Boston Red Sox ultimate all-time fantasy baseball roster
The ultimate Boston Red Sox fantasy baseball team.
I’m an avid fantasy baseball player, participating in year-long and daily leagues in various formats for the better part of two decades. While the Boston Red Sox will always be my team, fantasy baseball provides a way to engage with rooting interest in games that don’t involve my hometown team.
The goal here is to create the best fantasy roster using players from Red Sox history. That doesn’t necessarily mean a list of the best in franchise history. Certain players rate better in terms of WAR and other advanced metrics but we’re only concerned with the standard 5X5 fantasy categories.
Hitters: Runs, Home Runs, RBI, Batting Average, Steals
Pitchers: Wins, Saves, ERA, WHIP, Strikeouts
The roster will be constructed with one player at each infield position, three outfielders, and two utility players (any hitter can fill a utility spot, it doesn’t necessarily need to be a DH). The pitching staff will be made up of five starting pitchers and two relievers.
We’re using single-season performances to justify a player’s spot on the roster so someone with a great peak season could beat out another player at the position who had a longer track record. However, a player can only appear once on our team. Teddy Ballgame has arguably the three best individual seasons by any hitter in franchise history but that doesn’t mean he gets to fill three spots in our virtual lineup.
With that in mind, here’s the ultimate fantasy lineup created from the storied history of the Red Sox.
Red Sox Position Players
Catcher – Carlton Fisk (1977)
First Base – Jimmie Foxx (1938)
Second Base – Dustin Pedroia (2011)
Third Base – Wade Boggs (1987)
Shortstop – Nomar Garciaparra (1998)
Outfield – Ted Williams (1941)
Outfield – Carl Yastrzemski (1967)
Outfield – Mookie Betts (2018)
Utility – David Ortiz (2005)
Utility – Jacoby Ellsbury (2009)
Fisk was an easy call when seeking offensive production from the catcher position. He hit .315 in 1977 with 26 home runs and 102 RBI.
Foxx held the single-season franchise record with 50 home runs for nearly seven decades. He led the league that year with a whopping 175 RBI, providing dominant production in two categories. The Beast also won a batting title by hitting .349 and he scored 139 runs on his way to winning the MVP.
Bobby Doerr is the best second baseman in franchise history but Pedroia had the more fantasy-friendly production. Pedroia’s MVP campaign in 2008 was probably his best year but I’m taking his 2011 season for fantasy purposes. His .307 average and 102 runs were a bit lower than his MVP year but remain solid. Pedroia set career-highs with 21 homers and 26 steals in 2011. It’s hard to pass on that 20/20 production from a second baseman in fantasy.
Boggs won a batting title with a .363 average in ’87. When you factor in that his 24 home runs marked his only season in a Red Sox uniform that he reached double-digits in that category, plus his career-high 89 RBI, this year was easily his best fantasy season.
There are several great options to choose from in the early years of Garciaparra’s career. His .372 batting average in 2000 stands out but he was subpar by his standards in other categories. I went with his career-high 35 homers and 122 RBI from his ’98 season when he was the runner-up for the MVP. It doesn’t hurt that he swiped 12 bases that year.
1941 fell just shy of being the best season in the career of Ted Williams but it has the most fantasy appeal. Anchoring the lineup with a player who hit .406 should lock up the batting average category for our team. Williams provided strong production in three other categories with 37 home runs, 135 runs scored and 120 RBI.
More from Red Sox News
- Red Sox Nation deserves far more from Fenway Sports Group
- Bizarre trade deadline comes back to haunt Red Sox after Nathan Eovaldi departure
- Red Sox’ Moneyball-style offseason continues with Corey Kluber contract
- Rich Hill’s Red Sox departure puts him within striking distance of unique MLB record
- Red Sox offseason takes another nasty hit with Nathan Eovaldi departure
We can’t leave out Yaz’s Triple Crown season. While those categories aren’t the best indicators of real-life production, they are vital for fantasy teams. Yaz hit .326 with 44 homers and 121 RBI to capture the MVP. He also added 112 runs and 10 steals for good measure.
Betts produced in all five categories during his MVP season. He won a batting title with a .346 average to complement a category our team is already dominant in. Mookie is the only 30/30 player on our team with his 32 homers and 30 steals. Other outfielders produced significantly more in the power categories but many of them come at a cost in batting average and provide little in the stolen base department.
It was tempting to go with Ortiz’s 2006 season when he set the franchise record with 54 home runs. We already have a dominant batting average team so it wouldn’t hurt to add one bat that failed to hit the .300 mark (although Big Papi’s .287 average was nothing to scoff at). Ortiz still provides plenty of home run power in 2005 with his 47 homers and he had an edge in the runs and RBI categories that year.
Ellsbury isn’t one of the best players in franchise history and 2009 isn’t even his best season, which was obviously 2011 when he should have won the MVP. However, our roster has a serious need for speed with only two players providing 20+ steals. Ellsbury’s franchise record 70 steals in ’09 helps us compete in a difficult category. While some stolen base threats are one-trick ponies, Ellsbury was solid in batting average and runs scored from the top of the lineup.
Red Sox Pitchers
Starting Pitcher: Pedro Martinez (1999)
Starting Pitcher: Roger Clemens (1986)
Starting Pitcher: Cy Young (1901)
Starting Pitcher: Chris Sale (2017)
Starting Pitcher: Smoky Joe Wood (1912)
Closer: Tom Gordon (1998)
Closer: Dick Radatz (1964)
It’s a toss up between Pedro’s 1999 and 2000 seasons but those are undoubtedly the most dominant performances by a Red Sox pitcher. I went with ’99 when he won a career-high 23 games and set the single-season franchise record with 313 strikeouts. His ERA and WHIP were better the following year but his 2.07 ERA and 0.923 WHIP were still ridiculously good in ”99.
The sparkling 1.93 ERA from the Rocket in 1990 was appealing but his MVP season in ’86 produced more wins (24), strikeouts (238), and a better WHIP (0.969). Clemens is an obvious addition to our fantasy pitching staff and his ’86 season gives us the best mix of the four categories he contributes in.
Red Sox fans bemoan the lucrative contract extension but there’s no denying that Sale’s first season in Boston was outstanding. The lanky lefty posted a 2.90 ERA and 0.97 WHIP while making a run at Pedro’s strikeout record with 308 K’s. Sale’s 17 wins are a bit light but we’ll make up for it with our last two starters to ensure we still finish strong in that category.
We have to be careful about loading up on too many pitchers from the dead ball era despite their minuscule ERA and WHIP. It was a much different game back then and despite the lack of run production, there were also fewer strikeouts. Racking up K’s is vital to the success of pitchers in fantasy and the strikeout rates from the early 20th century pale in comparison to the strikeout artists of today.
These next two pitchers tossed so many innings that their relatively low K/9 rates don’t matter. They still piled up enough total strikeouts to make the list – assuming we aren’t playing in a fantasy league with an innings cap.
Cy Young pitched for the Red Sox in the first year that the franchise joined the American League in 1901. He won 33 games with a 1.62 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and 158 strikeouts. The ERA and WHIP are even more impressive considering the massive workload with 371 1/3 innings pitched.
Smoky Joe Wood saw by far his largest workload in 1912 when he threw 344 innings, leading to a career-high 34 wins and 258 strikeouts. He remained strong in the other two categories with a 1.91 ERA and 1.015 WHIP.
Not many would think of Gordon as the best closer in Red Sox history, but from a fantasy perspective, it’s all about the saves. Flash set the single-season franchise record with 46 saves in ’98 while producing a solid 2.72 ERA.
Jonathan Papelbon had several years where he was much better in ERA and Craig Kimbrel was a more dominant strikeout pitcher but those categories matter less for a closer due to the limited innings total. I’m taking Gordan’s save total and the seven wins he kicked in as an added bonus.
Radatz was a very different closer than what we’re accustomed to today, pitching as many innings out of the bullpen as some starting pitchers. His career-high 29 saves in ’64 is underwhelming but it’s tough to pass up the 16 wins and 181 strikeouts from a pitcher you can lock into a closer spot.
Next. Ranking Red Sox players in Hall of Fame. dark
This collection of Red Sox greats would stack up well against any fantasy team. It’s absolutely dominant in a few categories and has no major weaknesses. We had to reach a bit to find some speed and the saves total is relatively low compared to the best relievers in MLB history but we have enough to compete in those categories. Put the production from these players together in a fantasy lineup and you have roto gold.