GM: Dan Duquette
1998: made playoffs · 92–70. Ranks are vs the 30 teams that season.
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.
| Player | Age | Service | G | fWAR | Salary $M | Surplus $M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nomar Garciaparra | 24 | pre-arb | 143 | 7.3 | 1.1 | +6.8 |
| Mo Vaughn | 30 | FA-elig | 154 | 6.3 | 6.7 | +0.1 |
| Pedro Martínez | 26 | FA-elig | 33 | 5.6 | 7.6 | -1.5 |
| John Valentin | 31 | FA-elig | 153 | 4.5 | 5.3 | -0.5 |
| Tom Gordon | 30 | FA-elig | 73 | 2.7 | 3.3 | -0.4 |
| Darren Bragg | 28 | arb | 129 | 2.6 | 0.4 | +2.5 |
| Bret Saberhagen | 34 | FA-elig | 31 | 2.5 | 3.8 | -1.1 |
| Derek Lowe | 25 | pre-arb | 63 | 2.4 | 0.2 | +2.4 |
| Scott Hatteberg | 28 | arb | 112 | 2.2 | 0.2 | +2.1 |
| Mike Benjamin | 32 | FA-elig | 124 | 2.1 | 0.2 | +2.0 |
| Tim Wakefield | 31 | FA-elig | 37 | 1.7 | 3.5 | -1.7 |
| Darren Lewis | 30 | FA-elig | 155 | 1.6 | 0.5 | +1.3 |
| Troy O'Leary | 28 | arb | 156 | 1.1 | 2.4 | -1.2 |
| Damon Buford | 28 | arb | 86 | 0.9 | 0.5 | +0.5 |
| Reggie Jefferson | 29 | FA-elig | 62 | 0.9 | 3.2 | -2.2 |
| Jim Leyritz↔ SDP | 34 | FA-elig | 52 | 0.7 | 0.9 | -0.2 |
| Mike Stanley↔ TOR | 35 | FA-elig | 47 | 0.7 | 0.6 | +0.1 |
| Jim Corsi | 36 | FA-elig | 59 | 0.6 | 0.6 | +0.1 |
| Pete Schourek↔ HOU | 29 | FA-elig | 10 | 0.5 | 0.6 | -0.1 |
| John Wasdin | 25 | arb | 47 | 0.4 | 0.2 | +0.2 |
| Midre Cummings | 26 | arb | 67 | 0.4 | 0.2 | +0.2 |
| Carlos Reyes↔ SDP | 29 | arb | 24 | 0.3 | 0.2 | +0.2 |
| Billy Ashley | 27 | – | 13 | 0.3 | – | – |
| Steve Avery | 28 | FA-elig | 39 | 0.3 | 3.9 | -3.6 |
| Lou Merloni | 27 | pre-arb | 39 | 0.2 | 0.2 | +0.1 |
| Jin Ho Cho | 22 | – | 4 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Jason Varitek | 26 | pre-arb | 86 | 0.1 | 0.2 | -0.0 |
| Donnie Sadler | 23 | pre-arb | 58 | 0.1 | 0.2 | -0.1 |
| Keith Johns | 26 | – | 2 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Mandy Romero↔ SDP | 30 | – | 12 | 0.0 | – | – |
| 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 |
| Player | fWAR |
|---|---|
| Pedro Martínez | 5.6 |
| Darren Lewis | 1.6 |
| Damon Buford | 0.9 |
| Jim Leyritz | 0.7 |
| Pete Schourek | 0.5 |
| Midre Cummings | 0.4 |
| Player | 1997 fWAR |
|---|---|
| Tim Naehring | 2.1 |
| Wil Cordero | 2.0 |
| Jeff Frye | 1.7 |
| Jeff Suppan | 1.4 |
| Chris Hammond | 0.9 |
| Aaron Sele | 0.8 |
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.
| Player | Age | Svc | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pedro Martínez | 26 | 6.000 | $7.6M | $11.1M | $11.5M | $13.0M | $14.0M | $15.5M | $17.5M |
| Mo Vaughn | 30 | 7.000 | $6.7M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| John Valentin | 31 | 6.000 | $5.3M | $6.3M | $6.3M | $6.3M | FREE AGENT | ||
| Steve Avery | 28 | 8.000 | $3.9M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Bret Saberhagen | 34 | 14.000 | $3.8M | $3.5M | FREE AGENT | $5.0M | |||
| Tim Wakefield | 31 | 6.000 | $3.5M | $4.0M | $4.5M | $3.0M | $3.2M | $4.0M | $4.3M |
| Tom Gordon | 30 | 10.000 | $3.3M | $3.8M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Reggie Jefferson | 29 | 7.000 | $3.2M | $3.4M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Dennis Eckersley | 43 | 23.000 | $1.5M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Butch Henry | 29 | 6.000 | $1.4M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Jim Leyritz | 34 | 8.000 | $912k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Pete Schourek | 29 | 7.000 | $640k | FREE AGENT | $200k | $1.0M | |||
| Jim Corsi | 36 | 10.000 | $600k | $479k | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Mike Stanley | 35 | 12.000 | $583k | $3.5M | $2.3M | FREE AGENT | |||
| Darren Lewis | 30 | 8.000 | $500k | $2.1M | $2.4M | $2.5M | FREE AGENT | ||
| Greg Swindell | 33 | 12.000 | $465k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Mike Benjamin | 32 | 9.000 | $242k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Rich Garces | 27 | 8.000 | $190k | $300k | $610k | $1.4M | $2.2M | FREE AGENT | |
| Keith Mitchell | 28 | 7.000 | $170k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Orlando Merced | 31 | 8.000 | $86k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Billy Ashley | 27 | 6.000 | — | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Mark Lemke | 32 | 10.000 | — | FREE AGENT | |||||
| David West | 33 | 10.000 | — | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Troy O'Leary | 28 | 5.000 | $2.4M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Damon Buford | 28 | 5.000 | $460k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Darren Bragg | 28 | 4.000 | $368k | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Midre Cummings | 26 | 5.000 | $250k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Scott Hatteberg | 28 | 3.000 | $240k | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |||
| John Wasdin | 25 | 3.000 | $228k | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |||
| Carlos Reyes | 29 | 4.000 | $193k | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Chris Snopek | 27 | 3.000 | $25k | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |||
| Ron Mahay | 27 | 3.000 | — | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |||
| Brian Shouse | 29 | 5.000 | — | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nomar Garciaparra | 24 | 2.000 | $1.1M | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Derek Lowe | 25 | 1.000 | $172k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Donnie Sadler | 23 | 0.000 | $170k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Trot Nixon | 24 | 2.000 | $170k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Brian Rose | 22 | 1.000 | $170k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Lou Merloni | 27 | 0.000 | $170k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Jason Varitek | 26 | 1.000 | $170k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Robinson Checo | 26 | 1.000 | — | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Mandy Romero | 30 | – | — | ||||||
| Carlos Valdez | 26 | – | — | ||||||
| Dario Veras | 25 | 2.000 | — | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Brian Barkley | 22 | – | — | ||||||
| Keith Johns | 26 | – | — | ||||||
| Jin Ho Cho | 22 | – | — |
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.
| Regime | Seasons | Win % | Playoff % | Pennant % | WS % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WINDOW | 289 | 52.2 | 30.1 | 4.8 | 1.0 |
| CONTEND | 311 | 56.8 | 63.0 | 19.3 | 10.3 |
| FORCED-SPEND | 260 | 47.9 | 8.8 | 1.2 | 1.2 |
| REBUILD | 328 | 43.3 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
Not enough history to chart.
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