“They had a plan,” John Smoltz said of the Red Sox after signing a one-year contract with Boston in January. Smoltz, a twenty year major league veteran whose baseball acumen is immeasurable, chose to leave his legacy behind in Atlanta for one more shot at a championship.

The success of the Sox offseason plan has been overlooked during the team’s recent streak of dominant play. GM Theo Epstein’s decision to focus on improving the club’s pitching depth last winter by adding veteran, impact pitchers with proven track records is a key reason why the Sox currently have the best record in the AL and trail only the Dodgers for the most wins in baseball.

Ramon Ramirez was the first significant acquisition of the offseason and gave the Sox the consistent power set-up man they needed in front of Jonathan Papelbon. Ramirez and Takashi Saito, the former Dodgers closer who the team signed as a free agent in January, have been indispensable members of one of the league’s best bullpens.

The Sox added two potential front line starters in Brad Penny and Smoltz to augment their rotation. Penny continues to pitch better as the season progresses while Smoltz recently joined the rotation and appears to be on schedule to pitch in October, the time of the year when he’s historically been most dominant.

The significance of Jason Varitek’s return this year cannot be overstated given the vital role he serves in handing the pitching staff, especially considering that the captain’s future with the team was in serious jeopardy over the winter as a result of the protracted standoff between the Sox and unscrupulous agent Scott Boras.

The Sox’ offseason plan is even more impressive when considering that the team spent judiciously in upgrading the roster. Penny, Smoltz, Saito and Varitek were all signed at a substantial discount and will cost the Sox a combined $16.5 million this year before incentives, the same amount the Yankees are paying A.J. Burnett. Ramirez will earn less than $500,000 this season.

As creative as the Sox were in trying to improve the team on the field during the offseason, they were equally methodical in deciding which players to lock up with long-term deals. Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis and Jon Lester received extensions, which predictably benefited both the players and the organization. The trio will be paid slightly more than 60% of what Mark Teixeira will earn from the Yankees over the life of his contact for nearly double the number of years.

By adopting a multidimensional approach to building the club for this season and beyond, the Sox were able to ensure that they would field a competitive team in ’09 while maintaining payroll flexibility, something that’s nearly impossible to do in this economic era of baseball. Now, Epstein won’t be inhibited by budget constraints as he seeks to bolster the team leading up to the trade deadline.

The Sox did not accomplish everything they wanted to last winter nor was their plan executed to perfection. The team was unable to reach agreement with Jason Bay on a contract extension and it failed to land Teixeira, the free agent they coveted most. Largely because of the latter, many sportswriters and experts around the country regarded the Sox’ offseason as lacking distinction and some even classified them as losers in free agency on the annual rankings they generate.

However, those lists rank teams almost exclusively according to who made the biggest splash rather than whether or not they successfully addressed their needs.

A look at the current standings, the only ranking that really matters, indicate the Sox were resoundingly victorious in the offseason battle.

This column was written on July 5, 2009.