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Carlos Marmol's turnaround eighth inning in Monday night's Chicago Cubs win was something president of baseball operations Theo Epstein watched with special interest. Marmol regained his form and his aura, turning catcalls by the fans into cheers.

“The way to work through it in this (ballpark) is to take the feedback you get sometimes and turn it into a positive,” Epstein said. “Last night he said the booing motivated him because he knew he had to get it right and that is a mature approach. So you might as well turn it into a positive.”

Before Tuesday night’s game, Cubs manager Dale Sveum said that although Marmol has been demoted from the closer’s role for now, he would like to see him regain his former position. Epstein concurred.

“I think everyone has to recognize he wants to succeed as much as anyone else,” Epstein said. “No one wants to go out there and fail, especially in a role when you let your teammates down. But he is paid a lot of money to do a job and his has a lot of support around him. It’s up to him to go out and fix himself, but I have not seen any signs of him backing down.”

Marmol lost his job after imploding in a save opportunity against the Reds last week. The Cubs reliever is in the second year of a three-year, $21 million deal he signed before the 2011 season.

Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein has enjoyed the progress his major league team has made on the field, however his major concentration is on the amateur draft that comes up on June 4.

“It’s probably the most important thing we are doing right now, to be honest,” Epstein said. “So that is what takes up the vast majority of our time. Draft day is the most important day of the year for every organization. It is a year-long process, and right now we are right in the sweet spot -- finishing evaluations, going back and getting final looks. We then will get together and dissect all the information.”


Epstein, like the rest of the front offices in baseball, has to approach this year’s draft differently due to the new collective bargaining rules, which apply a tax system that can be as high as 100 percent on a dollar if you exceed the salary cap.

“Every team is setting aside some time to think through how the draft may play differently now,” Epstein said. “It affects how we approach signability and how we allocate our resources into who we will scout and how often. But it is the same for all 30 clubs. It is a level playing field. We will go and do our best.”

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MIAMI – Without giving away too much information, Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said his presence in South Florida on Thursday coincided with a personal scouting visit he took this week.

Epstein typically scouts top amateur prospects himself after getting the word from the club's local scout in the area. He will see over a dozen players in person leading up to the June draft when the Cubs have the sixth overall selection.

Where Epstein was scouting will remain his own little secret in order to not let other teams in on who interests the Cubs. He also makes it a point to take in whatever game he is scouting in disguise so that he isn't noticed by scouts of other clubs or by the players he is scouting.

“I go out every year and see at least 15 to 20 guys a year and stay current and on top of it," Epstein said. “And also this year we're getting to know our scouts a little bit too, so I got to spend time with most of the guys."

So doesn't he think he will be noticed when attending a sometimes small gathering at a high school baseball game?

“Not when I have a hat on and sit in the back," he said.

MIAMI -- Nobody said the Chicago Cubs' restoration project was going to have success overnight which still doesn’t make the team’s slow start any easier to watch.

President of baseball operations Theo Epstein understands fan impatience with a club that started Thursday with a 3-9 record and a spot in last place in the National League Central. But his long-term vision means that perspective and not panic is his motivator right now.

“You have to view every situation, every move, through the same lenses we discussed this winter,” Epstein said from the Cubs dugout in Marlins Park on Thursday. “What’s going to help us maximize our competitiveness in 2012, and then bigger picture is how to we build a championship caliber organization? That’s going to be a longer term issue. When those two interests but up against each other we will defer for the long term.”

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FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Boston Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino said Friday that general manager Ben Cherington is "exploring" the team's options in what he called an "ongoing" issue with the Chicago Cubs regarding compensation for departed general manager Theo Epstein.

Lucchino, who was in attendance at Boston's exhibition game with the Minnesota Twins at Hammond Stadium, the Twins' spring park, made the comment in the aftermath of elbow surgery for pitcher Chris Carpenter, one of two players the Red Sox had received as compensation for Epstein.

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FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Red Sox majority owner John W. Henry contended Saturday that a "misunderstanding" between he and Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts in their first conversation led to the months-long negotiations to determine compensation for Theo Epstein.

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The Chicago Cubs are sending reliever Chris Carpenter to the Boston Red Sox as compensation for hiring Theo Epstein as president of baseball operations.

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MESA, Ariz. -- Theo Epstein might not know it, but all this time, Matt Garza had been keeping score.

The Chicago Cubs ace was asked Sunday morning what the past taught him about the club’s new president of baseball operations, who previously worked for the Boston Red Sox. That would be the Red Sox who play in the same division as Garza’s former team, the Tampa Bay Rays.

“I was able to kick the crap out of him every year, year in and year out, for the last three seasons,” Garza said. “That’s what I learned.”

Zing.

Garza’s actual numbers as a member of the Rays against the Red Sox were a 3.97 ERA and five victories over 17 appearances (16 starts). That came from 2008-10.

In all seriousness, Garza has tons of respect for what Epstein accomplished in Boston.

“The ballclubs he built were always good,” Garza said. “He brought up [Dustin] Pedroia through the farm, [Jacoby] Ellsbury through the farm, [Kevin] Youkilis through the farm. That’s how you keep a championship caliber ballclub is to bring them through the farm.”

It’s what he sees Epstein doing now with the Cubs, noting all the young faces in the locker room. Garza was asked if he has seen other evidence of changes made by the new management group.

“We have better cooks,” Garza said. “The food was good last year but they brought in a complete overhaul of the kitchen and are doing a whole nutritional thing, stuff like that.”

Rumors swirled all winter that in order to bolster the farm system, Garza could be traded. He finished the year with a modest 10-10 record showed his value with a career-best 3.32 ERA over 31 starts. A deal never came to fruition, though.

“Never was a doubt,” Garza said about returning to the Cubs. “A lot of it is usually hearsay. That’s usually what I go by is if I get a phone call from a different city and the only phone calls I got were from Chicago.”

Garza was asked if he enjoys playing in Chicago.

“Oh yeah, I love playing baseball; I’ll play anywhere," he said. "But the city of Chicago is one great city, I’ll tell you that. Playing in front of these fans, I had a great time last year and I plan on having even more fun this year.”

Whether or not Garza sticks around to see how Epstein’s vision plays out remains to be seen. General manager Jed Hoyer said Saturday that the club figures to have talks about a contract extension with Garza, who has a deal for this season and has one more year remaining of arbitration.

“I’m always open for that but that will stay between me and my agent and the front office. I feel that’s the way to keep things going in the right direction.”

MESA, Ariz. -- In case you're wondering if Chicago Cubs president Theo Epstein already has his "Reverse the Curse" game face on, well, he does.

On Saturday -- one day before Cubs pitchers and catchers begin their first official workout, five days before position players report, 15 days before the first spring training game and 47 days before the season opener at Wrigley Field -- Epstein announced, again, that the goal of 2012 Cubs "is to win the World Series."

Yes, and my goal is to need hair gel this year, but that's probably not going to happen either.

Still, Epstein had to say it. What else could he say: "Our goal is to finish ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates"?

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MESA, Ariz. -- Amid rumors that the Chicago Cubs compensation obligation to the Boston Red Sox for Theo Epstein could be decided soon, the club’s new president of baseball operations said nothing has been finalized.

“I’ve been in a meeting the last 3½ hours but I don’t think it’s been settled,” Epstein said Saturday, the scheduled day for the team’s pitchers and catchers to report to spring training. “But hopefully it will be here sometime soon.”

Commissioner Bud Selig got involved in the compensation decision since the Cubs and Red Sox failed to reach an agreement. The compensation for the Cubs is in exchange for hiring Epstein, who had one more year on his contract as Red Sox general manager.

Asked if he could clairify the process Selig will use to decide what type of player compensation the Red Sox will receive, Epstein declined to give any insight.

“I think those questions are probably best directed at Major League Baseball,” he said.

MESA, Ariz. -- The Chicago Cubs expect shortstop Starlin Castro, who was under investigation by Chicago police this offseason on a sexual assault complaint, will report on time for spring training.

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MESA, Ariz. -- In 1982, the Chicago Cubs new general manager Dallas Green told fans that the team was “building a new tradition” at Clark and Addison. That premise bothered some long-time Cub fans while others, tired of the team’s losing ways, embraced the idea.

Fast forward to 2012 and team president Theo Epstein’s proclamation that the team will now do things “The Cub Way”, his definition of the right way, from this time forward. The new Cub brass has put together a book defining how players from the lowest minor league level to the major leagues should comport themselves with high standards both on and off the playing field.

Epstein was quick to point out that doing things the same way throughout the organization is not a new idea. Not only did he do the same thing in Boston, as did Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer in San Diego, but the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves have been model teams over the last twenty years while using same approach.

What Epstein is trying to get his people to concentrate on is unity and focus. Any good leader has a message that he has the troops concentrate on, Epstein and Hoyer are no different.

“It’s baseball, no one has all the right answers,” Epstein said. “This is the right way for us.”

It’s the “Cub Way” or the highway for the people who work for this team now.

MESA, Ariz. -- If this all works out for the Chicago Cubs and Theo Epstein brings some World Series titles to the North Side during his tenure, then “Cub Way” could be the new name for a stretch of road outside Wrigley Field.

For now, “Cub Way” is the title of the club’s new how-to manual dealing with everything from how to handle success and failure during a player's big-league career to what foot to use when stepping on the bag as you round third base and head for home.

Epstein, the new president of baseball operations, talked about the tome Saturday, unsure of how long it is but willing to say that it was thick. Both the major-league and minor-league staff will get a copy, but it isn’t necessarily something for the players’ reading consumption.

Instead, the staff will use the information as a teaching tool for the players. It will not be made available to anybody outside of the organization.

“It’s behind the scenes, defining the vision for the organization, how we’re going to teach the game,” Epstein said. “I think we’ll talk about it from time to time. I think the public will know about it when players that we’ve drafted sign, come through our system, learn the Cub Way and then come in and then play that way at Wrigley.”

In conjunction to the written words in “Cub Way,” Epstein said experts from the Center of Sport in Society out of Northeastern University will work with the players this spring.

“Sometimes we take for granted that these young kids, because they are great at what they do on the field that they are good at handling the tough circumstances they find off the field,” Epstein said. “I think it’s our responsibility as an organization to give them tools to use.”

Epstein said the new Cubs teaching manual is similar to one they used in Boston called “Red Sox Way.”

“That helped us define our vision and accomplish our goals more quickly because if you can’t articulate what it is that you want somebody to accomplish, how can you lead them?” Epstein said. “How can you expect them to get there? If you can’t write down on paper what you are teaching, how can you expect your players to pick it up?”

The writings are not just those from Epstein or new general manager Jed Hoyer, it contains contributions from coaches and staff at all levels of the organization.

“For us to teach the game the right way it’s more than words on a page,” Epstein said. “It comes down to how deep we dig to get connected to players to teach the game the right way. How much we care, how committed we are, how we treat each other in the front office, the coaches, the players, how hard we work.

“There is a lot that goes into this and building an organization. The big league team each year is the current manifestation of that.”

NEW YORK -- Boston and the Cubs have submitted written arguments to baseball commissioner Bud Selig on what compensation the Red Sox should receive for allowing Theo Epstein to leave for Chicago.

Epstein quit as Boston's general manager in October to become the Cubs' president of baseball operations, and the teams were unable to reach an agreement by themselves on compensation.

Selig has not given any timetable for a decision.

Cubs spokesman Peter Chase and Red Sox spokeswoman Pam Ganley said their teams had no comment.

Ozzie Guillen's unique relationship with Carlos Zambrano is why the Miami Marlins' manager feels so confident his new pitcher will rejuvenate his career after a controversial finish with the Chicago Cubs.

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