Boston Red Sox: building a champion
A big part of the Red Sox’ 25-man ALCS roster is their terrific outfield of Betts, Benintendi and Bradley, all of whom were drafted and developed by the team.
With Mike Trout sitting at home watching the Weather Channel, the best player still playing is Mookie Betts, of the Boston Red Sox. With the season he just had, Betts is the likely AL MVP for 2018, although his teammate J.D. Martinez will also get some votes. The Red Sox also have the elite Chris Sale, who will be in the running for the AL Cy Young Award.
Betts, Martinez and Sale were all acquired in different ways by the Red Sox. Betts was a terrific draft pick, taken in the 5th round in 2011. It’s not often you find a talent like Betts in the fifth round. He’s been worth 35.2 WAR in his career (Baseball-Reference). The next-best player taken that round is Nick Tropeano, worth 1.5 WAR.
Martinez was a big free agent signing before this season. After destroying baseballs in the second half of the 2017 season with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Martinez was looking for a big payday in free agency. He ended up with a good contract, but it took until February 26 before he was signed.
Sale was acquired in a classic prospects-for-veteran trade with the White Sox in 2016. The Red Sox had a good enough collection of prospects to entice the White Sox to deal their ace. Another key player on the Red Sox, shortstop Xander Bogearts, was an international free agent signing back in 2009, when he was just 16 years old. Betts, Martinez, Sale and Bogaerts are among the elite players on the Red Sox and they were all acquired in different ways.
With four teams still vying for the 2018 World Series trophy, I thought it would be interesting to look at how each of these teams acquired the players on their 25-man League Championship Series roster and how much value those players have contributed this season. Previously, the Milwaukee Brewers were analyzed. Then it was the Los Angeles Dodgers under the microscope, followed by the Houston Astros. Today, it’s the Red Sox’ turn.
Here is the Red Sox’ breakdown for number of players acquired through the different pathways:
Acquired through trade: 10 players (40%)
Signed as free agents: 5 players (20%)
Drafted and developed: 7 players (28%)
Signed as international free agents: 2 players (8%)
Purchased from another team: 1 player (4%)
Here is the Red Sox’ breakdown for value accrued by these players:
Acquired through trade: 37% of total WAR
Signed as free agents: 23% of total WAR
Drafted and developed: 34% of total WAR
Signed as international free agents: 7% of total WAR
Purchased from another team: 0% of total WAR
Let’s look at those different categories in more detail.