All hail Theo: Sox GM picks winners

As I watch the Red Sox in the playoffs and not just this year but every year Theo Epstein has been General Manager, what he is doing becomes more and more obvious.

The Red Sox are built for the postseason. Of course they can't get to the postseason without qualifying, but that seems like the easy part -- even playing in a division with the Yankees and the emergent Tampa Bay Rays. To Theo and company it is all about the end game. Back in the day the Red Sox and their fans were happy to make the playoffs and maybe make it to the World Series. No more. The Red Sox are now only satisfied by being World Champions.

Somehow it appears Theo has been able to quantify the intangible. He seems to be able to idenify that heady mix of athletic ability, baseball savvy, concentration and sheer determination that separates winners from losers. It seems to pervade the entire baseball operation. Epstein not only has figured it out himself but has communicated his vision to his other baseball people.

The thinking pervades personnel decisions from the amateur draft that has produced Papelbon, Lester, Ellsbury, Pedroia, Lowrie and Masterson to free agents like Drew, Ortiz and Matsuzaka to plug-ins like Kotsay and Byrd, there is one common denominator. They don't choke, they make the plays under pressure, they play to win and they do win.

In the playoffs where every team is a good team coming of a season of success the difference between winning and losing comes down to a fine line. It depends on a million factors but mostly it is who is playing where and when. As I watch the play unfold I see Theo's genius at work. He knows how this is going to work and how a player will react. He really has this vision thing nailed.

For instance, J.D. Drew was held out of most of the last two months of the regular season and look what he has done now. Yes, his hitting has been clutch but to me the difference has been in the field. Where as Torii Hunter and Gary Mathews couldn't catch routine fly balls, and Reggie Willets misplayed Jason Bay's fly ball in the bottom of the 9th in game 4 in the Angels series and Carl Crawford misplayed a catchable ball last night late in Game 1 of the ALCS, JD has made all the plays and made them look easy.

The pitching staff is built for 5 and 7 game series. How are the Red Sox doin' now that Dice K has won Game 1 of the ALCS and at the Trop no less? Are we liking our odds now with Beckett back healthy after his rehab start versus the Angels and Lester in Game 3 in Boston? Do you think this is some accident? Lucky twist of fate?

No, No. This is a chess match and Theo just said checkmate.