Sam Kennedy explains Theo Epstein’s new role with Red Sox ownership group

BOSTON — Three days after the Red Sox announced that former general manager Theo Epstein is back in the fold as a part-owner and senior advisor for Fenway Sports Group, team president Sam Kennedy said he anticipates Epstein having an important role in all aspects of the company’s dealings but cautioned that he won’t be involved in the day-to-day operations of the Red Sox.

Speaking during the team’s “Truck Day” event outside Fenway Park, Kennedy said Epstein will be available to the ownership group — which includes Kennedy, principal owner John Henry, chairman Tom Werner and FSG president Mike Gordon — as a trusted confidant as well as serving as a mentor to chief baseball officer Craig Breslow.

“He’s got great relationships throughout the front office, but it’s a senior advisor role that I think will really help in terms of thinking through important decisions, thinking through near term issues, longer term issues,” Kennedy said.

“Any time you have the opportunity to have a surefire first ballot Hall of Famer as part of your organization, that’s a good thing,” Kennedy said. “He’s interested in entering the ownership rank. He made an investment into Fenway Sports Group. It sends a signal that there’s a lot of confidence and belief and trust in this ownership group from his perspective. But again, we need to do the right things in the baseball operation and get the team back to where we belong.”

As MassLive reported Friday night, Epstein was brought back into the fold, at least in part, due to Red Sox ownership privately acknowledging that they have, at times, not given the club the attention it has deserved in recent years as the FSG portfolio has rapidly grown. The 50-year-old, despite taking on a part-time, behind-the-scenes advisory role that includes involvement in all of FSG’s properties, will be in part tasked with re-instituting processes and lines of communication that made the Red Sox so successful during his tenure as general manager from 2003 to 2011.

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