Theo Epstein

The Cubs would not have won the World Series without the Game 7 rain delay

Do you think the Cubs win the World Series if that rain delay doesn't happen? No. I did not look like the most confident... i doubt we win without first of all if you blow a lead late in any game it's hard to then come back and win... the guys were shell-shocked as we all were and that rain delay... catching a little glimpse of our players meeting and it was awesome... I don't think we win the World Series without that, but you can't prove it.

The biggest competitive advantage in baseball today is understanding players as human beings rather than just data

The ironic thing about that is it's kind of swung the pendulum back where I think the biggest competitive advantage now is actually understanding players as human beings, what makes them tick, getting the right kind of guys, building the right kind of chemistry, and then treating them the right way so that the team can take off.

Position players are significantly better first-round draft bets than pitchers

The best bets in the first round are position players. They return, on average, about twice as much value as pitchers. If we were going to put our resources... we wanted to do it with position players.

Media attention on Moneyball changed how baseball front offices operate by forcing owners to ask more questions

When Moneyball came out, it hit the New York Times bestseller list. And who reads bestsellers like rich dudes on their yachts who are the same guys who own baseball teams? So they all read the book. Then they started looking at their GMs. I was like, what the hell are we doing? ... It was an example of the media kind of changed in the way the game operates because they started asking questions.

Kyle Schwarber will be an average defensive left fielder

I think [the concern about his defense] is overblown. I think he'll be average out there in left. You know, he boxed those two balls against the Mets whenever everyone was watching. So everyone thinks he's brutal. So I'll actually probably surprise some people who haven't seen him play since then.

The 'clutch gene' exists, even if it can't be proven with numbers

You can't prove that it exists by the numbers because guys have tried, but I know intuitively there are guys I want up in the big spots, and it's not just the best hitters. There are guys who just keep their heartbeat low and kind of thrive in those moments instead of backing away. ... You can kind of tell who's scared and wants that big moment over with and who actually wants the ball.

The Cubs would not have won the 2016 World Series without the Game 7 rain delay

I buy it. I don't think we win the World Series without that [rain delay], but you can't prove it. ... If you blow a lead late in any game, it's hard to then come back and win... our players were shell-shocked... and that rain delay... they rallied each other.