The Red Sox Team of the Decade: 2010-2019

Matching the previous decade, the Red Sox won two World Championships in the last decade (2013 and 2018).  In each of those seasons, they won their division.  The decade also featured AL East titles in 2016 and 2017, though they were eliminated in the ALDS in both seasons.  But the Red Sox had last place finishes in 2012, 2014 and 2015.  It was truly feast or famine.

CATCHER - JARROD SALTALAMACCHIA

This position came down to Saltalamacchia or Christian Vazquez.  The best individual season belonged to Victor Martinez, who hit .302/.351/.493 with 20 home runs and 79 RBIs and was an All Star, the only time in the decade a Red Sox catcher appeared in the All Star Game.  But that was his only season with the team in the decade.  Sandy Leon had a terrific season in 2016, hitting .310/.369/.476, but did not have much power (seven home runs), and did it in only 78 games and was basically a black hole on offense otherwise.  So it came down to Vazquez, who played the most games and was the better defensive catcher, or Saltalamacchia, who was significantly better offensively.  Ultimately, I chose the better offensive catcher, although if Vazquez (.256/.305/.384 for his career) had hit the way he did in 2019 for his career (or even close to it), this would turn out differently.  Saltalamacchia led the team in home runs in 2012 and for his time on the team, hit .243/.307/.455 with 55 home runs and 181 RBIs.  

FIRST BASE - ADRIAN GONZALEZ

Most of the first base options have significant issues.  Kevin Youkilis and Hanley Ramirez each had very good seasons at the position, but played only one season there apiece and then played other positions.  This basically comes down to Gonzalez, Mike Napoli and Mitch Moreland.  Despite an All Star appearance in 2018, Moreland's offense is a significant step down from the other two, and he played a similar number of games to Napoli, so he is out.  Napoli played a lot more than Gonzalez and hit .242/.350/.436 with 53 home runs and 187 RBIs during his time and was a big part of the 2013 World Championship team.  Gonzalez though was an elite offensive player, having one of the better first base seasons in team history in 2011, and following up with a very good season in 2012, before he was traded away.  In far fewer games, he almost eclipsed all of Napoli's numbers, hitting .321/.382/.513 with 42 home runs and 203 RBIs.  It would have been nice to keep him around.  

SECOND BASE - DUSTIN PEDROIA

Moving from one of the most difficult positions to determine to one of the easiest, second base has been handled by Pedroia throughout the decade, except for times when he was injured.  With apologies to his temporary replacements (Eduardo Nunez and Brock Holt), no one measured up to Pedroia.  His best season was 2011 when he hit .307/.387/.474 with 21 home runs, 91 RBIs and 26 stolen bases.  He was an All Star in 2013 and won Gold Gloves in 2011, 2013 and 2014.  He twice finished in the top ten in the MVP voting.  For the decade, he hit .296/.363/.432 with 98 home runs, 513 RBIs and 93 stolen bases.  Injuries have mostly decimated what has been a potential Hall of Fame career.  

SHORTSTOP - XANDER BOGAERTS

This was another pretty easy call.  The other players to play full seasons at shortstop in the decade were Marco Scutaro, Mike Aviles and Stephen Drew.  Scutaro was a decent, steady player, but the other two do not exactly inspire awe.  Bogaerts was the starting shortstop since late 2014 and was an All Star in 2016 and 2019.  He was a part of two World Championship teams and won Silver Slugger Awards in 2015, 2016 and 2019.  During his career, he has hit .288/.350/.451 with 107 home runs and 503 RBIs.  He has not been the greatest defensive shortstop, but he has been one of the elite offensive shortstops in the game, particularly over the last two seasons.

THIRD BASE - RAFAEL DEVERS

Were you expecting Pablo Sandoval?  This one really is not as close as I thought it was going to be.  Despite Devers having a phenomenal season in 2019, the only All Star seasons at the position during the decade belonged to Adrian Beltre in 2010 and Kevin Youkilis in 2011.  Beltre owns probably the best individual season in 2010 when he hit .321/.365/.553 with 28 home runs and 102 RBIs and led the league in doubles.  He won the Silver Slugger that season.  But it was his only season in Boston.  Youkilis was good in 2011, but certainly not great.  Will Middlebrooks and Sandoval were of course big disappointments.  That leaves Devers, who had a 2019 comparable to Beltre when he hit .311/.361/.555 with 32 home runs and 115 RBIs, also leading the league in doubles.  Only his defense did not measure up.  Devers hit .282/.335/.501 with 63 home runs and 211 RBIs in the decade.

RIGHT FIELD - MOOKIE BETTS

No contest here.  Betts is one of the best players in team history.  It is a shame he likely will not be back with the team.  J.D. Drew, Josh Reddick, Shane Victorino and Jackie Bradley Jr. are the other players to play regularly in right, but none of them as much as Betts, or as well.  Victorino had a good season in 2013 and won a Gold Glove.  But, to be honest, none of them are close to Betts.  Betts was in the All Star Game four times, and won four Gold Gloves and four Silver Sluggers.  He won the AL MVP in 2018 when he hit .346/.438/.640 with 32 home runs, 80 RBIs and 30 stolen bases.  He led the league in average, slugging, and runs.  He finished runner-up in the MVP race in 2016 when he hit .318/.363/.534 with 31 home runs, 113 RBIs and 26 stolen bases and led the league in total bases.  For the decade, which does include the 2015 season when he was the primary center fielder, Betts hit .301/.374/.519 with 139 home runs, 470 RBIs and 126 stolen bases.  

CENTER FIELD - JACKIE BRADLEY JR.

JBJ has the most games played at center field during the decade, taking over as the primary center fielder in 2016, more than double the number of the runner-up.  Jacoby Ellsbury had the best individual season when he was the runner-up for the MVP in 2011, hitting .321/.376/.552 with 32 home runs, 105 RBIs and 39 stolen bases.  He won the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger and was an All Star that season.  He was also decent in 2013 when he led the league in stolen bases (52), but that was the only other season he was a regular, due to injuries.  Bradley was an All Star in 2016 when he hit .267/.349/.486 with 26 home runs and 87 RBIs.  Unfortunately, he has not really come close to those numbers since.  For the decade, he hit .236/.317/.409 with 91 home runs, 354 RBIs and 55 stolen bases.  It is his defense though where Bradley excels.  He won a Gold Glove in 2018 and has been one of the elite defensive center fielders throughout his time at the position.

LEFT FIELD - ANDREW BENINTENDI

Left field has not been a great position for Boston during the decade.  There have been no All Star appearances or awards.  A number of players have disappointed (Carl Crawford, Hanley Ramirez, Yoenis Cespedes), and injuries have caused issues.  The 2013 team featured a platoon in left with Jonny Gomes and Daniel Nava.  So Benintendi largely wins this by default.  He was very good in 2017, hitting .271/.352/.424 with 20 home runs, 90 RBIs and 20 stolen bases and finished second in the Rookie of the Year race.  But he has stagnated since the second half of 2018.  For the decade, he hit .277/.354/.442 with 51 home runs, 259 RBIs and 52 stolen bases.  

DESIGNATED HITTER - DAVID ORTIZ

J.D. Martinez has been terrific, but he has only played two seasons in the decade.  Ortiz played seven of the other eight (Hanley Ramirez played the remaining one).  Martinez had probably the best individual season when he hit .330/.402/.629 with 43 home runs and a league-leading 130 RBIs in 2018.  He was an All Star twice and won two Silver Sluggers (in the same season).  But Ortiz was a great hitter throughout the decade.  He was an All Star five times and won four Silver Sluggers.  From 2010 through 2016, he hit .292/.383/.562 with 224 home runs and 700 RBIs.  Ortiz was an absolute monster in the postseason, particularly during the 2013 World Series for which he was named MVP.  As good as Martinez has been, Ortiz has been doing it a lot longer.

UTILITY - BROCK HOLT

How many utility players actually make the All Star team?  I have no idea how to answer that question, but Holt did in 2015.  A number of players had decent seasons at multiple positions, such as Kevin Youkilis (first, third), Daniel Nava (right, left, first) and Hanley Ramirez (first, left, DH), but Holt played every position except catcher and pitcher throughout his career with Boston.  In his All Star season, Holt hit .280/.349/.379.  Holt hit for the cycle twice, including becoming the first player to do so in a postseason game in Game 3 of the 2018 ALDS against the Yankees.  With the Red Sox in the decade, he hit .270/.340/.374 with 23 home runs, 203 RBIs and 35 stolen bases.

STARTING PITCHER - CHRIS SALE

Sale was only with the Red Sox for three seasons during the decade, and one of those seasons was less than completely impressive, though he did strike out 218 batters in 147.1 innings, albeit with a 4.40 ERA.  But he makes the team because of how amazing his previous two seasons were.  He finished runner-up in the Cy Young race in 2017 when he was 17-8 with a 2.90 ERA, striking out a Major League-leading 308 batters in 214.1 innings.  He was an All Star in both 2017 and 2018.  For the three years, Sale has a 35-23 record, 3.08 ERA and 763 strikeouts in just 519.2 innings.  He may not have been with the team as long as some pitchers who are not on this list, but he has been one of the best pitchers in the game.

STARTING PITCHER - JON LESTER

Lester was an All Star three times during the decade, in 2010, 2011 and 2014.  He was a consistent and reliable starting pitcher, if not quite the ace of the staff.  He did finish in the top five in the Cy Young vote twice, including 2014 which he finished as a member of the Oakland Athletics.  For the decade, he had a 3.64 ERA, a 68-47 record and 899 strikeouts.  Lester was terrific in the 2013 postseason, winning four games and losing just one and allowing just one run in 15.1 innings in the World Series, while striking out 15.  Boston probably should have held on to him.

STARTING PITCHER - RICK PORCELLO

Even though his time with the Red Sox has been up and down, it is hard to make this kind of list without including the only pitcher who won the Cy Young Award for the team during the time period.  Porcello has largely been an innings-eater during his time in Boston, but in 2016 he narrowly won the Cy Young Award by going 22-4 with a 3.15 ERA and 189 strikeouts in 223 innings.  For his time in Boston, he was 73-55 with a 4.43 ERA and 852 strikeouts.  He pitched in five full seasons in Boston, mostly in the middle of the rotation. 

STARTING PITCHER - CLAY BUCHHOLZ

Of the starting pitcher candidates for this list , Buccholz had the longest tenure, pitching with the Red Sox through the 2016 season.  He was an All Star twice, in 2010 when he was 17-7 with a 2.33 ERA, and 2013 when he was 12-1 with a 1.74 ERA.  With Boston, he was 69-47 with a 3.78 ERA and 737 strikeouts in 977 innings.  He finished sixth in the Cy Young vote in 2010.  Other pitchers strongly considered for this list were Josh Beckett, Eduardo Rodriguez, David Price and John Lackey.  Beckett was an All Star in 2010, but struggled in other seasons.  Price and Lackey had injuries that took out a chunk of time.  Rodriguez looks like a rising star but just had his breakout season in 2019.  

RELIEF PITCHER - JUNICHI TAZAWA

Tazawa was an underrated, yet extremely important member of the team's bullpen in the early half of the decade.  He also impressed during the team's postseason run in 2013, appearing in 13 games with a 1-0 record and a 1.23 ERA.  For the decade, Tazawa pitched in 296 games, throwing 286.2 innings, with a record of 15-17 and a 3.23 ERA.  He struck out 295, walking just 66.  He struggled a bit in his last two seasons, but his previous few were terrific.

RELIEF PITCHER - MATT BARNES

Ultimately, I could not include Tazawa without Barnes.  So it came down to including both, or neither.  I wanted to have a setup man in this post, so I chose to include both.  Their numbers are fairly similar, which is why it did not make much sense to have one and not the other.  Barnes has been the primary setup man for the last few seasons, and played a big role on the 2018 champs.  Barnes has pitched in 301 games, with 314.1 innings.  He had a 25-18 record and a 4.07 ERA, but has been improving each season.  He is a high strikeout pitcher, notching 407, with a high of 110 in 2019 in just 64.1 innings.

RELIEF PITCHER - KOJI UEHARA

In one of the most important free agent signings of the decade, the Red Sox signed Uehara to set up newly acquired Joel Hanrahan in the bullpen.  But Uehara quickly became the team's closer, having one of the greatest seasons of all time out of the bullpen, going 4-1 with a 1.09 ERA and 101 strikeouts versus just nine walks in 74.1 innings, saving 21 games.  He was particularly impressive in the postseason, saving seven games en route to the ALCS MVP award.  He had diminishing returns each subsequent season in Boston, but had a 14-13 record, 2.19 ERA, 79 saves and 291 strikeouts versus 37 walks in 226 innings.  He was an All Star in 2014.

RELIEF PITCHER - CRAIG KIMBREL

If Kimbrel can get his career back on track, he looks like a potential Hall of Famer.  He was acquired in a trade with San Diego prior to the 2016 season, one of the few reliever trades that worked out well for Boston.  He spent just three seasons in Boston, but was an All Star in each one of them and won the Mariano Rivera Reliever of the Year Award in 2017.  Kimbrel saved 108 games with the Red Sox with a 2.44 ERA while striking out 305 in 184.1 innings.  His only real black mark was his struggles in the postseason.  Other relievers considered for this post were Brandon Workman, Jonathan Papelbon, Joe Kelly, Alfredo Aceves and Craig Breslow.

The Red Sox Team of the Decade: 2000-2009

This was one of the most successful decades in franchise history, really second only to 1910-1919.  The decade featured two World Championships (2004, 2007), two seasons in which they made it to Game 7 of the ALCS (2003, 2008), and two seasons in which they made it to the ALDS (2005, 2009).  A number of star players spent a long period of time with the Red Sox during this decade. 

CATCHER - JASON VARITEK

Who else?  Varitek was the primary catcher throughout the vast majority of the decade, only missing half the 2001 season with injury and relinquishing the starting position to Victor Martinez in the latter half of 2009.  During that time, he was a three-time All Star (2003, 2005, 2008), and probably should have gone in 2004.  He also won the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger in 2005.  Varitek hit more than 20 home runs twice and came close a couple more times.  This was one of the easiest decisions in this post.  

FIRST BASE - KEVIN YOUKILIS

For two years (2008-2009), Youkilis was one of the best hitters in the game.  Unfortunately, his prime was all too brief.  Youkilis came up to the Red Sox as a third-baseman in 2004 and spent a considerable amount of time at the hot corner through the 2005 season.  In 2006, he was moved to first base and responded by becoming one of the best defensive first-basemen in the game.  He won a Gold Glove at the position in 2007 and was an All Star in 2008 and 2009.  For those two seasons, he hit .309/.401/.559 with 56 home runs and 209 RBIs as the primary offensive force in the lineup.  That two-year stint was not his only time at first for Bosto, but is the primary reason that he is here.  His only real competition for this post is Kevin Millar who 52 home runs over three seasons with Boston.

SECOND BASE - DUSTIN PEDROIA

Well, you certainly can not ignore a player who won the MVP Award in coming up with a Team of the Decade.  Of course, that is not all that Pedroia did during the decade as he also won the Rookie of the Year Award, was a two-time All Star, and won the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger in 2008.  In his MVP season, Pedroia led the league in runs (118), hits (213), and doubles (54) while hitting .326/.376/.493 with 17 home runs, 83 RBIs, and 20 stolen bases.  He was a complete player.  Pedroia was only a regular for three seasons during the decade, but no other Red Sox player was a regular for even two full seasons at the position.  Mark Loretta is the only player to have been an All Star at the position other than Pedroia, but he only played one season with them.

SHORTSTOP - NOMAR GARCIAPARRA

Shortstop was a position with a lot of turnover throughout the decade, and a lot of disappointing performances.  And so we end up with Garciaparra who had three great seasons as the Red Sox shortstop, and two injury-plagued ones.  He won the batting title in 2000 with a .372 mark, the highest of his career.  He also had three 20 home run seasons and two 100 RBI seasons in the decade and led the league in doubles (56) in 2002.  Garciaparra was an All Star in three seasons during the decade (2000, 2002, 2003).  It is a shame that his Red Sox career ended so prematurely and bitterly.  The Red Sox spent the rest of the decade attempting to replace his production, but no one came close.  Julio Lugo played the second-most games at the position during the decade, but was a big disappointment.  

THIRD BASE - MIKE LOWELL

This is probably one of the toughest calls in this post.  The decision ultimately came down to Bill Mueller versus Mike Lowell.  Shea Hillenbrand was eliminated quickly, despite an All Star appearance in 2002.  Lowell was a member of the 2007 World Championship team and finished fifth in MVP voting that season after he hit .324/.378/.501 with 21 home runs and 120 RBIs while playing stellar defense at the hot corner.  He was an All Star that season.  He also had very good seasons in 2006, 2008, and 2009 hitting between .274 to .290 with 15-20 home runs and 73-80 RBIs each season.  Statistically, very close seasons.  He just edges Mueller due to playing one more full season.  But Mueller was a big part of the 2004 World Championship and won a batting title (.326) and Silver Slugger in 2003.  It just came down to games played, and Lowell had the slight edge.

RIGHT FIELD - TROT NIXON

This was not quite as easy a decision as I think a lot of Red Sox fans would like to admit.  Nixon wins it fairly convincingly, but he was injury-plagued throughout the decade and hampered by an inability to hit lefties well.  His best three years in the decade are actually not that much better than the three seasons J.D. Drew put up in the decade.  Nixon does have the significant edge in games played however and so he comes out ahead.  Nixon was a vastly underrated player who was one of the best hitters on the team from 2001-2003.  He hit more than 20 home runs and drove in more than 75 runs each of those seasons.  His best year was 2003 when he hit .306/.396/.578 with 28 home runs and 87 RBIs.  Drew though, put up the only All Star season from right field during the decade when he hit .280/.408/.519 with 19 home runs and 64 RBIs, but was a beast in June.  He won the All Star MVP award that season.  Both players had huge postseason home runs as well.  

CENTER FIELD - JOHNNY DAMON

This is probably the most open position in the post.  Do you go with Carl Everett, who was an All Star in 2000 after hitting  34 home runs and driving in 108 runs, both highs for the position in the decade?  Do you go for Jacoby Ellsbury, who set a team record for stolen bases with 70 in 2009, one season after stealing 50 more?  You probably do not take Coco Crisp who was somewhat ordinary for three seasons.  My pick is Johnny Damon, a two-time All Star in 2002 and 2005 who was basically the face of the 2004 World Championship team.  His best season with the team was that 2004 season when he hit .304/.380/.477 with 20 home runs and 94 RBIs while stealing 19 bases.  Damon was also a very good defensive center-fielder, albeit with a weak throwing arm.  He led the league in triples in 2002 with 11 and stole more than 30 bases with Boston twice.  

LEFT FIELD - MANNY RAMIREZ

This one is easy.  Ramirez was signed to a massive free agent contract with the Red Sox prior to 2001 and was an All Star ever season he was with the team.  Among the many highlights of his time in Boston was his World Series MVP Award, batting title in 2002 (.349), and home run lead in 2004 (43).  He was a prodigious power hitter who won five Silver Slugger Awards and finished in the Top 10 in MVP balloting five times.  For his Red Sox career, which took place entirely within this decade, he hit .312/.411/.588 with 274 home runs and 868 RBIs.  He was traded during the 2008 season for Jason Bay, who managed to be almost as good for a season-and-a-half to close out the decade.

DESIGNATED HITTER - DAVID ORTIZ

To think, Ortiz was actually non-tendered by the Twins.  Who would have thought that he would become this monster power hitter?  This is another extremely easy one as Ortiz was an All Star five times (2004-2008), a Silver Slugger four times (2004-2007), and finished in the Top 5 of MVP balloting five straight years (2003-2007).  During that time, he led the league in home runs in 2006 (a new team record 54), RBIs in 2005 and 2006 (148 and 137), and OBP in 2007 (.445).  He was not just a power hitter either as he hit over .300 three times in the decade.  He hit 259 home runs during the decade for Boston, second only to Ramirez.  

STARTING PITCHER - PEDRO MARTINEZ

The only Red Sox pitcher to win a Cy Young Award in the decade was Martinez in 2000.  That was an absolutely incredible season in which he was 18-6 with a miniscule 1.74 ERA and 284 strikeouts in just 217 innings.  It was one of the greatest pitching seasons of all time.  He probably should have won it in 2002 and 2003.  In 2002, he won 20 games and led the league in ERA (2.26), strikeouts (239), and WHIP (0.923).  Really, how did he NOT win it?  2003 was a down season in wins (14), but he led the league in ERA (2.22) and WHIP (1.039).  Martinez was an All Star in 2000 and 2002.

STARTING PITCHER - CURT SCHILLING

The Red Sox wanted to shore up their starting pitching in 2004 to try to make another run at the World Series after falling just short in 2003.  They acquired Schilling and got just the pitcher they needed.  He finished second in the Cy Young voting in 2004 after compiling a 21-6 record with a 3.26 ERA and 203 strikeouts.  He won two huge games in the postseason after an experimental procedure suturing his tendon to the skin, bleeding into his sock both games.  He had a rough season in 2005 but was good enough in both 2006 and 2007.  His final start of his career was winning Game 2 of the 2007 World Series against the Rockies.  His numbers were not terrific other than 2004, but he is a major part of the team's story in two World Championship seasons.  That is enough to get him on this team.

STARTING PITCHER - JOSH BECKETT

Another ace starting pitcher acquired in a trade by the Red Sox, Beckett was the top starter on the staff in the World Championship season of 2007.  He had a rough first season with the Red Sox, going 16-11 with a 5.01 ERA, but he adapted and finished second in the Cy Young race in 2007.  He had a record of 20-7 with a 3.27 ERA and 194 strikeouts.  He was an All Star that season and won the ALCS MVP.  2008 was a bit of a letdown, but he made the All Star team again in 2009 when he was 17-6 with a 3.86 ERA and 199 strikeouts.  Other starting pitchers considered for this team include Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jon Lester. 

PITCHER - DEREK LOWE

There are not many pitchers who have won 20 games in one season and saved 40 games in another.  Lowe is one of those rare pitchers.  Lowe was an All Star as a closer in 2000 when he led the league in saves (42), and as a starting pitcher in 2002 when he was 21-8 with a 2.58 ERA and 127 strikeouts in 219.2 innings.  Lowe pitched a no hitter as well in 2002 against the Devil Rays and finished third in the Cy Young race.  He was a 17 game winner in 2003 and won 14 in 2004.  Lowe won the clinching games in each of the postseason series in 2004.  

PITCHER - TIM WAKEFIELD

He may not have had any truly great seasons in this decade, but how can you not include a pitcher who spent the entire decade with the team?  During the decade, Wakefield compiled a record of 114-105 with a 4.40 ERA and 1,293 strikeouts.  He was a 16 game winner in 2005 and a 17 game winner in 2007 as a starting pitcher.  He had a 2.81 ERA as a jack-of-all-trades pitcher in 2002.  And he was an All Star for the first time as a 42-year-old starter in 2009.  The knuckleballer deserves to be on this team no matter what.

RELIEF PITCHER - MIKE TIMLIN

Timlin spent six seasons as the anchor of the Red Sox bullpen.  He pitched in 394 games during that time, leading the league in games pitched in 2005 (81).  He was most often a middle reliever, but did manage to save a few games here and there and was the team's closer for a little while in 2005, saving 13 games.  That was his best season as he was 7-3 with a 2.24 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 80.1 innings.  Timlin was a reliable bullpen arm and was integral to the team in the 2004 and 2007 World Championship seasons.  Manny Delcarmen was also considered for this team.

RELIEF PITCHER - HIDEKI OKAJIMA

One of the most reliable left-handed relievers for the team during this decade was Okajima.  He was actually an All Star in 2007, almost unheard of for a middle reliever, and was sixth in Rookie of the Year balloting.  Okajima was an incredibly deceptive reliever who racked up an impressive 2.72 ERA over 198 games and 192 innings pitched during the decade.  He struck out 176 and saved six games with a 12-4 record during that time.  Alan Embree and Javier Lopez were also considered for this team.

RELIEF PITCHER - JONATHAN PAPELBON

Papelbon holds the Red Sox all-time record for saves and was an incredibly successful closer in the latter half of this decade.  He put together one of the greatest rookie seasons for a closer of all time in 2006 when he saved 35 games with a 0.92 ERA, striking out 75 in 68.1 innings.  He finished second in the Rookie of the Year balloting.  He was almost as good over the next three seasons, saving 151 games for the team with a ridiculous 1.84 ERA over 268 games.  He struck out 346 batters in 298 innings in that time.  Papelbon was an All Star each season from 2006 to 2009.  He is an easy selection as closer for this team.  Ugueth Urbina and Keith Foulke were also considered for this team.

The Red Sox Team of the Decade: 1990-1999

Determining a player for some positions during the 1990's was a fairly difficult thing to do.  The team was wildly inconsistent throughout the decade.  The decade featured postseason appearances in 1990, 1995, 1998, and 1999.  But the team had losing seasons in 1992, 1993, 1994, and 1997, including a last place season in 1992.  There were two massive roster overhauls in 1993 and then again in 1995.  And so, there were not a ton of players who spent a long time on the team throughout the decade.  I started watching baseball in the early 1990's, so I remember all of these players very well.

CATCHER - TONY PENA

Catcher was one of the tough position battles.  The best individual season belonged to Mike Stanley in 1996, at least from an offensive standpoint.  He hit .270/.383/.506 with 24 home runs and 69 RBIs that season, but there is a reason he was moved to designated hitter the next season.  He led the league in passed balls in 1996.  Jason Varitek also developed in the late 1990's, but his only full season was 1999 when he hit .269/.330/.482 with 20 home runs and 76 RBIs, but he will have another chance at this.  Then there was Scott Hatteberg, who had two decent seasons as the starting catcher in 1997 and 1998, hitting .276/.356/.440 with 22 home runs and 87 RBIs between them.  Good seasons, but together, not as good as Stanley or Varitek.  So, the honor goes to Tony Pena, who was the starting catcher for four seasons.  He was the weakest hitter among the four players mentioned, but was significantly better behind the plate.  Pena hit just .234/.290/.313 during his four seasons, including a dreadful 1993 season in which he hit .181, but regularly among the league leaders in most defensive categories, and that means something.  He was awarded with a Gold Glove in 1991.  

FIRST BASE - MO VAUGHN

With apologies to Carlos Quintana, one of my favorite players when I first got into baseball, this was the easiest position on the team.  Vaughn's Red Sox career spanned most of the decade, starting in 1991 and continuing through 1998.  During that time, The Hit Dog was an All Star three times, the AL MVP in 1995, and won a Silver Slugger Award.  Vaughn started off slow, only hitting 17 home runs during 1991-1992, but became the team's best slugger in 1993.  What made him particularly impressive during his time in Boston was that he was not just a power hitter, he was a terrific hitter in general, as his team statline of .304/.394/.542 will attest.  In 1998 he finished percentage points behind Bernie Williams for the batting title.  Vaughn led the league in RBIs in 1995 and hit 40 home runs twice.  He was the face of the Red Sox for the better part of the 1990's.  No one else was seriously considered for first base on this team.

SECOND BASE - JODY REED

In contrast to first base, second base was one of the most difficult positions to determine.  There were no true standout players at the position throughout the decade.  Jose Offerman, of all people, was the only Red Sox All Star at second base, but only played one season for the team during the decade.  He had perhaps the best season offensively, hitting .294/.391/.435 and led the league in triples.  Scott Fletcher was decent in 1993, but poor in 1994.  Luis Alicea was also good in his one season with the team.  Jeff Frye also had a good 1997, hitting .312/.352/.433 with 19 stolen bases, but he was more of a jack-of-all-trades type.  And so, it comes down to Jody Reed, who led the league in doubles in 1990 with 45.  He was definitely not a power hitter, hitting just 17 home runs during his time with the Red Sox, and he was not that much of a base-stealer either, stealing 23 bases in his career with Boston.  But he was a steady, dependable contact hitter, and an ideal number two hitter in the lineup.  In the 1990's for Boston, he hit .274/.348/.364, with 484 hits and 114 doubles.  Those numbers may have looked better, but for a bad 1992 season.  Second base was tough, and so it comes down to the dependable Reed.

SHORTSTOP - NOMAR GARCIAPARRA

At first glance, shortstop would seem to be very easy.  Nomar Garciaparra put up some terrific numbers, but he was the starting shortstop for just three seasons, as compared to John Valentin's four.  But I found a way to deal with that issue.  Nomar gets the shortstop position as a result of his 1997-1999 seasons.  In that time, he was an All Star twice, the unanimous Rookie of the Year in 1997, second in the MVP race in 1998, and won the batting title in 1999.  He put together one of the all-time great rookie seasons, hitting .306/.342/.534 with 30 home runs and 98 RBIs, while stealing 22 bases.  Along the way, he led the league in hits (209) and triples (11), and all of this was out of the leadoff slot in the lineup.  The next season he was even better, and then won the batting title in 1999.  There was some competition for Nomar though, but see the below entry for third base.

THIRD BASE - JOHN VALENTIN

This is probably the biggest upset on the team.  Scott Cooper was a two-time All Star, but did not really deserve it and Tim Naehring was pretty decent, but neither player was considered very strongly.  Wade Boggs spent the first three years of the decade as the team's third-baseman, while Valentin was the third-baseman the last two-and-a-half seasons, but Valentin's time as the team's shortstop from 1993 through 1996 gives him the edge.  The problem with Boggs is that his 1990 season was very good, but not great, and his 1992 season was bad for him.  1991 was his only Boggs-ian season.  Valentin on the other hand had a 1995 season nearly as good as Boggs's 1991, and very good seasons from 1993 through 1998.  His best season came as a shortstop when he hit .297/.399/.533 with 27 home runs, 102 RBIs, and 20 stolen bases and won the Silver Slugger.  He had a very good year in 1997, which he split between second and third, and then had his best season as a full-time third-baseman in 1998 when he hit 23 home runs.  This is probably a controversial pick, but Boggs had his time in the 1980's, and I wanted to get Valentin on this team somehow.  

RIGHT FIELD - TROY O'LEARY

Right field came down to two players: Tom Brunansky or Troy O'Leary.  Trot Nixon was just emerging as the 90's came to a close and the less said about 1993 and 1994, the better.  Brunansky came to Boston in a trade for Lee Smith early in the 1990 season and was expected to help solidify the lineup, but it never really worked out that way.  He never hit more than 16 home runs for Boston, despite coming off of eight straight 20+ home run seasons.  O'Leary arrived in Boston via a waiver claim from the Brewers in 1995 and took over when Mark Whiten failed to impress.  O'Leary promptly hit over .300 then the next year added some power.  His best season as a right fielder came in 1997 when he hit .309/.358/.479 with 15 home runs and 80 RBIs.  Like Valentin, O'Leary is ultimately helped out by his work at another position.  In his case, left field.  His power numbers increased when he moved to left as he hit 23 and then 28 home runs.  He was the only Red Sox outfielder in the 1990's to drive in more than 100 runs when he drove in 115 in 1999.  So, O'Leary gets the nod partially due to his left field time.

CENTER FIELD - ELLIS BURKS

This is likely the most difficult call on the team.  There was constant turnover in center field after Burks left, and even during his last couple of seasons as he was injured frequently.  Of the multitude of options, I considered Billy Hatcher, Otis Nixon, Lee Tinsley, Darren Bragg, and Darren Lewis in addition to Burks.  Hatcher's best season in Boston resulted in him having an OPS+ of 93 which is not great.  Nixon stole 42 bases in his one season in Boston, but had no power at all.  Tinsley was only marginally better than Hatcher in his best season of 1995.  Bragg had his best year as a right fielder and his years in center were not any better than Hatcher or Tinsley.  And finally Lewis was not any better than any of the others.  So it comes down to Burks, who was the only All Star in center field during the 1990's.  His All Star season came in 1990 when he hit .296/.349/.486 with 21 home runs and 89 RBIs.  He also won the Silver Slugger and the Gold Glove that season.  His speed numbers were unfortunately down as he stole just nine bases.  Burks declined significantly in 1991 and dealt with a number of injuries in 1992, but his great 1990 season was the only real successful season for a Red Sox center fielder in the 1990's and won him the nod.

LEFT FIELD - MIKE GREENWELL

Taking Troy O'Leary out of consideration leaves Greenwell to compete only with Wil Cordero, which is absolutely no competition.  Cordero's 18 home runs in 1997 were more than Greenwell hit in any season in the 1990's, but he does not match up in any other way.  Greenwell had his best seasons in the 1980's, but he had a fair amount left in the tank during the 1990's.  He was the primary left fielder other than when injured through the 1996 season.  Greenwell's best season in the 1990's was 1993 when he hit .315/.379/.480 with 13 home runs and 72 RBIs.  For the decade, he hit .294/.354/.437 with 71 home runs and 411 RBIs.  He also hit 166 doubles and stole 45 bases.  Greenwell was a dependable hitter throughout his career.  He was not flashy in the 1990's, but he got the job done and he spent a number of years with Boston.  That is certainly worth something.

DESIGNATED HITTER - JOSE CANSECO

I went back and forth on this one.  Jack Clark had one good season with the Red Sox in 1991, but was bad in 1992.  Andre Dawson was well past his prime by the time he made it to the Red Sox.  Mike Stanley was mostly in a platoon when he was the DH.  So that brings it down to Reggie Jefferson and Jose Canseco.  Jefferson spent the most time at DH during the decade and had some impressive numbers, hitting .316/.363/.505 with 50 home runs and 215 RBIs.  He was a very underrated hitter and took to the DH position like a fish to water, though he was often a part of a platoon and only twice played in more than 100 games.  Even though Canseco played just two seasons with the Red Sox, he eclipsed Jefferson's home run total.  Canseco had two very good seasons with the Red Sox that were derailed by injuries.  In 1995 he hit .306/.378/.556 with 24 home runs and 81 RBIs and then hit .289/.400/.589 with 28 home runs and 82 RBIs in 1996.  He might have had one of his best seasons ever in 1996 had he not gone down at the end of the year with an injury.  So Canseco's two great seasons were enough to beat out Jefferson's larger body of work.

STARTING PITCHER - ROGER CLEMENS

The Rocket was still at the top of his game in the early 1990's.  He had a terrific season in 1990, leading the league with a 1.93 ERA and winning 21 games while striking out 209.  He should have been the Cy Young Award winner that year, but Bob Welch's 27 wins blinded the voters.  Clemens did win the award in 1991 and finished third the next year.  He led the league in ERA all three seasons and strikeouts in 1991.  1993 saw Clemens decline significantly, but he rebounded to some degree for his final three seasons with the Red Sox.  Injuries were taking their toll in 1994 and 1995, but he impressed when he was on the mound.  In his final Red Sox season in 1996 he led the league in strikeouts once again with 257 and matched his single game record of 20 strikeouts.  He did have a losing record though and the GM played hardball with him and Clemens left as a free agent after 1996.  He was still the winningest pitcher on the team throughout the decade, going 97-66 with a 3.05 ERA and 1,375 strikeouts.

STARTING PITCHER - PEDRO MARTINEZ

Boston finally got their replacement for Clemens in 1998 when they traded for Martinez.  Despite pitching just two seasons in the 1990's, this team would be incomplete without Pedro.  He was an All Star both seasons and won the Cy Young Award in 1999 while finishing second in the MVP vote.  In 1998, he was 19-7 with a 2.89 ERA and 251 strikeouts.  He was even better in 1999, going 23-4 with a 2.07 ERA, and 313 strikeouts, leading the league in all three categories.  Martinez also won the 1999 All Star Game MVP award.  Martinez is a very easy pick to make this team even given his short tenure with the team during the decade.

STARTING PITCHER - TIM WAKEFIELD

The knuckleballer Wakefield was acquired as a minor league free agent after being released by the Pirates organization and took the team by storm upon being called up in 1995.  He challenged for the Cy Young Award (3rd in voting) and MVP (13th in voting) with his incredible run of success that started to taper off later on.  He finished the year 16-8 with a 2.95 ERA and 119 strikeouts.  Wakefield generally had higher ERAs, but was a workhorse, throwing more than 200 innings each of the next three seasons.  He was particularly impressive again in 1998 when he was 17-8 with a 4.58 ERA and 146 strikeouts.  He was a valuable role player in 1999 when he spent some time as closer, saving 15 games.  Wakefield stayed with Boston throughout the entire next decade.

STARTING PITCHER - DANNY DARWIN

I have discussed Darwin's 1993 season a number of times on this blog, and it is the biggest reason why he appears on this post as well.  Darwin was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox after leading the NL in ERA with the Astros in 1990, despite being primarily a reliever.  He struggled in 1991, but started to come around in 1992, by finishing 9-9 with a 3.96 ERA.  In 1993, he had a terrific season, going 15-11 with a 3.26 ERA and 124 strikeouts while leading the league in WHIP with a 1.068 mark.  He then went 7-5, but with a ghastly 6.30 ERA in his final season with the Red Sox.  Other starting pitchers to be considered for these spots were Mike Boddicker, Aaron Sele, Erik Hanson, and Bret Saberhagen.  

PITCHER - TOM GORDON

While it is undoubtedly true that the primary reason that Gordon is here is due to his 1998 season as closer, Gordon also had some success as a starting pitcher.  Gordon had a few good seasons with the Royals before coming to Boston as a free agent in 1996.  He was 12-9 in his first season with the Red Sox, but had a 5.59 ERA while striking out 171.  He was very impressive in 1997, the team's most reliable starting pitcher before converting to closer after the trade of Heathcliff Slocumb.  That season he was 6-10 with a 3.74 ERA, striking out 159 and saving 11 games.  He was an All Star as the closer in 1998, saving a team record 46 games including setting an AL record for consecutive saves.  He finished 7-4 with a 2.72 ERA and struck out 78.  The next season he picked up another 11 saves but struggled and suffered an injury.  Other starter/relievers considered for this list were Greg A. Harris and Joe Hesketh.

RELIEF PITCHER - JEFF REARDON

After a long career as a closer with the Mets, Expos, and Twins, Reardon was brought to Boston to be a co-closer with Lee Smith.  Smith though, did not like the idea and was traded during the season, leaving Reardon to become the team's closer.  He was impressive in his time with the Red Sox, saving 88 games in just under three seasons.  He set a then-record 40 games in 1991 and was an All Star.  His biggest accomplishment in Boston was breaking Rollie Fingers's career saves record in 1992, shortly before being traded to the Braves.  That was since broken many times over, but it was a noteworthy accomplishment in team history.  Jeff Russell was also briefly considered for this spot, and of course, Tom Gordon.