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Red Sox BOS

199778–84 (0.481)
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GM: Dan Duquette

Overview

Ranks vs the 30 teams in 1997, or a custom range (defaults to every team-season since 1985, when our data starts).

to

Front Office

PoorAverageGreat
Value
Payroll $M
$42M
Surplus $M
-1
Win %
0.481
TAB
+6.4
WAB
-4.9
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
41.5
Dead money %
22%
Depth Players
6.0
Dead WAR
-3.1

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

1997 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

LScott Hatteberg106
RBill Haselman66
RMike Stanley⇄15
RWalt McKeel4
BJason Varitek1

1B

LMo Vaughn131
LReggie Jefferson12
RMike Benjamin4
RJeff Frye1
RWalt McKeel1

2B

RJeff Frye80
RJohn Valentin79
RMike Benjamin5
RWil Cordero1

3B

RTim Naehring68
RJohn Valentin64
RMike Benjamin19
RJeff Frye18
RArquimedez Pozo4
LDarren Bragg1

SS

RNomar Garciaparra153
RMike Benjamin16
RJeff Frye3

LF

RWil Cordero137
LTroy O'Leary24
RJeff Frye5
RJose Malave4
BJesus Tavarez4
RShane Mack3
LDarren Bragg1

CF

LDarren Bragg118
RShane Mack43
BJesus Tavarez29
RMichael Coleman7
RJeff Frye5

RF

LTroy O'Leary119
LDarren Bragg41
RRudy Pemberton23
BJesus Tavarez4
RJeff Frye3

DH

LReggie Jefferson115
LMo Vaughn9
RJeff Frye1
LScott Hatteberg1
RWil Cordero1

Starters

RTom Gordon4.4 WAR
RTim Wakefield1.8 WAR
LButch Henry1.6 WAR
RJeff Suppan1.4 WAR
LChris Hammond0.9 WAR
RAaron Sele0.8 WAR
RRobinson Checo0.6 WAR
RJohn Wasdin0.5 WAR
LVaughn Eshelman0.4 WAR
RBrian Rose0.1 WAR
LSteve Avery-0.1 WAR
RBret Saberhagen-0.1 WAR

Bullpen

★ RKerry Lacy3 sv
RJim Corsi0 h
RHeathcliff Slocumb⇄0 h
RMark Brandenburg0 h
LRon Mahay0 h
RJoe Hudson0 h
RRicky Trlicek⇄0 h
RRich Garces0 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 1996)

PlayerfWAR
Butch Henry1.6
Jim Corsi1.2
Chris Hammond0.9
Shane Mack0.7
Robinson Checo0.6
John Wasdin0.5

Key subtractions (gone from 1996)

Player1996 fWAR
Roger Clemens6.8
Jose Canseco3.0
Jamie Moyer0.6
Tony Rodriguez0.4
Mike Greenwell0.3
Mike Stanton0.2

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 1997; everyone else is shown as a 1997 season snapshot.

PlayerPeriodfWARTier Market $MPaid $MSurplus $M$ / WARTierContract
Nomar Garciaparra 1997 +6.4 +77.0 0.1 +76.9 $0.0M 1.51× –
Tom Gordon 1997 +4.4 +77.7 2.9 +74.8 $0.7M 2.19× –
Darren Bragg 1997 +3.1 +39.1 0.2 +38.9 $0.1M 1.60× –
John Valentin 1997 +4.3 +41.8 3.8 +38.1 $0.9M 1.20× –
Mo Vaughn 1997 +4.0 +38.5 6.3 +32.1 $1.6M 1.20× –
Butch Henry 1997 +1.6 +24.5 0.4 +24.1 $0.3M 1.95× –
Tim Wakefield 1997 +1.8 +21.2 2.5 +18.7 $1.4M 1.49× –
Wil Cordero 1997 +2.0 +19.3 3.0 +16.3 $1.5M 1.22× –
Troy O'Leary 1997 +1.7 +16.4 1.1 +15.3 $0.7M 1.22× –
Tim Naehring 1997 +2.1 +14.3 2.7 +11.6 $1.3M 0.85× –
Jeff Frye 1997 +1.7 +10.9 0.9 +10.0 $0.5M 0.82× –
Jim Corsi 1997 +1.2 +6.5 0.5 +6.0 $0.4M 0.67× –
Aaron Sele 1997 +0.8 +6.4 1.1 +5.3 $1.4M 1.02× –
Scott Hatteberg 1997 +1.1 +4.6 0.1 +4.5 $0.1M 0.52× –
Reggie Jefferson 1997 +1.1 +6.3 1.9 +4.4 $1.7M 0.69× –
Chris Hammond 1997 +0.9 +5.0 0.7 +4.3 $0.7M 0.67× –
Mike Stanley↔ 1997 +1.3 +5.6 1.6 +4.0 $1.2M 0.52× –
Shane Mack 1997 +0.7 +4.4 1.9 +2.6 $2.8M 0.83× –
John Wasdin 1997 +0.5 +2.5 0.2 +2.3 $0.4M 0.67× –
Robinson Checo 1997 +0.6 +3.1 0.9 +2.2 $1.6M 0.67× –
Mark Brandenburg 1997 +0.4 +2.3 0.2 +2.1 $0.4M 0.67× –
Vaughn Eshelman 1997 +0.4 +1.9 0.2 +1.7 $0.5M 0.67× –
Curtis Pride↔ 1997 +0.1 +0.8 0.0 +0.8 $0.0M 0.83× –
Joe Hudson 1997 +0.2 +0.9 0.1 +0.7 $0.9M 0.67× –
Ron Mahay 1997 +0.1 +0.7 0.1 +0.5 $1.2M 0.67× –
Jose Malave 1997 -0.0 -0.0 0.1 -0.2 – 0.83× –
Rich Garces 1997 -0.1 -0.6 0.2 -0.8 – 0.67× –
Bret Saberhagen 1997 -0.1 -0.7 0.5 -1.2 – 1.02× –
Toby Borland↔ 1997 -0.2 -1.1 0.0 -1.2 – 0.67× –
Bill Haselman 1997 -0.2 -0.7 0.7 -1.3 – 0.52× –
Rudy Pemberton 1997 -0.2 -1.5 0.2 -1.6 – 0.83× –
Ricky Trlicek↔ 1997 -0.3 -1.6 0.1 -1.7 – 0.67× –
Pat Mahomes 1997 -0.3 -1.9 0.4 -2.2 – 0.67× –
Heathcliff Slocumb↔ 1997 -0.2 -1.3 1.5 -2.8 – 0.67× –
Jesus Tavarez 1997 -0.6 -3.8 0.2 -3.9 – 0.83× –
Steve Avery 1997 -0.1 -0.5 4.8 -5.4 – 1.02× –
Arquimedez Pozo 1997 -0.1 -0.3 – – – 0.58× –
Brian Rose 1997 +0.1 +0.7 – – – 1.02× –
Derek Lowe↔ 1997 +0.4 +2.0 – – – 0.67× –
Jason Varitek 1997 +0.0 +0.2 – – – 0.52× –
Jeff Suppan 1997 +1.4 +11.7 – – – 1.02× –
Ken Grundt 1997 +0.0 +0.1 – – – 0.67× –
Kerry Lacy 1997 -0.6 -3.0 – – – 0.67× –
Michael Coleman 1997 -0.0 -0.3 – – – 0.83× –
Mike Benjamin 1997 +0.1 +0.5 – – – 0.58× –
Walt McKeel 1997 -0.1 -0.3 – – – 0.52× –
Total—+41.4+429.342.1+375.9—

Trades

Every graded 1997 deal involving the Red Sox — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 6 total.

1997 · BOS / SEA
BOS · Dan Duquette +$164.0M
Derek Lowe, Jason Varitek
SEA · Woody Woodward −$164.0M
Heathcliff Slocumb
BOS came out ahead by $164.0M
1997 · TEX / BOS
TEX · Douglas Melvin +$138.4M
Mark Brandenburg, Bill Haselman, Aaron Sele
BOS · Dan Duquette −$138.4M
Damon Buford, Jim Leyritz
TEX came out ahead by $138.4M
1997 · NYM / BOS
NYM · Joe McIlvaine +$0.8M
Ricky Trlicek
BOS · Dan Duquette −$0.8M
Toby Borland
NYM came out ahead by $0.8M
1997 · BOS / OAK
BOS · Dan Duquette +$20.8M
John Wasdin
OAK · Sandy Alderson −$20.8M
José Canseco
BOS came out ahead by $20.8M
1997 · BOS / NYY
BOS · Dan Duquette +$8.0M
Tony Armas, Jim Mecir
NYY · Bob Watson −$8.0M
Mike Stanley, Randy Brown
BOS came out ahead by $8.0M
1997 · BOS / WSN
BOS · Dan Duquette +$746.4M
Pedro Martínez
WSN · Jim Beattie −$746.4M
Carl Pavano, Tony Armas
BOS came out ahead by $746.4M

Current & Historical Payroll

1997 payroll
$42.3M

What the front office was committed to as of 1997, 1997–2003. 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 (14)

PlayerAgeSvc1997199819992000200120022003
Mo Vaughn296.000$6.3M$6.7MFREE AGENT
Steve Avery277.000$4.8M$3.9MFREE AGENT
Tom Gordon299.000$2.9M$3.3M$3.8MFREE AGENT
Tim Naehring307.000$2.7MFREE AGENT
Reggie Jefferson286.000$1.9M$3.2M$3.4MFREE AGENT
Shane Mack3310.000$1.9MFREE AGENT
Mike Stanley3411.000$1.6M$1.2M$3.5M$2.3MFREE AGENT
Heathcliff Slocumb316.000$1.5MFREE AGENT
Chris Hammond317.000$700kFREE AGENT
Bill Haselman317.000$650kFREE AGENT
Bret Saberhagen3313.000$500k$3.8M$3.5MFREE AGENT$5.0M
Jim Corsi359.000$470k$600k$479kFREE AGENT
Rich Garces267.000$172k$190k$300k$610k$1.4M$2.2MFREE AGENT
Mike Benjamin318.000—$242kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (13)

PlayerAgeSvc1997199819992000200120022003
John Valentin305.000$3.8MFREE AGENT
Wil Cordero255.000$3.0MFREE AGENT
Tim Wakefield305.000$2.5MFREE AGENT
Aaron Sele274.000$1.1MARB 3FREE AGENT
Troy O'Leary274.000$1.1MARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Frye305.000$900kFREE AGENT
Butch Henry285.000$400kFREE AGENT
Pat Mahomes265.000$360kFREE AGENT
Darren Bragg273.000$240kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jesus Tavarez263.000$175kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ricky Trlicek285.000$123kFREE AGENT
Toby Borland283.000$49kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Curtis Pride284.000$5kARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (19)

PlayerAgeSvc1997199819992000200120022003
Robinson Checo250.000$925kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Brandenburg262.000$188kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Wasdin242.000$185kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Vaughn Eshelman282.000$182kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rudy Pemberton272.000$152kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ron Mahay262.000$150kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Joe Hudson262.000$150kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Hatteberg272.000$150kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Nomar Garciaparra231.000$150kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose Malave261.000$150kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Michael Coleman210.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ken Grundt27–—
Kerry Lacy241.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Derek Lowe240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Walt McKeel25–—
Arquimedez Pozo23–—
Brian Rose210.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Suppan222.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Varitek250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

How each 1997 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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