updated 12:51 p.m. ET Jan. 26, 2006

BOSTON - On Wednesday’s episode of the soap opera that is the Boston Red Sox, Theo Epstein and Larry Lucchino kissed and made up.

Tune in Thursday when the two work together to try to find a shortstop and center fielder.

Things are never dull with the Red Sox, and this offseason has been even more dramatic than most. All they did last winter was traipse around the state with the World Series trophy; this year, they’ve torn apart that team — and themselves in the process.

“There were some personal conflicts,” Epstein said Wednesday in what the team vowed, promised and threatened would be the last discussion of the front office dissension. “We’ve managed to repair the personal issues between us.”

Epstein walked away from the ballclub — sort of — when his contract expired on Halloween, leaving a three-year, $4.5 million extension on the table. Reports centered on a power struggle with Lucchino and a desire for more autonomy, but in the end it was just a plain old falling out between the mentor and protege that drove away the most accomplished general manager in franchise history.

Having spent four years working all hours on baseball, Epstein went to a Pearl Jam concert in South America and to Hawaii with his girlfriend. But in many ways he never left: He kept in touch with his former co-workers and provided his opinion on trades (he liked them all) and exchanged frequent e-mails with owner John Henry about developing a vision for the organization; he visited Yawkey Way twice, but not at all in the last six weeks.

From the start, there were reports that Epstein would come back, even as two of his former lieutenants were named co-GMs in his absence. Last week, the team confirmed to much fanfare that that he was returning, and on Tuesday the news was that he would return to his old job.

So, what changed?

Epstein listed three problems that existed before his 10 weeks away allowed the team to re-examine the way it does business: Organizational philosophy, communication and priorities.

The first one is the same kind of thing all baseball teams tackle: When to trade a prospect for a major leaguer, how much a free agent is worth, pitching versus hitting — that sort of stuff.

The priorities involved the relationship between the baseball and business sides of Red Sox Inc. Now, everyone agrees that ancillary endeavors like television and real estate supplement the baseball team, and not the other way around.

“There’s a stronger appreciation of baseball’s centrality,” Epstein said.

Added Lucchino: A reaffirmation of that is always important.”

That leaves communication.

One problem that obviously rankled Epstein was media leaks that poisoned his own contract negotiations and threatened to damage the team’s dealings with players. Epstein said he wants the team to keep such talks out of the papers.

“The Patriots have had a lot of success in this market,” he said.

It’s true: the Patriots are notoriously circumspect under coach Bill Belichick, who keeps his assistants and injured players away from reporters and trade talks out of the papers until they’re done. New England has won three of the last four Super Bowls, so few complain.

But the NFL team doesn’t promote itself as a public trust or rely on off-season news to drive ticket sales and ratings on its own TV network. Epstein laughed off the differences as irrelevant but acknowledged, “We have to strike the right balance between accountability and confidentiality.”

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These issues were always there, but the demands of team-building didn’t allow anyone to take a look. After he left, Epstein and owner John Henry exchanged e-mails about how to get things back on track.

“Even with our success, we had our flaws, and we’re not ashamed to admit it,” said Epstein, whose teams made the playoffs in a franchise-record three consecutive seasons. “My conclusion is that Oct. 31 helped get us here. It was an imperfect but necessary catalyst to get us to this point. Because it’s hard to do what we’ve done the past 10 weeks.”

Wednesday’s media sessions were designed to take the long-running drama saga off the air, or at least take it out of the public view. Everyone claims to be reading from the same script now.

“It’s better for the public to know the focus is on the field,” Epstein said. “We’re not there yet, because words aren’t as useful as actions. But I’d like to think we’ll look back and say it was worth it.”

Until then, the Soap Opera Channel continues to draw high ratings with a lineup that goes from “The Bold and the Beautiful” to the “Young and the Restless” to “All My Children (are general managers).”

Not yet available in this market: “Dynasty.”

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