RRosternomics
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Red Sox BOS

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GM: Dan Duquette

Overview

CONTEND ↗ rising
expensive & winning · year 2 in this regime · payroll 1.22× league · TAB +10.0
+10.0TAB — talent above budget4th/30
+7.5WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)5th/30
10.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars4th/30
-2.5dead WAR — sub-replacement drag4th/30
19%dead money %7th/30
0.568win %5th/30
46.6roster fWAR4th/30
+0surplus $M (value vs cost)11th/30
$51Mpayroll $M11th/30

1998: made playoffs · 92–70. Ranks are vs the 30 teams that season.

Roster

CFDarren Lewis 109GDamon Buford 67GDarren Bragg 12G
LFTroy O'Leary 155GDarren Bragg 7GKeith Mitchell 4G
RFDarren Bragg 112GDarren Lewis 55GMidre Cummings 17G
SSNomar Garciaparra 143GMike Benjamin 20GDonnie Sadler 4G
2BMike Benjamin 87GDonnie Sadler 50GLou Merloni 32G
3BJohn Valentin 153GMike Benjamin 11GChris Snopek 6G
1BMo Vaughn 142GMike Stanley 35GMike Benjamin 10G
STARTERSPedro Martínez 5.6WARBret Saberhagen 2.5WARDerek Lowe 2.4WARTim Wakefield 1.7WARPete Schourek 0.5WAR
CScott Hatteberg 108GJason Varitek 75GMandy Romero 10G
DHMike Stanley 107GReggie Jefferson 47GJim Leyritz 29G
BULLPEN★ Tom Gordon 46svGreg Swindell 0hJim Corsi 0hDennis Eckersley 0hCarlos Reyes 0hRich Garces 0hRon Mahay 0hDario Veras 0h
CScott Hatteberg 108 · Jason Varitek 75 · Mandy Romero 10
1BMo Vaughn 142 · Mike Stanley 35 · Mike Benjamin 10
2BMike Benjamin 87 · Donnie Sadler 50 · Lou Merloni 32
3BJohn Valentin 153 · Mike Benjamin 11 · Chris Snopek 6
SSNomar Garciaparra 143 · Mike Benjamin 20 · Donnie Sadler 4
LFTroy O'Leary 155 · Darren Bragg 7 · Keith Mitchell 4
CFDarren Lewis 109 · Damon Buford 67 · Darren Bragg 12
RFDarren Bragg 112 · Darren Lewis 55 · Midre Cummings 17
DHMike Stanley 107 · Reggie Jefferson 47 · Jim Leyritz 29
SPPedro Martínez 5.6 · Bret Saberhagen 2.5 · Derek Lowe 2.4 · Tim Wakefield 1.7 · Pete Schourek 0.5
BP★ Tom Gordon 46 · Greg Swindell 0 · Jim Corsi 0 · Dennis Eckersley 0 · Carlos Reyes 0 · Rich Garces 0 · Ron Mahay 0 · Dario Veras 0

Each position lists its starter then backups by games (so platoons & bench show). Starters (mound) & bullpen (left, foul territory) are ranked by WAR; ★ marks the closer (most save chances). MLB Stats API.

1998 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Nomar Garciaparra 24 pre-arb 1437.3 1.1 +6.8
Mo Vaughn 30 FA-elig 1546.3 6.7 +0.1
Pedro Martínez 26 FA-elig 335.6 7.6 -1.5
John Valentin 31 FA-elig 1534.5 5.3 -0.5
Tom Gordon 30 FA-elig 732.7 3.3 -0.4
Darren Bragg 28 arb 1292.6 0.4 +2.5
Bret Saberhagen 34 FA-elig 312.5 3.8 -1.1
Derek Lowe 25 pre-arb 632.4 0.2 +2.4
Scott Hatteberg 28 arb 1122.2 0.2 +2.1
Mike Benjamin 32 FA-elig 1242.1 0.2 +2.0
Tim Wakefield 31 FA-elig 371.7 3.5 -1.7
Darren Lewis 30 FA-elig 1551.6 0.5 +1.3
Troy O'Leary 28 arb 1561.1 2.4 -1.2
Damon Buford 28 arb 860.9 0.5 +0.5
Reggie Jefferson 29 FA-elig 620.9 3.2 -2.2
Jim Leyritz↔ SDP 34 FA-elig 520.7 0.9 -0.2
Mike Stanley↔ TOR 35 FA-elig 470.7 0.6 +0.1
Jim Corsi 36 FA-elig 590.6 0.6 +0.1
Pete Schourek↔ HOU 29 FA-elig 100.5 0.6 -0.1
John Wasdin 25 arb 470.4 0.2 +0.2
Midre Cummings 26 arb 670.4 0.2 +0.2
Carlos Reyes↔ SDP 29 arb 240.3 0.2 +0.2
Billy Ashley 27 – 130.3 – –
Steve Avery 28 FA-elig 390.3 3.9 -3.6
Lou Merloni 27 pre-arb 390.2 0.2 +0.1
Jin Ho Cho 22 – 40.1 – –
Jason Varitek 26 pre-arb 860.1 0.2 -0.0
Donnie Sadler 23 pre-arb 580.1 0.2 -0.1
Keith Johns 26 – 20.0 – –
Mandy Romero↔ SDP 30 – 120.0 – –
Carlos Valdez 26 – 4-0.0 – –
Trot Nixon 24 pre-arb 13-0.0 0.2 -0.2
Butch Henry 29 FA-elig 2-0.0 1.4 -1.4
Dennis Eckersley 43 FA-elig 50-0.0 1.5 -1.5
Greg Swindell↔ MIN 33 FA-elig 29-0.1 0.5 -0.5
Dario Veras 25 – 7-0.1 – –
Chris Snopek↔ CHW 27 arb 8-0.1 0.0 -0.1
Ron Mahay 27 – 29-0.1 – –
Mark Lemke 32 – 31-0.1 – –
Brian Shouse 29 – 7-0.2 – –
David West 33 – 6-0.2 – –
Orlando Merced↔ CHC 31 FA-elig 9-0.2 0.1 -0.3
Keith Mitchell 28 FA-elig 23-0.2 0.2 -0.4
Robinson Checo 26 – 2-0.2 – –
Rich Garces 27 FA-elig 30-0.3 0.2 -0.5
Brian Barkley 22 – 6-0.3 – –
Brian Rose 22 pre-arb 8-0.3 0.2 -0.5

Key additions (new vs 1997)

PlayerfWAR
Pedro Martínez5.6
Darren Lewis1.6
Damon Buford0.9
Jim Leyritz0.7
Pete Schourek0.5
Midre Cummings0.4

Key subtractions (gone from 1997)

Player1997 fWAR
Tim Naehring2.1
Wil Cordero2.0
Jeff Frye1.7
Jeff Suppan1.4
Chris Hammond0.9
Aaron Sele0.8

Current & Historical Payroll

1998 payroll
$50.8M

What the front office was committed to as of 1998, 1998–2004. 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 (23)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Pedro Martínez266.000$7.6M$11.1M$11.5M$13.0M$14.0M$15.5M$17.5M
Mo Vaughn307.000$6.7MFREE AGENT
John Valentin316.000$5.3M$6.3M$6.3M$6.3MFREE AGENT
Steve Avery288.000$3.9MFREE AGENT
Bret Saberhagen3414.000$3.8M$3.5MFREE AGENT$5.0M
Tim Wakefield316.000$3.5M$4.0M$4.5M$3.0M$3.2M$4.0M$4.3M
Tom Gordon3010.000$3.3M$3.8MFREE AGENT
Reggie Jefferson297.000$3.2M$3.4MFREE AGENT
Dennis Eckersley4323.000$1.5MFREE AGENT
Butch Henry296.000$1.4MFREE AGENT
Jim Leyritz348.000$912kFREE AGENT
Pete Schourek297.000$640kFREE AGENT$200k$1.0M
Jim Corsi3610.000$600k$479kFREE AGENT
Mike Stanley3512.000$583k$3.5M$2.3MFREE AGENT
Darren Lewis308.000$500k$2.1M$2.4M$2.5MFREE AGENT
Greg Swindell3312.000$465kFREE AGENT
Mike Benjamin329.000$242kFREE AGENT
Rich Garces278.000$190k$300k$610k$1.4M$2.2MFREE AGENT
Keith Mitchell287.000$170kFREE AGENT
Orlando Merced318.000$86kFREE AGENT
Billy Ashley276.000—FREE AGENT
Mark Lemke3210.000—FREE AGENT
David West3310.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (10)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Troy O'Leary285.000$2.4MFREE AGENT
Damon Buford285.000$460kFREE AGENT
Darren Bragg284.000$368kARB 3FREE AGENT
Midre Cummings265.000$250kFREE AGENT
Scott Hatteberg283.000$240kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Wasdin253.000$228kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Carlos Reyes294.000$193kARB 3FREE AGENT
Chris Snopek273.000$25kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ron Mahay273.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Shouse295.000—FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (14)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Nomar Garciaparra242.000$1.1MARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Derek Lowe251.000$172kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Donnie Sadler230.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Trot Nixon242.000$170kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Rose221.000$170kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Lou Merloni270.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Varitek261.000$170kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Robinson Checo261.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mandy Romero30–—
Carlos Valdez26–—
Dario Veras252.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Barkley22–—
Keith Johns26–—
Jin Ho Cho22–—

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Red Sox 1998; the black line = the league-average player at each slot that season. Staying above the line deep into the roster is the depth edge; dropping below it = holes & dead weight.

What each regime is worth — every settled team-season since 1985

RegimeSeasonsWin %Playoff %Pennant %WS %
WINDOW 28152.131.05.01.1
CONTEND 30056.964.719.710.3
FORCED-SPEND 25648.09.81.61.6
REBUILD 32143.31.20.30.3
Rosternomics — quantifying front-office skill, attribution-clean. Follow @rosternomics on X. Decision-makers on record back to 1933; resource-controlled metrics (WAR & payroll) cover 1985–2026.
Data: FanGraphs (WAR), Baseball-Reference & the Chadwick Bureau register (rosters, IDs), the Lahman Database, Baseball America prospect rankings (via The Baseball Cube), 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); bios are original. Emoji graphics by OpenMoji (CC BY-SA 4.0).
All figures are franchise-level outcomes credited to the decision-maker in the acquisition year — not solely attributable to one executive.