Terry Francona Out as Red Sox Manager?

Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston is reporting:

"(A) Francona will not be back. (B) Francona does not want to be back. (C) Francona will not be back, but it will be made to look like he didn’t want to be back."

Keith Olbermann is hearing the same. If it seems harsh to part ways with a manager who guided the Red Sox to two World Series titles – the franchise previously won one in 1918 – also keep this in mind: Boston has missed the postseason two years in a row, and hasn’t won a playoff series since 2008. Obviously that doesn’t fall completely on the shoulders of Francona, but after a 7-20 September, somebody’s going to be the scapegoat, and John Lackey probably isn’t going to cut it.

Buster Olney has started the replacement rumors by mentioning Pete Mackanin (currently Charlie Manuel’s bench coach in Philly). There’s already speculation (Tyler Kepner, Ken Rosentha) that Francona might end up in Chicago to replace Ozzie Guillen.

I’m not yet sure how Red Sox fans feel about jettisoning Francona, but … would they be pissed if the Cubs stole Theo Epstein?