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Red Sox BOS

198889–73 (0.549)Made Playoffs
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GM: Lou Gorman

Overview

Ranks vs the 30 teams in 1988, or a custom range (defaults to every team-season since 1985, when our data starts).

to

Front Office

PoorAverageGreat
Value
Payroll $M
$15M
Surplus $M
+0
Win %
0.549
TAB
+13.1
WAB
+3.8
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
50.4
Dead money %
16%
Depth Players
8.0
Dead WAR
-4.0

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

1988 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

LRich Gedman92
RRick Cerone83
RJohn Marzano10

1B

BTodd Benzinger85
RDwight Evans64
LPat Dodson17
RLarry Parrish⇄16
REd Romero1

2B

RMarty Barrett150
RJody Reed11
REd Romero5

3B

LWade Boggs151
REd Romero15
RJody Reed4
RRandy Kutcher2
RLarry Parrish⇄1

SS

RJody Reed94
BSpike Owen76
REd Romero8

LF

LMike Greenwell143
RJim Rice19
RKevin Romine5
RRandy Kutcher5
BTodd Benzinger5

CF

REllis Burks142
RKevin Romine9
RDwight Evans1

RF

RDwight Evans84
BTodd Benzinger43
RKevin Romine38
LBrady Anderson⇄25
LMike Greenwell8
RCarlos Quintana3
RRandy Kutcher2

DH

RJim Rice110
RLarry Parrish⇄36
LSam Horn16
LMike Greenwell11
RDwight Evans6
LWade Boggs3
LRich Gedman1
RRick Cerone1
BTodd Benzinger1

Starters

RRoger Clemens9.2 WAR
LBruce Hurst3.8 WAR
RMike Boddicker⇄2.1 WAR
RWes Gardner0.9 WAR
RJeff Sellers0.3 WAR
RSteve Curry-0.1 WAR
ROil Can Boyd-0.3 WAR
RSteve Ellsworth-0.4 WAR
RMike Smithson-0.6 WAR

Bullpen

★ RLee Smith29 sv
RBob Stanley0 h
RDennis Lamp0 h
LTom Bolton0 h
RJohn Trautwein0 h
RSteve Curry0 h
LZach Crouch0 h
LMike Rochford0 h

Each position shows its top 3 by games (top = starter) — click "+more" for the rest. The letter is bats/throws; ⇄ marks a player traded mid-season. Starters are ranked by WAR, bullpen by holds; ★ marks the closer (most save chances). MLB Stats API.

Key additions (new vs 1987)

PlayerfWAR
Mike Boddicker2.1
Lee Smith1.6
Dennis Lamp1.3
Rick Cerone1.0
Brady Anderson0.2
Carlos Quintana0.2

Key subtractions (gone from 1987)

Player1987 fWAR
Al Nipper0.5
Don Baylor0.4
Calvin Schiraldi0.3
Dave Henderson0.2
Glenn Hoffman0.1
Dave Sax-0.1

Contract Value

WAR translated into tier-adjusted market value, then compared with what the player was paid by Red Sox. Guaranteed contracts from the 2015-present contract-data period use the known contract period through 1988; everyone else is shown as a 1988 season snapshot.

PlayerPeriodfWARTier Market $MPaid $MSurplus $M$ / WARTierContract
Roger Clemens 1988 +9.2 +183.4 1.4 +182.1 $0.1M 2.50× –
Mike Greenwell 1988 +7.8 +127.3 0.2 +127.1 $0.0M 2.05× –
Wade Boggs 1988 +8.7 +98.9 1.6 +97.2 $0.2M 1.43× –
Ellis Burks 1988 +5.2 +84.8 0.1 +84.6 $0.0M 2.05× –
Bruce Hurst 1988 +3.8 +66.2 0.9 +65.3 $0.2M 2.19× –
Dwight Evans 1988 +3.5 +50.7 1.6 +49.1 $0.5M 1.79× –
Jody Reed 1988 +3.4 +32.0 0.1 +31.9 $0.0M 1.18× –
Lee Smith 1988 +1.6 +25.7 0.8 +24.8 $0.5M 1.95× –
Mike Boddicker↔ 1988 +2.1 +24.9 0.4 +24.6 $0.2M 1.49× –
Bob Stanley 1988 +0.8 +8.9 1.1 +7.9 $1.3M 1.34× –
Wes Gardner 1988 +0.9 +7.4 0.1 +7.3 $0.1M 1.02× –
Dennis Lamp 1988 +1.3 +7.0 0.2 +6.8 $0.2M 0.67× –
Rich Gedman 1988 +1.3 +5.4 1.0 +4.5 $0.7M 0.52× –
Spike Owen 1988 +0.9 +4.4 0.5 +3.9 $0.6M 0.61× –
Marty Barrett 1988 +0.9 +3.8 0.7 +3.2 $0.8M 0.56× –
Jeff Sellers 1988 +0.3 +2.0 0.1 +1.9 $0.5M 1.02× –
Jim Rice 1988 +0.7 +3.9 2.2 +1.7 $3.2M 0.69× –
Todd Benzinger 1988 +0.4 +1.8 0.1 +1.7 $0.2M 0.56× –
Tom Bolton 1988 +0.3 +1.6 0.1 +1.5 $0.3M 0.67× –
Brady Anderson↔ 1988 +0.2 +1.1 0.0 +1.0 $0.2M 0.83× –
Larry Parrish↔ 1988 +0.1 +0.4 0.2 +0.2 $3.0M 0.69× –
Bob Woodward 1988 -0.0 -0.1 0.1 -0.2 – 0.67× –
John Trautwein 1988 -0.2 -0.9 0.1 -1.0 – 0.67× –
John Marzano 1988 -0.3 -1.0 0.1 -1.1 – 0.52× –
Ed Romero 1988 -0.5 -2.2 0.4 -2.6 – 0.58× –
Sam Horn 1988 -0.5 -2.7 0.1 -2.8 – 0.69× –
Oil Can Boyd 1988 -0.3 -2.5 0.6 -3.1 – 1.02× –
Steve Ellsworth 1988 -0.4 -3.2 0.1 -3.3 – 1.02× –
Mike Smithson 1988 -0.6 -4.8 0.4 -5.1 – 1.02× –
Kevin Romine 1988 -0.8 -5.5 0.1 -5.6 – 0.83× –
Carlos Quintana 1988 +0.2 +1.0 – – – 0.83× –
Mike Rochford 1988 +0.0 +0.2 – – – 0.67× –
Pat Dodson 1988 -0.3 -1.2 – – – 0.56× –
Randy Kutcher 1988 -0.0 -0.2 – – – 0.83× –
Rick Cerone 1988 +1.0 +4.0 – – – 0.52× –
Steve Curry 1988 -0.1 -0.9 – – – 1.02× –
Zach Crouch 1988 -0.0 -0.2 – – – 0.67× –
Total—+50.6+721.415.4+703.5—

Trades

Every graded 1988 deal involving the Red Sox — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 4 total.

1988 · BAL / BOS
BAL · Roland Hemond +$48.0M
Brady Anderson, Curt Schilling
BOS · Lou Gorman −$48.0M
Mike Boddicker
BAL came out ahead by $48.0M
1988 · WSN / BOS
WSN · Bill Stoneman +$12.0M
Spike Owen, Dan Gakeler
BOS · Lou Gorman −$12.0M
John Dopson, Luis Rivera
WSN came out ahead by $12.0M
1988 · WSN / BOS
WSN · Bill Stoneman +$1.6M
Víctor Rosario
BOS · Lou Gorman −$1.6M
John Trautwein
WSN came out ahead by $1.6M
1988 · BOS / CIN
BOS · Lou Gorman +$55.2M
Nick Esasky, Rob Murphy
CIN · Murray Cook −$55.2M
Todd Benzinger, Jeff Sellers, Luis Vasquez
BOS came out ahead by $55.2M

Current & Historical Payroll

1988 payroll
$15.2M

What the front office was committed to as of 1988, 1988–1994. Pre-2015 has no contract-terms data — forward italic $ are realized actuals (hindsight, not commitments known then). Control labels (ARB/FA) are point-in-time.

current $ guaranteed $ actual $ (hindsight) arbitration (proj) pre-arb (proj) free agent

Guaranteed / signed (15)

PlayerAgeSvc1988198919901991199219931994
Jim Rice3514.000$2.2M$2.4MFREE AGENT
Wade Boggs306.000$1.6M$1.9M$1.9M$2.8M$2.7MFREE AGENT
Dwight Evans3616.000$1.6M$1.1M$1.5MFREE AGENT
Bob Stanley3311.000$1.1M$1.1MFREE AGENT
Rich Gedman288.000$953k$1.1M$736kFREE AGENT
Bruce Hurst308.000$900kFREE AGENT
Lee Smith308.000$850k$1.4M$994kFREE AGENT
Marty Barrett306.000$675k$775k$1.0MFREE AGENT
Oil Can Boyd286.000$550k$550kFREE AGENT
Ed Romero3011.000$415k$46kFREE AGENT
Mike Smithson336.000$395k$540kFREE AGENT
Mike Boddicker308.000$354k$1.4M$675kFREE AGENT
Larry Parrish3414.000$238kFREE AGENT
Dennis Lamp3511.000$235k$380k$725k$750kFREE AGENT
Rick Cerone3413.000—$490kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (7)

PlayerAgeSvc1988198919901991199219931994
Roger Clemens254.000$1.4MARB 3FREE AGENT
Spike Owen275.000$525kFREE AGENT
Mike Greenwell243.000$205kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Sellers243.000$135kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Wes Gardner274.000$117kARB 3FREE AGENT
Bob Woodward253.000$86kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kevin Romine273.000$78kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (15)

PlayerAgeSvc1988198919901991199219931994
Ellis Burks231.000$125kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Todd Benzinger251.000$85kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Sam Horn241.000$80kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Marzano251.000$77kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tom Bolton261.000$75kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jody Reed251.000$64kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Steve Ellsworth270.000$62kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Trautwein250.000$62kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brady Anderson240.000$27kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Zach Crouch22–—
Steve Curry22–—
Pat Dodson28–—
Randy Kutcher282.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Carlos Quintana220.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Rochford250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

How each 1988 acquisition stacked onto Red Sox's playoff-odds curve. The side table is ranked by PPA.

Rosternomics — front-office performance, roster value, and transaction history. Follow @rosternomics on X.
Decision-maker records extend to 1933; resource-controlled WAR and payroll metrics cover 1985–2026. Data sources include FanGraphs, Baseball-Reference, the Chadwick Bureau register, the Lahman Database, prospect rankings from Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, and FanGraphs, and public payroll records. Transaction and trade data was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet. Executive birth/death data via Wikidata (CC0).
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