http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/features/03top10s/redsox.html
After their first full year with John Henry as owner and Theo Epstein as
general manager, it abundantly clear that these are not the Red Sox of old.
Or even of the turn of the millennium.
Oh, they may have finished second in the American League East for the sixth
straight season and had their hearts broken by the Yankees yet again in 2003.
But Boston also spent the year implementing several changes designed to
overtake New York as the long-term team to beat in baseball most competitive
division.
When the Red Sox named Epstein GM in November 2003, there was much ado about
how he became the youngest GM in big league history at 28. Youth aside,
Epstein quickly has established himself as an intelligent and relentless
executive.
He helped steer Boston to its first postseason berth since 1999 with a series
of successful signings (Mike Timlin, Bill Mueller, David Ortiz) and trades
(Todd Walker, Byung-Hyun Kim, Scott Williamson), plus one creative purchase
(getting Kevin Millar out of a deal to play in Japan). Epstein made only two
regrettable moves, signing free agent Ramiro Mendoza and trading Freddy
Sanchez, who could fill the club旧 second-base hole, for Scott Sauerbeck and
Jeff Suppan.
Henry made a fortune in the investment business by analyzing market trends
and relying on data and formulas. He wants his team run in the same fashion.
That why Boston hired advisor Bill James, who popularized the statistical
analysis of baseball with his Baseball Abstracts in the 1980s. That also why
former manager Grady Little tenure was doomed before he left Pedro Martinez
in to pitch the eighth inning of the AL Championship Series.
The Red Sox also have applied a statistical approach in areas beyond the big
league team. They're shifted their focus in the draft to college players,
taking just one high schooler with their first 18 choices in 2003. When
looking for minor league coaches and instructors, they're checked how teams
performed under those men.
Thanks to the offseason additions of Curt Schilling and Keith Foulke, Boston
may have supplanted New York as the AL East favorite in 2004. Restocking the
farm system is going to take significantly longer.
Epstein resourcefulness and the team willingness to take on payroll have
helped make up for a lack of minor league talent, but that can last
indefinitely. Of the organization top 15 prospects when Epstein took over,
he already has traded six. That number will rise to seven if the Rodriguez
trade saga ever reaches a conclusion and lefthander Jon Lester is included.
It too early to know for sure, but the Red Sox appear to have taken a positive
first step forward with the 2003 draft. Outfielders David Murphy and Matt
Murton (both first round) and lefty Abe Alvarez (second) all cracked our
Top 10 Prospects list, while outfielder Mickey Hall (second) and righties
Beau Vaughan (third) and Jon Papelbon (fourth) just missed. Cuban righty
Gary Galvez and Dominican shortstop Luis Soto highlighted Boston international
efforts.
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