Sox, Cubs get extension on Theo talks

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BOSTON -- At this rate, the 2012 season may start before the Cubs and Red Sox decide the proper compensation for general manager Theo Epstein.

General manager Ben Cherington revealed Wednesday that the two teams asked for and were granted a one-week extension to determine who the Cubs will send the Red Sox in exchange for Epstein leaving with a year remaining on his contract.

"With the managerial searches and whatnot," explained Cherington, "we just haven't had a lot of time to spend on it. We'll get a little more time and hopefully have more time to talk a little bit about it. It was mutually agreed upon that we'd give ourselves at least another week before we turn it over (to the commissoner's office).

"If we don't have something in a week, we'll revisit and decide whether it makes sense to revisit it and extend it further. But right now, it's at least another week."

Commissioner Bud Selig had given the two clubs an informal deadline of Nov. 1 to settle the compensation issue. Without an agreement, the plan had been for the clubs to each state their respective cases to Selig, who would then make a final determination on the proper compensation.

Part of the problem, Cherington conceded, is that there haven't been a lot of similar cases from which to draw precedent.

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