It can't always be said that the best team in baseball wins the World Series. In fact, that wasn't the case for most of the winners over the past decade. However, that takes nothing away from the impressive winners.
Below is a list of the past ten World Series winners.
2000: Yankees
2001: Diamondbacks
2002: Angels
2003: Marlins
2004: Red Sox
2005: White Sox
2006: Cardinals
2007: Red Sox
2008: Phillies
2009: Yankees
But which of these squads is the best of them all? Who would win if the 2004 Red Sox played the 2007 Red Sox? I am going to say straight out that the 2004 Red Sox were the best World Series team of the decade. They had two top starters in Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez, not to mention Derek Lowe and Tim Wakefield, who in 2004 combined to put up 26 wins during the regular season and four wins in the postseason, three of which were elimination games pitched by Lowe.
Schilling and Martinez combined for 37 wins and just 15 losses, while putting up four complete games during the regular season.
They also had one of the best lineups in recent memory, with Jason Varitek, Kevin Millar, Bill Mueller, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, and late season addition Orlando Cabrera. Ortiz had 41 home runs in 2004 while Ramirez had 43 and Damon had 20.
From there, the 2007 Red Sox and 2008 Phillies would follow. Both teams had solid depth and had veterans who had exceptional seasons on the way to a World Series title. For the Red Sox, that player was Mike Lowell, who put up career highs in average and on-base percentage. For the Phillies, it was Pat Burrell, who provided support with 33 home runs behind Ryan Howard and Chase Utley.
Take time to vote for the best team of the decade below, and leave a comment on who you think is the best team.