As good as the 2004 team was, the 2007 team was better and the 2008 team is better still. And that’s how you establish a dynasty — you start with a winner and keep making it better.

The Yankees can’t do it that way. When they start every season declaring that anything less than a championship is a failure, they’re stuck grabbing every available aging all-star they can find, desperately trying to win right now. The Red Sox want to win every year, too, but Epstein also keeps an eye on the big picture. Unlike the Steinbrenners, he’s willing to finish second now and then — or even to miss the playoffs altogether as he did two years ago — if it means the team will be better in the long term.

It’s not as if Boston has infinite patience. It just has perspective — and a plan. The Yankees believe in all-stars at every position and so are built out of headlines. The Red Sox believe in value, and so are built on the mathematics of the game.

The Yankees have had a lot of turnover since 2004, too, but they still have four position players and their DH from that year — catcher Jorge Posada, shortstop Derek Jeter, third baseman Alex Rodriguez and left fielder Hideki Matsui along with DH/first baseman Jason Giambi. I’ll grant you that Posada, Jeter and A-Rod are as good as you get, but there’s no good reason for the Yankees to have re-signed Matsui. As steady a hitter as he is, he’s not much in the field; the team could do just as well for a lot less money. And Giambi is another of those veteran players the Yankees paid way too much for and ended up stuck with him. He’s been a good hitter, but he’s not worth what he’s being paid; he’s no Papi Ortiz.

The Yankees have just one starting pitcher left from 2004 — Mike Mussina — but while the Red Sox have gotten better on the hill, the Yankees have gotten worse. Maybe the young Yankees step it up and make up the gap. But right now, the Red Sox have better pitching, better hitting, better defense and a deeper bullpen.

And they’ve done it with less money.

Slide show   Week in Sports Pictures Flying on the hardwood, racing on the rink, getting physical on the gridiron, and much more. more photos

The Angels look pretty good in the AL West, but there’s nobody yet who’s going to challenge Boston from the Central. There’s also nobody in the East other than the Yankees, and just six weeks into the season, their pitching is already in tatters and the lineup is riddled by injuries.

People thought Epstein was nuts when he let Damon and Martinez go. The Yankees would never have so blithely said goodbye to two stars of that magnitude. But Epstein was right. He didn’t just build a winner for one season, he’s built one for years to come.

He’s built, dare we say it, a dynasty.

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