So then, where do the Sox turn? Beane signed a long-term extension with the Athletics last April that included an ownership stake; he's staying put. Ricciardi signed an extension in Toronto and was informed this past summer that ownership is loosening the purse strings. ''I'm not going anywhere," he said yesterday.
Ricciardi, like Beane, was on the Sox' short list of GM candidates before Epstein was hired, though Ricciardi never interviewed for the job, signing a five-year deal with the Blue Jays before it got that far.
Beane has an Epstein-like assistant in David Forst, the former Harvard baseball captain. Forst is on the fast track to becoming a general manager, but he recently turned down an offer to become GM of the Diamondbacks, a job that went to Byrnes, and appears in no hurry to end his apprenticeship with Beane. There is a good likelihood, in fact, that Forst winds up as Athletics GM in another year or so if Beane moves upstairs.