Boston Red Sox

Catchers & Infielders:

• C – Jason Varitek
• C – Rich Gedman
• 1B – David Ortiz
• 2B – Dustin Pedroia
• SS – Xander Bogaerts
• SS/3B – Nomar Garciaparra
• CI – Wade Boggs (3B)
• CI – Mo Vaughn (1B)

Outfielders:

• LF – Ted Williams
• CF – Mookie Betts (RF)
• RF – JD Martinez (LF)
• OF – Carl Yastrzemski (1B/LF/CF)
• OF – Manny Ramirez (LF/RF)
• LF – Jim Rice (RF)

Starting Pitchers:

• SP – Cy Young
• SP – Pedro Martinez
• SP – Ray Collins
• SP – Roger Clemens
• SP – Dutch Leonard
• SP – Carl Mays

With every team, we started building their all-time 25-man and 40-man rosters by using the Hall of Fame as a starting point, figuring that a player enshrined in baseball’s immortal Hall would certainly qualify to make his team’s all-time roster. Almost all the Hall of Fame members are easily identifiable with one team so it’s a simple way to start every roster with near-inarguable selections.

Boston has a bit of a history of acquiring big stars midway through their careers, and of letting some of their own talent leave so there is a lot of “disputed allegiance” among players that are often considered Red Sox legends. Consider Tris Speaker, Manny Ramirez, Carlton Fisk, Curt Schilling, and Roger Clemens:

Tris Speaker

Boston: 9 years, 1 MVP, 55.8 WAR, .337 AVG, 704 Runs, 542 RBI, 39 HR, 267 SB + 2 World Series Titles

Cleveland: 11 years, 0 MVP, 74.3 WAR, .354 AVG, 1079 Runs, 886 RBI, 73 HR, 155 SB + 1 World Series Title

Manny Ramirez

Cleveland: 8 years, 4-time All-Star, 0 MVPs, 30.0 WAR, .313 AVG, 665 Runs, 804 RBI, 236 HR, 28 SB

Boston: 8 years, 8-time All-Star, 0 MVPs, 33.2 WAR, .312 AVG, 743 Runs, 686 RBI, 274 HR, 7 SB + 2 World Series Titles

Carlton Fisk

Boston Red Sox: 11 years, 7-time All-Star, 0 MVPs, 39.5 WAR, .284 AVG, 627 Runs, 568 RBI, 162 HR, 61 SB

Chicago White Sox: 13 years, 4-time All-Star, 0 MVPs, 28.9 WAR, .257 AVG, 649 Runs, 762 RBI, 214 HR, 67 SB

Curt Schilling

Philadelphia: 9 years, 3-time All-Star, 0 Cy Youngs, 36.8 WAR, 3.35 ERA, 101 Wins, 61 CG, 1554 K, 1659 IP, 14 SHO

Arizona: 4 years, 2-time All-Star, 0 Cy Youngs, 25.9 WAR, 3.14 ERA, 58 Wins, 18 CG, 875 K, 781 IP, 5 SHO + 1 World Series Title

Boston: 4 years, 1-time All-Star, 0 Cy Youngs, 17.7 WAR, 3.95 ERA, 53 Wins, 4 CG, 574 K, 675 IP, 1 SHO + 2 World Series Titles

Roger Clemens

Boston: 13 years, 5-time All-Star, 3 Cy Youngs, 1 MVP, 80.7 WAR, 3.06 ERA, 192 Wins, 100 CG, 2590 K, 2776 IP, 38 SHO

Toronto: 2 years, 2-time All-Star, 2 Cy Youngs, 20.1 WAR, 2.33 ERA, 41 Wins, 14 CG, 563 K, 499 IP, 6 SHO

New York: 6 years, 2-time All-Star, 1 Cy Young, 21.2 WAR, 4.01 ERA, 83 Wins, 3 CG, 1014 K, 1103 IP, 2 SHO + 2 World Series titles

Houston: 3 seasons, 2 -time All-Star, 1 Cy Young, 16.7 WAR, 2.40 ERA, 38 Wins, 1 CG, 505 K, 539 IP, 0 SHO

Based on that analysis Boston keeps some (Clemens, Ramirez, Lynn, Boggs, Martinez, Lester) and loses some (Fisk, Schilling, Beckett, Ruth, Eckersley, Foxx, Grove, Speaker).

As with every team, we are trying to build an active roster with 13 position players and 12 pitchers, and then a 15-player inactive roster of guys who just missed the cut, but remain valuable as callups in case of slumps or injuries.

The 13 active position players are usually two catchers, six infielders, and five outfielders. The stats are built around the average of the player’s best three consecutive seasons.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame gives us a good start here. Cooperstown gives us Ted Williams, Wade Boggs, Cy Young, Pedro Martinez, Bobby Doerr, Joe Cronin, Jim Rice, Jimmy Collins, Harry Hooper, and Carl Yastrzemski.

The Hall of Fame gives us 10 of our 40-man roster, and WAR (Wins Above Replacement), a great stat for looking at the all-around contribution to a team for both hitters and pitchers, can help us with the rest. We get lots of help here, as we find:

Dwight Evans, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Mookie Betts, Nomar Garciaparra, Nomar Garciaparra, Manny Ramirez, Mike Greenwell, and Fred Lynn.

Mo Vaughn and J.D. Martinez get consideration for their somewhat short but brilliant stints in Boston, as do Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers who have been outstanding in the start of their careers. Without Fisk, the Red Sox are light on legendary catchers, so Jason Varitek, Rich Gedman, Mike Stanley and Sammy White are all in play here.

Once plugged into the simulation software, we looked at their OPS (on-base + slugging percentage) and their defensive rankings and they break down like this:

CATCHER: Jason Varitek, Mike Stanley
FIRST BASE: David Ortiz, Mo Vaughn
SECOND BASE: Dustin Pedroia
SHORTSTOP: Xander Bogaerts, Joe Cronin, Nomar Garciaparra
THIRD BASE: Wade Boggs, Nomar Garciaparra (sometimes)
LEFT FIELD: Ted Williams, Manny Ramirez
CENTER FIELD: Mookie Betts, Carl Yastrzemski (sometimes)
RIGHT FIELD: Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Rice

Boston’s going to use a designated hitter on most days too, so David Ortiz, Wade Boggs, Manny Ramirez, and Jim Rice will see some at-bats there too.

That leaves inactive roster options Bobby Doerr, Rafael Devers, Dwight Evans, Jimmy Collins, Fred Lynn, J.D. Martinez, Mike Greenwell, Rich Gedman, and Harry Hooper.

It’s a testament to Boston’s incredible depth that they have three Hall of Famers on their inactive roster!

For the pitching staff we’re looking for six starters and six relievers. Bear in mind that across the whole game you will see dynamic, outstanding starting pitchers that can’t crack an all-time rotation but are better served as relievers on a team than sitting inactive.

Hall of Famers automatically belong, so two spots are reserved for Cy Young and Pedro Martinez. With the 26 players on the total roster we have room for 14 more pitchers.

Once we dug into the career WAR rankings (as Red Sox) we came up with these names: Tom Burgmeier, Roger Clemens, Bill Dineen, Bill Lee, Luis Tiant, Tim Wakefield, Jon Lester, Smoky Joe Wood, Dutch Leonard, Carl Mays, Mel Parnell, Ellis Kinder, Tex Hughson, Ray Collins, Dick Radatz, Garrett Whitlock, Bob Stanley, Frank Sullivan, and Joe Dobson. Jonathan Papelbon makes the list as Boston’s top reliever.

We looked at their overall numbers in the simulation software and leaned heavily on ERA to come up with these designations:

STARTING ROTATION: Cy Young, Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens, Dutch Leonard, Carl Mays, Ray Collins
RELIEVERS: Ellis Kinder, Dick Radatz, Garrett Whitlock, Tom Burgmeier
SET-UP: Smoky Joe Wood
CLOSER: Jonathan Papelbon

The playoff pitching chimera of Young/Clemens/Martinez is a potential nightmare for the rest of the American League. The inactive pitcher options are Jon Lester, Bill Lee, Luis Tiant, Tex Hughson, and Bill Dinneen.

So how did we do?

Is it sacrilege to keep Lynn and Dewey off the main roster?

Does Lester belong in the bullpen rather than inactive?

What batting order would you suggest versus lefties and righties?

Let us know in the forums below and if you make a compelling case we will adapt it in-game. We want every squad to be the best they possibly can be and appreciate your help fine-tuning the Red Sox for Eternal Baseball.

Photo Credits:

• Boston Red Sox by Doug Kerr.
• Nighttime at Fenway Park by Peter Galvin.