CEO: Red Sox 'exploring' Theo comp

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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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Carpenter had surgery to remove a bone spur from his throwing elbow and was scheduled to return to camp on Friday, according to manager Bobby Valentine. The procedure was performed in Birmingham, Ala., by noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews.

Damaged goods?

"I'm not going to comment on it,'' Lucchino said. "We assume everyone acted in good faith."

Carpenter had passed both his Cubs and Red Sox physicals after he was traded, a source told the Boston Globe. According to the Globe, the Red Sox were aware that Carpenter had past elbow problems but believed he was over them.

"We just found out about that," Cubs GM Jed Hoyer said Thursday of the Carpenter injury and subsequent surgery.

"It's something you never want to happen in any trade. You want both sides to feel good. That's not a great thing to have happen both for Chris and the Red Sox. It's something we just heard about and we're looking into it, but I wouldn't read anything into that."

Asked if Carpenter's injury means the compensation deal might be restructured, Hoyer gave a succinct, "No."

Carpenter, 26, has thrown just two innings this spring.

To complete the compensation saga, the Cubs received 19-year-old first baseman Jair Bogaerts from the Red Sox on Thursday.

The teams had settled on a scenario where the Cubs would not only give up a mid-level prospect but the clubs would also exchange players to be named later.

The prospect was Carpenter, and the Cubs then sent their player to be named later, right-handed pitcher Aaron Kurcz. On Thursday, Bogaerts was sent to the Cubs.

Information from ESPNChicago.com's Doug Padilla was used in this report.

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Gordon Edes

Red Sox reporter, ESPNBoston.com

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• Has covered Red Sox for 15 years
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