This article is part of our MLB Observations series.
Continuing our Daily Draft programming on the SiriusXM show on Easter Saturday, Todd Zola and I invited not one but two guests to join us for an all-time Boston Red Sox draft. Scott Pianowski from Yahoo Fantasy Sports joined us, as did Ray Murphy from BaseballHQ.com. A quick reminder about our parameters:
- You only get the players' stats from when they were with the Red Sox. So ... Babe Ruth was eligible to be drafted, but you only get his Red Sox stats.
- Players are only eligible to be drafted where they played with that team. So when we drafted the Yankees last week, Alex Rodriguez was 3B-only.
- This is a general "good at baseball" draft - not a fantasy draft. That means if you don't have saves or stolen bases, that's fine. Given that we're limited to six pitchers apiece, we're not going to have the SP/RP you'd normally look for.
We gave Ray and Scott respectively their first choices in draft order, in this snake draft. Ray surprisingly took the wheel, going at the 4-5 turn. Scott opted for second overall, Todd opted to take the first pick, leaving me with the third pick. Here are the results, starting with the overall draft, then rosters by position:
Rd | Team | Player |
1 | Todd | Ted Williams |
1 | Pianow | Pedro Martinez |
1 | Jeff | Roger Clemens |
1 | Ray | Carl Yastrzemski |
2 | Ray | Wade Boggs |
2 | Jeff | Mookie Betts |
2 | Pianow | David Ortiz |
2 | Todd | Jimmie Foxx |
3 | Todd | Carlton Fisk |
3 | Pianow | Cy Young |
3 | Jeff | Dwight Evans |
3 | Ray | Nomar Garciaparra |
4 | Ray | Manny Ramirez |
4 | Jeff | Xander Bogaerts |
4 | Pianow | Fred Lynn |
4 | Todd | Jim Longborg |
5 | Todd | Jim Rice |
5 | Pianow | Bobby Doerr |
5 | Jeff | Dustin Pedroia |
5 | Ray | Lefty Grove |
6 | Ray | Jason Varitek |
6 | Jeff | Mo Vaughn |
6 | Pianow | Tris Speaker |
6 | Todd | Luis Tiant |
7 | Todd | Frank Malzone |
7 | Pianow | Kevin Youkilis |
7 | Jeff | Jon Lester |
7 | Ray | Smokey Joe Wood |
8 | Ray | Tony Conigliaro |
8 | Jeff | Curt Schilling |
8 | Pianow | John Valentin |
8 | Todd | Rico Petrocelli |
9 | Todd | Mel Parnell |
9 | Pianow | Dennis Eckersley |
9 | Jeff | Tim Wakefield |
9 | Ray | Dom DiMaggio |
10 | Ray | Babe Ruth |
10 | Jeff | Josh Beckett |
10 | Pianow | Bruce Hurst |
10 | Todd | Dick Radatz |
11 | Todd | Bill Monboquette |
11 | Pianow | Jacoby Ellsbury |
11 | Jeff | Reggie Smith |
11 | Ray | Bill Lee |
12 | Ray | Jonathan Papelbon |
12 | Jeff | Chris Sale |
12 | Pianow | Rich Gedman |
12 | Todd | George Scott |
13 | Todd | Harry Hooper |
13 | Pianow | Johnny Damon |
13 | Jeff | Mike Lowell |
13 | Ray | Bob Stanley |
14 | Ray | Ellis Burks |
14 | Jeff | J.D. Martinez |
14 | Pianow | Derek Lowe |
14 | Todd | Jerry Remy |
15 | Todd | Keith Foulke |
15 | Pianow | Mike Boddicker |
15 | Jeff | Rick Ferrell |
15 | Ray | Marty Barrett |
Rosters By Position:
Todd | Pianow | Jeff | Ray | |
C | Carlton Fisk | Rich Gedman | Rick Ferrell | Jason Varitek |
1B | Jimmie Foxx | David Ortiz | Mo Vaughn | Carl Yastrzemski |
3B | Frank Malzone | Kevin Youkilis | Mike Lowell | Wade Boggs |
2B | Jerry Remy | Bobby Doerr | Dustin Pedroia | Marty Barrett |
SS | Rico Petrocelli | John Valentin | Xander Bogaerts | Nomar Garciaparra |
OF1 | Ted Williams | Fred Lynn | Mookie Betts | Dom DiMaggio |
OF2 | Jim Rice | Tris Speaker | Dwight Evans | Manny Ramirez |
OF3 | Harry Hooper | Jacoby Ellsbury | Reggie Smith | Tony Conigliaro |
DH | George Scott | Johnny Damon | J.D. Martinez | Ellis Burks |
P1 | Jim Longborg | Pedro Martinez | Roger Clemens | Lefty Grove |
P2 | Luis Tiant | Cy Young | Jon Lester | Smokey Joe Wood |
P3 | Mel Parnell | Dennis Eckersley | Curt Schilling | Babe Ruth |
P4 | Dick Radatz | Bruce Hurst | Tim Wakefield | Bill Lee |
P5 | Bill Monbouquette | Derek Lowe | Josh Beckett | Jonathan Papelbon |
P6 | Keith Foulke | Mike Boddicker | Chris Sale | Bob Stanley |
In previous drafts, I think I erred too much on the side of overall cumulative value, without accounting enough for the difference in era, and I paid too much attention to positional scarcity. I think I adequately addressed both issues in this case. Surprisingly, pitching got thin pretty quickly with the Red Sox - or maybe that isn't surprising at all given how long of a title drought that they had prior to 2004.
Who do you think has the best team? Which players were notable omissions for you?