Theo Epstein had a busy offseason, including the signing of outfielder Carl Crawford. (AP)

General manager Theo Epstein stopped by to join Dennis & Callahan for a conversation Friday from Red Sox spring training in Fort Myers, Fla. Following a 2010 season in which the Sox were decimated by injuries, Epstein said depth in the pitching rotation and at catcher are the biggest concerns heading into the start of spring training.

“We don’t have as much depth in certain areas as we’d like,” he said. “You always try to plan for not just the 25-man roster, but you ask yourself, ‘What happens if this guy gets hurt? What if this combination of injuries occurs?’ Obviously, last year, we couldn’t withstand what we went through.”

Following is a transcript of the conversation. To hear the interview, go to the Dennis & Callahan audio on demand page.

Can overconfidence hurt a team?

I think true overconfidence can be if it actually shows up every day over the course of a season. But I think baseball is designed to humble you. I think those who get overconfident, even for a minute, are humbled by the nature of the game, the failure that’s inherent in the game, the grind of the season, the fact that even the best teams can start out 5-10 and then no one’s confident in a slump.

So I don’t think overconfidence is something that frequently plagues teams. But at this time of year, it’s not a bad thing to feel good about yourself, as long as you realize that we haven’t done anything and we have an awful lot of work ahead of us before we have a chance to accomplish anything.

Would you rather be the general manager of a team like this where everybody’s saying you’re loaded, or a team that’s quietly pretty good but no one’s really talking about it?

In our market, I don’t think we’re ever going to really sneak up on people, just because of the nature of the teams we put together and because our goal is to have sustained success year-in, year-out. I think what pleases us the most is when we can transition from one type of team to another, one core to another, integrate young players and have a rebirth without anyone noticing.

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