Former Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein took a subliminal jab at outgoing United States President Donald Trump during a press conference on Tuesday.
Epstein, who was announcing his decision to step down from his role with the Cubs, explained in detail how he and Cubs owner Tom Ricketts had been working on a transition plan to allow the franchise to go forward.
Theo then made an allusion to the recent general election and current political climate:
“The peaceful transfer of power is getting rarer in the country, let alone in the sports world,” Epstein said, via Jared Diamond of The Wall Street Journal.
This, of course, is a reference to President Trump's refusal to participate in the transfer of power to President-elect Joe Biden, as is tradition.
Trump has refused to acknowledge the results of the election, maintaining he won and continuing to posit claims of voter fraud, none of which have been verified. In fact, many of the Trump team's lawsuits have already been thrown out in the courts.
As for Epstein, he will cede power to Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer, who signed an extension to take over Epstein's role as president of baseball operations.
Epstein will leave Chicago as perhaps the greatest executive in club history. The Cubs brought him on board in October 2011, and Epstein subsequently led a rebuild that culminated with the franchise winning its first World Series title in 108 years in 2016.
Chicago faces an uncertain future and the prospect of significant overhaul this offseason, but fans would do well to thank Epstein for his contributions to the organization.
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