Show of hands people, how many of you thought it was a huge mistake for the Red Sox to let Orlando Cabrera leave via free agency following the 2004 season? I bet you ranted to anyone who would listen that the Sox would regret the move for years to come. You can admit it. We're all friends here.

How would you feel if I told you that in exchange for allowing Cabrera to sign with the Angels, the Red Sox got Jacoby Ellsbury and Jed Lowrie? All of a sudden the decision to part ways with Cabrera would look genius, wouldn't it? Well guess what? That's exactly what happened.

Let me explain. Teams receive compensation in the form of draft picks when certain types of free agents sign elsewhere. The amount of compensation is determined by calculating a player’s rank, based on his statistical production, vis-a-vis other players at his position. The better a player is, the higher his ranking and thus the greater the compensation awarded his former team.

In Cabrera's case, Boston received the Angels' first-round selection plus a supplemental first-round pick (which represented the highest possible level of compensation) in the '05 June draft because statistically, Cabrera was amongst the top echelon of shortstops when he entered free agency. With those two extra selections, the Sox took Ellsbury and Lowrie.

The 2008 draft was held three weeks ago and this year the Sox found themselves the beneficiaries of two extra picks. With these, they selected Bryan Price and Stephen Fife. Realizing this, I felt it was my duty to ask and answer the following question: Is it possible to analyze the Sox' record with regard to spending its compensation picks under Theo Epstein and, based on the findings, make a reasonable prediction about what rate of success fans can expect from Price and Fife?

Epstein has been GM for a little over five and a half years and just oversaw his sixth draft. In this short period of time, he and his lieutenants have quickly proven to be shrewd tacticians in many aspects of baseball operations, not the least of which is manipulating the draft in their favor. With the sixteen extra picks accumulated under Epstein's stewardship, Boston has restocked its once barren farm system and seen several of the players chosen play important roles in the Sox' recent success, including both the '04 and '07 World Series victories.

While the Cabrera case represents the gold standard in smart and informed decision making (combined with a little luck) on the part of Red Sox brass, it is by no means the lone example of their aptitude for drafting well. The Sox selected Clay Buchholz with one of the selections received for the Mets signing Pedro Martinez.

Craig Hansen and Michael Bowden were taken in the same draft as Buchholz with picks the Sox were awarded for Derek Lowe's defection to the Dodgers. For those of you who aren't familiar with Bowden, you will be soon. On June 3, he pitched six perfect innings for the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs before finally allowing a base runner. On the season, he's 7-4 with a 2.48 ERA and 89 strikeouts against just 22 walks. Bowden is expected to be promoted to Pawtucket in the very near future and will likely be a valuable bargaining chip if the Sox decide to make a run at acquiring Cleveland ace C.C. Sabathia before the trading deadline.

Matt Murton was taken by the Sox with a draft pick received when Cliff Floyd signed with the Mets. Although Murton never made an impact at the big league level for the Sox, he was part of the key multi-team, multi-player deal that netted the Sox Cabrera and Doug Mientkiewicz at the trading deadline in 2004.

The Sox have further proven their mastery of the compensation game in years where they lost their first round selection. In '04, Boston had to wait until the 65th overall pick before making its initial choice, a shortstop from Arizona State named Dustin Pedroia. Enough said.

I trust you're beginning to see a pattern here. While no one can say for sure what will become of Price and Fife, we know that the chances are pretty good that these guys will exceed the high expectations which comes with top draft choices. Because quite simply, Theo and the boys know what they're doing when draft time rolls around, especially when they've got extra chips to play with.

This column was written on June 30, 2008.