After hard winter, Epstein lands softly in Florida

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Red Sox were busy people after they were swept by the White Sox in October.

Everybody found ways to stay active in the offseason. Mike Timlin hunted deer with Mike Myers in Nogales, Texas. Tim Wakefield put time into his numerous charities and welcomed his first daughter just before the new year. David Wells and Manny Ramírez asked to be traded and Curt Schilling tried to lose the biscuit belly while burning all the copies of February's GQ Magazine.

Meanwhile, John Henry lost millions, Tom Werner made a home movie begging Roger Clemens to return, Janet Marie Smith took the sledgehammer to the 406 Club, Terry Francona underwent knee surgery, and Gabe Kapler got a letter saying, ''Welcome back."

But let's face it: None of them had an offseason like Theo Epstein's.

Young Theo's nuclear winter of 2005-06 was tumultuous, controversial, and sometimes downright ridiculous. Upset with Daddy Dearest Larry Lucchino, Epstein shocked Red Sox Nation when he walked away from a three-year deal and sneaked out of Fenway Park in a gorilla costume on Halloween. Then he lurked in the background while deals were done and new GMs were hired. He collected an award from Brookline High School, immersed himself in Pearl Jam, circled the globe, took the stage at Hot Stove Cool Music, then returned to his old job and said he shared new trust and vision with Lucchino.

Yesterday he was back on the job, sitting on a bench under a cloudless sky at the Red Sox minor league complex at the end of Edison Road. He wore blue jeans, a short-sleeved summer shirt, an Adidas cap, and sneakers as he took questions from the ever-carnivorous Boston media. He glanced at his BlackBerry about 20 times during the media session. You never know: Manny's agent might be calling to warn the Sox about visa problems.

Theo made no acknowledgment of his wacky winter. When he returned in January, you might recall, he submitted to one day of questioning regarding his odd departure, but he made it clear the subject forever would be off-limits in the future.

So when a reporter yesterday asked, ''Why did you return?" Epstein answered, ''We went through all that. You might have been the one guy not there. We went through all of that a month ago and we were only going to talk about it for that day. I feel like I'm where I should be and as far as the leadership of this organization and we're excited about what we can accomplish together this year."

He said there was no need for assimilation after his 86-day hiatus. He said he was back up to speed ''within a day."

He said he was glad to be back in spring training (today is the first workout for pitchers and catchers).

The offseason, he said, ''always seems to last longer every year, waiting through the long winter and getting to the sound of a ball coming off a bat again. I'm glad we're finally here. I think this is why we're all in the game, to actually play on the field and win and accomplish something as an organization. The offseason is really a means to an end, and you have to go through that to help build a club to get here, and this is what it's all about.

''We're always happy to see spring training come. It's one of the best days of the year. We all look forward to it. November and December are usually fun, but you're cramped up, sitting in a basement on the phone all the time, and don't get to see the sun too much and don't get to see any baseball games, so we always look forward to spring training."

He said he's been talking with Wells and expected the portly portsider to be in camp today, but added, ''All that stuff is between the organization and the player."

Later, when Epstein was asked about more attempts to fulfill Manny's trade request, he said, ''That's just between the player and the club."

Prepare for a steady diet of those answers. Epstein, Henry, Werner, and Lucchino believe leaks damaged the club's mission in the offseason, so we may be returning to the days of Tass News Agency PR -- a trademark of the John Harrington/Dan Duquette regime. In Theo's welcome-back news conference (an event not unlike Elvis's comeback concert in Vegas, which was highlighted by a stirring rendition of ''Suspicious Minds"), Epstein indicated that the Sox wanted to be more Patriotlike. Ugh. Paranoia strikes deep.

Assessing the 2006 Red Sox, Epstein said, ''On paper this team might not have quite the offensive firepower, but it's still a very good offensive club. We probably have more pitching depth than we've had. Our bullpen is a little deeper than we've had. We hope to be a little bit better defensively. We probably have as many if not more questions . . . players coming off a year of underperformance.

''There are a lot of guys in camp with something to prove. As an organization, we have something to prove. We've been in the playoffs three straight years. It's our goal to get in every year and we'd like to find a way to get back this year.

''I think from the top of the organization on down, [the goal is] demonstrating that we can integrate young players into the major league team and still win and keep the momentum going at the big league level and in the farm system."

And so the task begins. Theo is in the eye of the storm no more. In late February of 2006, he's just another young GM facing pressure to make the playoffs again. He's not news anymore. He's just working.

Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. His e-mail address is dshaughnessy@globe.com.