The Biz of Baseball: 2007 MLB Organization of the Year: Boston Red Sox

Timpani, Ed, timpani!

It would have been one thing to say that the Red Sox winning the World Series in 2004 broke some long standing “curse”, only to fade back into painful bridesmaid, where futility would continue for 80+ more years. It’s quite another to win two World Series championships in four years. The method by which Theo Epstein has assembled talent has not been a case of doing no more than throwing money at the free agency pool. Rather, the Red Sox have picked key free agent pieces and augmented with prospects such as Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia, while seeing the emergence of players such as Jonathan Papelbon. Not content with that, they have the top pitching prospect for the coming season in RHP Clay Buchholz.

...The Red Sox brand, already the second most recognizable brand in MLB behind the Yankees, has continued to push outward. Whether it is the March exhibition game with the Dodgers at the LA Coliseum, their season opener with the Athletics in Japan, or their trips to China to explore business relationships, John Henry, Larry Lucchino, and Tom Werner are redefining what MLB can, or could do given the revenues and opportunities, while staffing the organization with a solid player development program, and a savvy general manager in Theo Epstein that has already set the table for a competitive team for 2008.