System Analysis: Sox Are Built to Last

Boston's Latest Championship Validates Effort to Go With Homegrown Players

DENVER, Oct. 29 -- When the Boston Red Sox won the 2004 World Series, the tears flowed in New England for the grandmothers who didn't make it to see the moment, the fathers who spent their lives anguishing over a hesitation on a cutoff throw, a ball between a first baseman's legs. But almost as soon as the moment was recorded, the questions about the future began. Would Pedro Martinez, the flaky right-hander, be re-signed? What about shortstop Orlando Cabrera, essential to improving the defense? And Derek Lowe, who won the clinching games of all three postseason series?

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On Sunday night, as the Red Sox celebrated their second title in four seasons, those questions were minimized. The closer who recorded the final four outs has just two years of major league experience. The two players who hit at the top of the order are homegrown rookies. The starting pitcher, too, was drafted and developed by Boston.

"It shows we're not just a bunch of stat geeks," owner John W. Henry said in the champagne-soaked visitors' clubhouse at Coors Field, a 4-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies completing a four-game sweep. "We're a well-rounded organization. . . . When you look at the stars of this series, it's not all about payroll."

Others in baseball will roll their eyes, talk about the $143 million the Red Sox committed to player salaries on Opening Day -- second only to you-know-who -- and say spending wildly was essential. But the construction of the Boston roster now, unlike in 2004, offers some opportunity for stability. The only free agents of note are third baseman Mike Lowell, the World Series MVP, and right-hander Curt Schilling.

Furthermore, so many players who contributed to a postseason run that concluded with seven straight wins -- closer Jonathan Papelbon, center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury, second baseman Dustin Pedroia, lefty Jon Lester and first baseman Kevin Youkilis among them -- are reasonably priced products of a system that no one with the club seemed to shy away from the idea that more championships could be on the way.

"It's like a validation of sorts," president and chief executive Larry Lucchino said. "And also, two data points begin to point to a trend -- knock on wood."

Wait. This is the Red Sox we're talking about here, right? The franchise that went 86 years without a title before 2004? Now, they're suddenly afforded the opportunity to compare championships.

"This one, we were a little more prepared for it," General Manager Theo Epstein said. "It's a little more of a true organizational win from top to bottom. Everyone contributed, [including] some homegrown players mixed in. We're set up a little bit now for maybe some sustained success."

That was Epstein's goal after the 2004 title, when the club made the decision not to match free agent offers to Martinez, who left for the New York Mets, and Lowe, who signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Cabrera, acquired in a key midseason trade that sent stalwart Nomar Garciaparra away, went to the Los Angeles Angels. A year later, center fielder Johnny Damon offended all of New England by signing with the -- gulp -- New York Yankees.

Thus, the Red Sox began something of a mini-swoon, and though Epstein emphasizes that the goal is to make the postseason "as often as possible," he strongly believed in building the farm system, even if the major league club was swept out of the first round of the playoffs (2005, against the Chicago White Sox) or failed to make them at all (2006).

"It's hard to do, because we have to try to win at the major league level while also cultivating a future through the minor league system," Epstein said. "That's the toughest task year-in and year-out. Hopefully, this year is a step in the right direction. I think we're in position to take advantage of this young core."

The young core extends beyond the players who contributed in the World Series. Twenty-three-year-old right-hander Clay Buchholz threw a no-hitter in September and could be a member of the 2008 rotation. Though they traded three prospects to Texas for reliever Eric Gagne in July -- a move that did not work out -- the system remains stocked with enough prospects that the Red Sox should be able to either develop players to fill holes or use them in deals.