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Red Sox BOS

200895–67 (0.586)Made Playoffs
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GM: Theo Epstein

Overview

Ranks vs the 30 teams in 2008, or a custom range (defaults to every team-season since 1985, when our data starts).

to

Front Office

PoorAverageGreat
Value
Payroll $M
$124M
Surplus $M
-7
Win %
0.586
TAB
+12.7
WAB
+8.7
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
51.0
Dead money %
26%
Depth Players
10.0
Dead WAR
-2.1

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

2008 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

BJason Varitek131
RKevin Cash57
RDavid Ross⇄8
LGeorge Kottaras2

1B

RKevin Youkilis125
LSean Casey45
RJeff Bailey12
LMark Kotsay⇄6
LBrandon Moss⇄2

2B

RDustin Pedroia157
LAlex Cora7
BJed Lowrie3
RGil Velazquez2

3B

RMike Lowell110
BJed Lowrie45
RKevin Youkilis36
RKevin Cash4

SS

RJulio Lugo81
LAlex Cora69
BJed Lowrie49
RGil Velazquez1

LF

LJacoby Ellsbury58
RJason Bay⇄49
RJeff Bailey5
LJoe Thurston4
LChris Carter3
LJonathan Van Every1
RJulio Lugo1

CF

BCoco Crisp114
LJacoby Ellsbury66
LJ.D. Drew1
LJonathan Van Every1

RF

LJ.D. Drew106
LJacoby Ellsbury36
LMark Kotsay⇄19
LJonathan Van Every8
RKevin Youkilis2
RJeff Bailey1

DH

LDavid Ortiz109
RManny Ramirez⇄31
LSean Casey13
LChris Carter4
RJeff Bailey4
LBrandon Moss⇄3
LJacoby Ellsbury2
LJ.D. Drew2
RKevin Cash2
RMike Lowell2

Starters

RJosh Beckett4.2 WAR
LJon Lester4.2 WAR
RDaisuke Matsuzaka2.7 WAR
RTim Wakefield1.1 WAR
RBartolo Colon0.5 WAR
RClay Buchholz0.5 WAR
RPaul Byrd⇄0.4 WAR
RMichael Bowden0.2 WAR
RJustin Masterson0.1 WAR
RCharlie Zink0.1 WAR
RDavid Pauley-0.1 WAR

Bullpen

★ RJonathan Papelbon41 sv
LHideki Okajima23 h
RManny Delcarmen18 h
LJavier Lopez10 h
RDavid Aardsma4 h
RMike Timlin0 h
RCraig Hansen⇄0 h
RChris Smith0 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 2007)

PlayerfWAR
Jed Lowrie1.6
Jason Bay1.2
Bartolo Colon0.5
Paul Byrd0.4
Michael Bowden0.2
Justin Masterson0.1

Key subtractions (gone from 2007)

Player2007 fWAR
Curt Schilling2.3
Brendan Donnelly0.5
Kason Gabbard0.4
Eric Gagne0.3
Bobby Kielty0.1
David Murphy0.0

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 2008; everyone else is shown as a 2008 season snapshot.

PlayerPeriodfWARTier Market $MPaid $MSurplus $M$ / WARTierContract
Jon Lester 2008 +4.2 +73.6 0.4 +73.2 $0.1M 2.19× –
Dustin Pedroia 2008 +6.3 +69.8 0.5 +69.4 $0.1M 1.38× –
Kevin Youkilis 2008 +6.2 +67.6 3.0 +64.6 $0.5M 1.37× –
Josh Beckett 2008 +4.2 +73.6 10.2 +63.5 $2.4M 2.19× –
Jacoby Ellsbury 2008 +4.2 +60.0 0.4 +59.6 $0.1M 1.79× –
Jonathan Papelbon 2008 +2.8 +57.3 0.8 +56.6 $0.3M 2.57× –
J.D. Drew 2008 +4.1 +58.2 14.0 +44.2 $3.4M 1.79× –
Daisuke Matsuzaka 2008 +2.7 +42.6 8.3 +34.2 $3.1M 1.96× –
Manny Ramirez↔ 2008 +3.0 +31.7 12.4 +19.3 $4.2M 1.33× –
Manny Delcarmen 2008 +1.1 +11.8 0.4 +11.4 $0.4M 1.34× –
Coco Crisp 2008 +1.7 +16.1 5.1 +11.0 $3.1M 1.22× –
Jed Lowrie 2008 +1.6 +11.3 0.4 +10.9 $0.2M 0.89× –
Hideki Okajima 2008 +1.0 +11.1 1.3 +9.8 $1.2M 1.34× –
Jason Bay↔ 2008 +1.2 +7.9 1.9 +6.0 $1.6M 0.83× –
Tim Wakefield 2008 +1.1 +8.6 4.0 +4.6 $3.8M 1.02× –
Clay Buchholz 2008 +0.5 +3.7 0.4 +3.3 $0.9M 1.02× –
Bartolo Colon 2008 +0.5 +4.1 1.2 +2.9 $2.5M 1.02× –
Brandon Moss↔ 2008 +0.5 +2.7 0.2 +2.5 $0.4M 0.69× –
Mike Lowell 2008 +2.2 +14.7 12.5 +2.2 $5.8M 0.85× –
Michael Bowden 2008 +0.2 +1.7 0.4 +1.3 $1.9M 1.02× –
David Ortiz 2008 +1.7 +14.1 13.0 +1.1 $7.5M 1.01× –
Paul Byrd↔ 2008 +0.4 +3.1 2.0 +1.1 $5.3M 1.02× –
Kevin Cash 2008 +0.3 +1.3 0.4 +0.9 $1.3M 0.52× –
Alex Cora 2008 +0.6 +2.7 2.0 +0.7 $3.6M 0.61× –
Justin Masterson 2008 +0.1 +0.7 0.4 +0.3 $3.1M 0.67× –
Bryan Corey↔ 2008 -0.1 -0.3 0.1 -0.3 – 0.67× –
David Ross↔ 2008 +0.0 +0.1 0.3 -0.3 $22.4M 0.52× –
Javier López 2008 +0.1 +0.5 0.8 -0.4 $9.4M 0.67× –
Julian Tavarez↔ 2008 -0.0 -0.1 0.7 -0.8 – 0.67× –
David Aardsma 2008 -0.1 -0.5 0.4 -0.9 – 0.67× –
Sean Casey 2008 -0.1 -0.2 0.8 -1.0 – 0.56× –
Kyle Snyder 2008 -0.2 -0.9 0.8 -1.7 – 0.67× –
Mark Kotsay↔ 2008 -0.3 -1.7 1.4 -3.1 – 0.83× –
Mike Timlin 2008 -0.5 -2.4 3.0 -5.4 – 0.67× –
Julio Lugo 2008 +0.4 +1.8 9.2 -7.5 $25.7M 0.61× –
Jason Varitek 2008 -0.3 -1.3 10.4 -11.8 – 0.52× –
Charlie Zink 2008 +0.1 +0.9 – – – 1.02× –
Chris Carter 2008 -0.0 -0.1 – – – 0.69× –
Chris Smith 2008 -0.3 -1.7 – – – 0.67× –
Craig Hansen↔ 2008 +0.1 +0.3 – – – 0.67× –
David Pauley 2008 -0.1 -0.4 – – – 0.67× –
Devern Hansack 2008 +0.1 +0.8 – – – 0.67× –
George Kottaras 2008 -0.0 -0.0 – – – 0.52× –
Gil Velazquez 2008 -0.2 -0.9 – – – 0.56× –
Jeff Bailey 2008 +0.2 +0.8 – – – 0.56× –
Joe Thurston 2008 -0.1 -0.5 – – – 0.83× –
Jonathan Van Every 2008 -0.0 -0.2 – – – 0.83× –
Total—+51.1+644.0123.5+521.4—

Trades

Every graded 2008 deal involving the Red Sox — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 7 total.

2008 · BOS / LAD / PIT
BOS · Theo Epstein +$112.0M
Jason Bay
LAD · Ned Colletti −$44.8M
Manny Ramirez
PIT · Neal Huntington −$67.2M
Craig Hansen, Brandon Moss, Andy LaRoche, Bryan Morris
BOS came out ahead by $112.0M 3-team
2008 · LAD / BOS
LAD · Ned Colletti +$0.0M
Christian Lara
BOS · Theo Epstein +$0.0M
Eric Hull
Even trade
2008 · TEX / BOS
TEX · Jon Daniels +$0.0M
Beau Vaughan
BOS · Theo Epstein +$0.0M
Wes Littleton
Even trade
2008 · CHW / BOS
CHW · Kenny Williams +$1.6M
Willy Mota, Miguel Socolovich
BOS · Theo Epstein −$1.6M
David Aardsma
CHW came out ahead by $1.6M
2008 · CLE / BOS
CLE · Mark Shapiro +$10.4M
Mickey Hall
BOS · Theo Epstein −$10.4M
Paul Byrd
CLE came out ahead by $10.4M
2008 · ATL / BOS
ATL · Frank Wren +$20.0M
Luis Sumoza
BOS · Theo Epstein −$20.0M
Mark Kotsay
ATL came out ahead by $20.0M
2008 · BOS / KCR
BOS · Theo Epstein +$1.6M
Ramón Ramírez
KCR · Dayton Moore −$1.6M
Coco Crisp
BOS came out ahead by $1.6M

Current & Historical Payroll

2008 payroll
$123.5M

What the front office was committed to as of 2008, 2008–2014. 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 (20)

PlayerAgeSvc2008200920102011201220132014
J.D. Drew3210.000$14.0M$14.0M$14.0M$14.0MFREE AGENT
David Ortiz3211.000$13.0M$13.0M$13.0M$12.5M$14.6M$14.0M$15.0M
Mike Lowell3410.000$12.5M$12.5M$12.5MFREE AGENT
Manny Ramirez3615.000$12.4MFREE AGENT
Jason Varitek3611.000$10.4M$5.0M$3.0M$2.0MFREE AGENT
Josh Beckett287.000$10.2M$11.2M$12.1M$17.0M$12.8MFREE AGENT
Julio Lugo328.000$9.2M$5.4MFREE AGENT
Coco Crisp286.000$5.1MFREE AGENT
Tim Wakefield4116.000$4.0M$4.0M$3.5M$2.0MFREE AGENT
Mike Timlin4217.000$3.0MFREE AGENT
Alex Cora3210.000$2.0MFREE AGENT
Paul Byrd3713.000$2.0MFREE AGENT
Mark Kotsay3211.000$1.4M$896kFREE AGENT
Bartolo Colon3511.000$1.2MFREE AGENT
Sean Casey3311.000$800kFREE AGENT
Julian Tavarez3515.000$666kFREE AGENT
Kevin Cash306.000$400kFREE AGENT
David Ross316.000$337kFREE AGENT$3.1M$3.1M
Bryan Corey3410.000$62kFREE AGENT
Joe Thurston286.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (8)

PlayerAgeSvc2008200920102011201220132014
Kevin Youkilis294.000$3.0MARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Bay295.000$1.9MFREE AGENT
Javier López305.000$840kFREE AGENT
Kyle Snyder305.000$835kFREE AGENT
Jonathan Papelbon273.000$775kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Manny Delcarmen263.000$421kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
David Aardsma264.000$403kARB 3FREE AGENT
Craig Hansen243.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (19)

PlayerAgeSvc2008200920102011201220132014
Daisuke Matsuzaka271.000$8.3MPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Hideki Okajima321.000$1.3MPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dustin Pedroia242.000$457kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jon Lester242.000$422kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jacoby Ellsbury241.000$406kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Clay Buchholz231.000$396kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jed Lowrie240.000$390kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Justin Masterson230.000$390kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Michael Bowden210.000$390kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brandon Moss241.000$168kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Bailey29–—
Chris Smith270.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
George Kottaras250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Gil Velazquez280.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chris Carter250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
David Pauley250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jonathan Van Every280.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Charlie Zink28–—
Devern Hansack30–—

Graphs

How each 2008 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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