It wasn't immediate, but the team started playing better defense and was the hottest in baseball over the last six weeks.
"The days leading up to the 31st [of July], we were bunkered away, only trying to make the team better. We didn't really get away from that until after the trade," Epstein said. "It kind of struck me that this better work out.
"We did it for the right reason. The process was correct. But there would have been hell to pay if the results didn't work out," he said. "Pretty soon after that, we hit our stride."
Things are working out for Epstein, who grew up just blocks from Fenway Park in Brookline. When he was hired in 2002, and turned 29 the following month, he joked that his first name had changed -- he went from "the 28-year-old Epstein" to "the 29-year-old Epstein."
Now 30, Epstein could be in for a bigger revision: from boy genius to the GM who might bring Boston its first World Series in 86 years.
And no one is talking about his age anymore.
"I don't think it's my job to evaluate him. That's kind of the other way around," 45-year-old manager Terry Francona said of his boss.
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