and they’ve lived up to everything they said they would do,” Epstein said, referring to the Ricketts family, which owns the team. “They’ve been incredibly supportive. They’ve been incredibly patient. They’ve been wonderful to my family. They’ve given me great freedom to operate baseball operations.

“They’ve given me the resources we’ve needed to make this baseball operation thrive. It’s everything I could have ever asked for. There’s no place I’d rather be. I said five years ago, ‘It’s a great day to be a Cub.’ I still feel that way. I envision feeling that way for the foreseeable future, so I’m thrilled this worked out.”

Ricketts told reporters serious talks began in spring training of this year.

“I told him I thought he was the best in the game at what he did, and he told me no matter what I paid him he wasn’t going to leave Chicago, so we were off to a good start,” Ricketts said, as quoted by cubs.com.

“We had some good pieces and we had some good players in the beginning, but the organization itself was not in a position where you could believe there was sustainability and consistency and success on the field.

“Obviously, Theo and the guys he brought with him five years ago took the organization down to the studs and started rebuilding. I give a lot of credit to Theo and Jed and everybody on that team, but I also give a lot of credit to all of our fans who basically heard our story, listened to us throughout. I think the time and energy to do it the right way has paid off with a team that should be successful for years to come.”

Epstein came to town with a reputation as a new-age, numbers-oriented executive, but he also has brought in “character” players such as back up catcher David Ross and others.

“I think a lot of people have this perception, and I was sort of in that camp, that he was a deeply quantitative, number-cruncher guy,” Ricketts said. “But the thing I’ve seen in the last five years is how well he handles people, how well he chooses people for his team, how well he chooses players for his team.

“I think his ability to judge character and put together the right human resources on the same team has been truly remarkable.”

• Follow Bruce’s baseball reports on Twitter @BruceMiles2112.