Red Sox: Evil Empire II?

I've seen people saying a lot lately that the Red Sox have become like the new Evil Empire. Although I certainly understand why people are saying that, it really is not true. It's true, they are a big market team and they are enjoying the perennial success that the Yankees did for 11 years, but the reasons for it are clearly different.
Image by phillenium1979 via Flickr
At first, I delighted in seeing people say that because all my life until 2004, the Red Sox were the perennial failures and really gave us nothing to look forward to. The Yankees shafted them on every front: from every big free agent to the benefit of every bad umpire call to winning the division every year somehow, some way, to always winning the World Series. So for the Red Sox to take the Yankees' place perched atop the baseball world is poetic justice.

But the reason the Yankees were always called the Evil Empire was the way they overpaid for every big star on the market so that no other team, even the second richest team the Red Sox, had a chance at improving their team. Even if any team did improve, the Yankees still always one upped them. And the Yankees pay roll is just sickening. They're a team of mercenaries thrown together to manufacture a championship. Thus the Yankees bought championships.

The Red Sox do have some big stars and have paid out big contracts to big free agents. But the difference between the Red Sox' 2008 payroll and the Yankees' 2008 payroll, just the difference between them, is bigger than the entire payroll of 18 of the other 28 teams. And most of the Red Sox stars were cultivated in the farm system. The Red Sox are perennial winners because they're just good. They have smart management that builds from within. The team is made up of guys that came up through the system together, not greedy primadonnas who came together for the biggest jackpot. Image via Wikipedia

Red Sox management also spends wisely. They invest just enough in proven players who are still in their prime. How many big name has beens and never will be's did the Yankees bury under a pile of money, only to be disappointed? (for example, Kevin Brown, Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi, Jose Contreras, Carl Pavano, etc.)

So let's look at the Red Sox current team and see how many overpaid mercenaries they have.

1B: Kevin Youkilis. Came up through the farm system.
2B: Dustin Pedroia. Came up through the farm system.
SS: Jed Lowrie. Farm system.
3B: Mike Lowell. Expensive player. Not really a mercenary though.
C: Jason Varitek. Acquired as a minor leaguer so farm system.
LF: Jason Bay. Gray area but we'll call it mercanary because Manny is the second biggest merc below Gay Rod. And he would still be there if he wasn't just as greedy and selfish and a cheater as Gay Rod. Jason Bay is only there by circumstance. So Bay is not a merc but we're gonna count this position as one.
CF: Jacoby Ellsbury. Farm system.
RF: JD Drew. Expensive player.

Pitchers:
Dice K. Definately a merc.
John Lester. Farm system.
Josh Beckett. Expensive player.
Closer Jonathan Papelbon. Farm system.

So by my count, most of the Red Sox big stars all came up through the farm system. That's about as far from an evil empire as you can get. That's the kind of make up that small market teams are built with.

One final point. The Red Sox, along with the White Sox, Cubs and maybe a couple others, went so long without anything to be happy about that they are entitled to having a dynasty for a while. Maybe not the Cubs though because they are a pathetic disgrace to baseball.