How the 2004 Red Sox Team was Put Together

The team that finally won the World Series for Boston, for the first time in 86 years, was not a homegrown team, a product of a robust Red Sox farm system.

Of the 25 players on the postseason roster, only two had come up in the system – Trot Nixon and Kevin Youkilis.

Five were players who had been released or placed on waivers by other teams.

Six were free-agent signings.

And the other 12 were players for whom the Red Sox traded. Of course, in making those trades the Red Sox included a number of players who had been developed in their own farm system.

These trades and acquisitions were made by GMs Dan Duquette and Theo Epstein. The following chart chronicles the moves to build the 2004 Red Sox, as to the players on the final postseason roster. There were other players who contributed earlier in the season who for one reason or another did not make the roster.

Players drafted and developed by the Red Sox

• Trot Nixon – selected by the Red Sox in the first round (the seventh overall pick) of the June 1993 amateur draft, from high school in Wilmington, North Carolina. GM = Lou Gorman. Debut September 21, 1996.
• Kevin Youkilis – selected by the Red Sox in the eighth round of the June 2001 amateur draft, from the University of Cincinnati. GM = Dan Duquette. Debut May 15, 2004.

Signed as free agents by the Red Sox

• Manny Ramirez – December 19, 2000. GM = Dan Duquette. Ramirez was signed to an eight-year deal. He played with the Red Sox until he was traded on July 31, 2008. 
• Johnny Damon – December 21, 2001. GM = Dan Duquette. Damon was signed to a four-year deal. After the term was complete, he signed with the New York Yankees in January 2006.
• Mike Timlin – January 6, 2003. GM = Theo Epstein. Timlin signed again after the season, on November 17, and pitched for the Red Sox through the 2008 season, his last in the majors.
• Bill Mueller – January 10, 2003. GM = Theo Epstein. A veteran of seven seasons with the Giants and Cubs, Mueller played three seasons for the Red Sox.
• Pokey Reese – December 23, 2003. GM = Theo Epstein. The year 2004 was his eighth and final major-league season, after seasons with Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.
• Keith Foulke – January 7, 2004. GM = Theo Epstein. After pitching for the Giants, six years with the White Sox, and 2003 for Oakland, Foulke signed with the Red Sox and pitched for Boston from 2004 through 2006.

Players signed who had been released or placed on waivers by other teams 

• Tim Wakefield – Originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1998, he was released by the Pirates on April 20, 1995, and signed by the Red Sox six days later. GM = Dan Duquette. Red Sox debut May 27, 1995. After six seasons with the Red Sox, he became a free agent and then signed again, once more by Dan Duquette, in December 2000.
• David Ortiz – Originally signed by the Seattle Mariners, he was traded to the Minnesota Twins in September 1996 but after playing parts of six seasons for the Twins was released by them on December 16, 2002. On January 22, 2003, he was signed by the Red Sox. GM = Theo Epstein. Red Sox debut April 1, 2003.
• Bronson Arroyo – Originally signed by the Pirates, he pitched parts of three seasons for them (2000-2002), but on February 4, 2003, he was claimed off waivers by the Red Sox. GM = Theo Epstein. Red Sox debut August 25, 2003.
• Gabe Kapler – Kapler played in the majors for the Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, and Colorado Rockies from 1998 into 2003. He was purchased by the Red Sox from the Rockies on June 28, 2003. GM = Theo Epstein. Red Sox debut June 28, 2003.
• Curtis Leskanic – Leskanic began his career with Colorado and pitched for the, Rockies, the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Kansas City Royals from 1993 into June 2004. The Royals released him on June 18, 2004, and he was signed by the Red Sox on June 22. GM = Theo Epstein. Red Sox debut June 25, 2004.

Players acquired by trades or waivers

• Derek Lowe – July 31, 1997. GM = Dan Duquette. The Red Sox traded reliever Heathcliff Slocumb to the Seattle Mariners for Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek.
• Jason Varitek – July 31, 1997. GM = Dan Duquette. In the same straight-up trade involving Derek Lowe, the Red Sox acquired two future All-Stars and World Champions. 
• Pedro Martinez – November 18, 1997. GM = Dan Duquette. The Montreal Expos traded the 1997 Cy Young Award winner to the Red Sox for Carl Pavano and a player to be named later (Tony Armas).
• Doug Mirabelli – June 12, 2001. GM = Dan Duquette. The Red Sox traded pitching prospect Justin Duchsherer to the Texas Rangers for catcher Mirabelli. Duchsherer was 1-1 for Texas and later was 32-24 for Oakland. 
• Alan Embree – June 23, 2002. Interim GM = Mike Port. In another midseason trade the Red Sox sent minor-league pitchers Brad Baker and Dan Giese (who reached the majors in September 2007) for minor-league reliever Andy Shibilo and veteran lefty reliever Embree.
• Kevin Millar – February 15, 2003. GM = Theo Epstein. The Red Sox sent cash to the Florida Marlins for Kevin Millar, who had hit over .300 each of the prior two seasons.
• Curt Schilling – November 28, 2003. GM = Theo Epstein. Schilling had originally been drafted by the Red Sox in January 1986, then traded in midyear of 1988 to Baltimore. After time with the Phillies and a World Series championship with the Diamondbacks, he was traded by Arizona to the Red Sox for pitchers Casey Fossum, Brandon Lyon, and Jorge De La Rosa, and minor-league outfielder Mike Goss.
• Mark Bellhorn – December 16, 2003. GM = Theo Epstein. Bellhorn was sent to the Boston Red Sox by the Colorado Rockies for $125,000, a straight-up cash deal, per a September 13, 2022, email from Sarah Coffin of the Red Sox to Jason Scheller.
• Orlando Cabrera – July 31, 2004. GM = Theo Epstein. The Red Sox acquired Cabrera as part of a four-team trade-deadline deal. He came from the Montreal Expos, who received pitcher Francis Beltran, infielders Alex Gonzalez and Brendan Harris from the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs also sent minor-leaguer Justin Jones to the Minnesota Twins, who sent Doug Mientkiewicz to the Red Sox. The Cubs received Nomar Garciaparra and Matt Murton from the Red Sox.
• Doug Mientkiewicz – July 31, 2004. GM = Theo Epstein. As noted in the above summary, Mientkiewicz came from the Twins to the Red Sox as part of the four-team trade.
• Dave Roberts – July 31, 2004. GM = Theo Epstein. On the same day as the Red Sox acquired Cabrera and Mientkiewicz, they added Dave Roberts in a separate trade, sending minor-league outfielder Henri Stanley to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
• Mike Myers – August 6, 2004. GM = Theo Epstein. Myers was placed on waivers by the Seattle Mariners on August 6, and was claimed by the Red Sox in a cash transaction.

Red Sox GMs:

• Theo N. Epstein, 2002-2005
• Michael D. Port (interim), 2002
• Daniel F. Duquette, 1994-2002
• James “Lou” Gorman, 1984-1993

BILL NOWLIN confesses to have left Game Three of the 2004 ALCS before it was over – due to a 13-year-old son at home with a friend. But since the 1950s he has attended countless Red Sox games at a place he often calls his “second home.” He waited 59 years to see the Sox win it all. He is one of the founders of Rounder Records; the one Hall of Fame into which he was inducted is the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. He has written and edited many books, mostly on baseball and mostly for SABR, but has not gone far in life – he lives in Cambridge, maybe 10 miles from where he was born in Boston.