If I Were Creating a 25-man Baseball Roster...

This topic was presented on ESPN Radio a few days ago and it got me thinking. If I had to build a 25-man roster of guys who could produce for the next several years, here are the players I would choose along with their 2009 salaries:

Catcher: Joe Mauer ($10.5M)
First Base: Lance Berkman ($14.5M)
Second Base: Dustin Pedroia ($1.5M)
Shortstop: Hanley Ramirez ($5.5M)
Third Base: Evan Longoria ($0.55M)
Left Field: Ryan Braun ($0.745M)
Center Field: Torii Hunter ($17.5M)
Right Field: Hunter Pence ($0.439M)

Bench: Albert Pujols ($16M)
Bench: Chase Utley ($11M)
Bench: Jimmy Rollins ($7.5M)
Bench: Kevin Youkilis ($6M)
Bench: Victor Martinez ($5.7M)
Bench: Justin Morneau ($10.6M)
Bench: Carl Crawford ($8.25M)

Starting Pitcher: Roy Oswalt ($14M)
Starting Pitcher: Roy Halladay ($14.25M)
Starting Pitcher: Tim Lincecum ($0.65M)
Starting Pitcher: Josh Beckett ($10.5M)
Starting Pitcher: Clayton Kershaw ($0.404M)
Relief Pitcher: Joba Chamberlain ($0.432M)
Relief Pitcher: Joe Nathan ($11.25M)
Relief Pitcher: Brian Fuentes ($8.5M)
Relief Pitcher: Jonathan Broxton ($1.825M)
Relief Pitcher: Jonathan Papelbon ($6.25M)

Manager: Terry Francona

Total Team Payroll (minus manager): A cool $184,345,000

Hey, at least it's $17M less than this year's Yankees payroll!