Philly Front Office

This week’s Phillies Series Preview takes us to the unfriendly confines of the Cubs 2016 Spring Training situation of their chief decision maker…

The 2016 MLB season started just like any other for the Chicago Cubs. That February, the team loaded up their trucks and headed down to Mesa, AZ for Spring Training. Not everyone from the organization comes down for the Spring, but that year, President of Baseball Operations, Theo Epstein, came too. While the 2016 ended in unforgettable fashion, how it started for Epstein is a story he would just assume everyone would forget (sorry Theo, it’s too funny).

Monday, April 20 at 7:40p – Aaron Nola vs Colin Rea (R)
Tuesday, April 21 at 7:40p – Jesus Luzardo vs Shota Imanaga (L)
Wednesday, April 22 at 7:40p – Taijuan Walker (with opener) vs Matthew Boyd (L)
Thursday, April 23 at 2:20p – Cristopher Sanchez vs Edward Cabrera (R)

Wrigley Field – Chicago, IL

The Epstein family went down to Arizona that year and rented a home from John and Mary Valentino. With them came their dog, Winston. Unbeknownst to the Valentinos, apparently Winston had a bit of a problem with his urinary control. Well, unbeknownst to the Epsteins, the Valentinos had a bit of a problem with a scorpion infestation. Neither side was very forthcoming with this information.

What Happened to the 2016 Chicago Cubs?

As it turns out, the scorpion problem led to the Epsteins moving out of the house two weeks early. Apparently, there was a scorpion in the house and they had a young child. Obviously, that’s a little scary.

However, despite leaving the house early, that didn’t stop Winston from using most of the house as his own personal bathroom. Was he frightened from all the scorpions? No idea, but he did apparently pee all over the drywall, the doors, the carpets, the wood flooring. The craziest part was that Winston relieved himself so much that the foundation of the house was allegedly damaged and the family had to pay $60k in order to fix things.

Nearly 4 years after Spring Training had ended, the Valentinos filed suit against the Epsteins and the Cubs for the damages to their property. In doing so, they cited an interview that Theo Epstein had given where in response to being named the best leader in baseball he couldn’t even get his dog to stop peeing in the house. That’s a little incriminating.

In response, not only did Epstein deny the allegations, but that’s when he brought up the scorpion incident. In his counterclaim, Epstein brought up a report that after his family had left, an exterminating company removed over 45 Arizona bark scorpions from the property. Why am I so specific about the type? Because it is apparently the most poisonous scorpion in the world. Yikes!

I wish I could tell you how things ended, but 3 years after the lawsuit and counterclaim were filed, it was settled out of court. Settlements are not usually presented to the public and this was no exception. Maybe the two sides agreed that some of the house damages would be paid while subtracting the final two weeks of the stay from the bill. Who knows if that’s what actually happened, but that should have been the remedy from the start, 7 years after the rental from hell finished.