Much to my relief, both manager Joe Torre and general manager Brian Cashman have re-signed with the Yankees. They’re good at their jobs, they provide much-needed continuity, and gosh darn it, I just like ’em.

So imagine my surprise when I picked up the paper this morning and read that Red Sox GM Theo Epstein is leaving the Red Sox after just three years—three years in which they won their first World Series in the better part of a century.

Wow.

Epstein did a fantastic job, and he’s only something like 31. Pretty remarkable.

So far, you’d have to say, the Yankees are winning the off-season. And, Sox fans, such is the price of winning—ownership whose active role can make rooting for the team an occasional challenge. We Yankee fans have learned to deal with it, and appreciate the good things that George Steinbrenner does. You will, too, in time. But let’s hear no more of that Evil Empire stuff, okay?