Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein and manager Terry Francona both said Friday that there are no issues between them, refuting earlier reports that had fueled debate over Francona's job security.
"There's no disconnect with me and Tito," Epstein told reporters at Yankee Stadium, where the slumping Red Sox were preparing to begin their final road trip of the year. "I think anyone who has been around the club on a daily basis will see that. We talk several times a day. We spend a ton of time together. I was in his office today laughing and joking like I was yesterday, like I was the day before. Obviously less laughing and joking this month than previously because of the way things are going. We’re all on the same page.
"We're talking all the time and trying to figure out how to put this team in a position to succeed. For eight years I've respected and admired him. I believe the feeling is mutual."
Epstein stressed that the team’s 5-16 stretch is all that has created the uproar, not anything between him and Francona.
"This is what happens when a team plays poorly down the stretch," Epstein continued. "There's a tendency to try and turn a stretch of bad baseball into a soap opera and we’re not going to let that happen. Have we played good baseball this month? No. Are there sort of deeper issues, interpersonal problems or dramatics around here? No. This is not a soap opera. This is a team that hasn't played well all of a sudden for two or three weeks. Tito and I are on the same page."
Francona, whose contract expires at the end of the season, said that aside from the mind-boggling slump, everything is status quo.
"I don't feel any different than I ever have," Francona said in his afternoon session with the media. "The organization not only has the right but it's their obligation to get the right person they think is the best, if at some point they think it needs to be somebody else. Other than that, I think it's disrespectful to spend one waking moment thinking about my situation. We need to win games. That's how I intend to [deal with] it."
There is a two-year option on Francona’s deal. Epstein said that is an "offseason issue."
Boston finished August with a win over the rival Yankees. At that point, the Sox held a 1 ½-game lead in the American League East and a nine-game lead over the nearest wild card contender, Tampa Bay.
Entering the last visit to the Bronx, Boston holds just a two-game lead over the Rays with six to play. New York clinched the division earlier in the week.
As for the slump, Epstein hopes it can become an opportunity to do something special.
"It's what happens after you get knocked on your ass that matters,” he said. “Everyone gets knocked on their ass. We were on our ass in April and our players dug deep and pulled themselves out. I know it sounds silly because it’s April, but if you were around the team there were trying circumstances in April. The players dug deep, pulled themselves off the mat and played great. It’s what happens next that matters.”
