-president and general manager of the Red Sox Friday night and was named president of Baseball Operations for the Cubs.
The idea was that Epstein and Red Sox assistant GM Ben Cherington would continue to work on the compensation issue, but no further talks are scheduled until after Epstein is introduced Tuesday at Wrigley Field and Cherington is named his successor at Fenway.
If Epstein and Cherington can't settle the issue before Nov. 1, commissioner Bud Selig said Sunday night he would intervene.
"They have until Nov. 1 -- Theo and Ben and all the other parties involved," said Selig prior to the start of Game 4 of the World Series. "Hopefully they can get things done. I always encourage clubs to try to get things done between themselves. Somehow, the commissioner has enough things of controversy to deal with.
"They'll either get it done or they won't. If they don't, then I will."
Selig said he wasn't bothered by the movement of executives since the regular season ended. In addition to Epstein leaving the Red Sox, San Diego GM Jed Hoyer will leave the Padres to become GM of the Cubs.
Boston Red Sox
"We've had two or three clubs that have changed," said Selig. "We've also had 27 that haven't changed anybody. It's not a stability question. Every so often, in the evolution of these things, there are times when people change. Sometimes, people feel the shelf life of somebody in one place is enough. I don't happen to feel that way, but I know they do. I'm not concerned about stability, no."