BOSTON — The players’ work is done — for now. Over the next two days, it will be up to the Red Sox’ front office, manager and coaching staff to do the rest.

First on the to-do list: compile the 25-man roster, which must be submitted to Major League Baseball on Wednesday morning and set the starting rotation for the American League Division Series.

For the most part, the work is complete. But a few wild cards exist.

For instance, it wouldn’t be the biggest upset ever if the team were to keep Kevin Cash as its third catcher — at least for the Division Series.

The schedule calls for the Sox to play five games in the span of eight days, with an off-day provided after Game One, another after Game Two and still another after Game Four.

Factor in today and tomorrow and the Red Sox will play a maximum of five times between now and a week from Friday. With so few games, spread out over a week a half, the Sox can easily afford to go with just 10 pitchers, two fewer than they carried most of the regular season.

The Sox will need just three starters — Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Curt Schilling — and will keep Tim Wakefield, too, with Wakefield available out of the bullpen.

That leaves room for six relievers: Jonathan Papelbon, Eric Gagne, Hideki Okajima, Mike Timlin, Manny Delcarmen and Javier Lopez. The presence of Okajima and Lopez would give the Sox two left-handed relievers.

Cash, meanwhile, could give the Sox some additional flexibility during games and enhance the role for Jacoby Ellsbury.

J.D. Drew’s recent awakening at the plate — .393 with five doubles, four homers and 15 RBI over his last 18 games — has solidified the outfielder’s role for the postseason. Had Drew continued to stumble offensively in the final month, the Sox might have been tempted to sit him for at least some postseason game in favor of Ellsbury.

Now, Ellsbury’s role will likely be limited to serving as the late-inning defensive replacement for Manny Ramirez in left — and on the bases as a pinch-runner.

The presence of a third catcher gives the Sox some options. If Jason Varitek gets on base in the later innings, Ellsbury can come off the bench and run for him. The Sox could then go to Cash, a solid receiver, until his spot comes up in the order.

The Sox could then use another of their extra players (Eric Hinske or Bobby Kielty) to hit for Cash, while still having Doug Mirabelli to finish the game behind the plate.

Ellsbury was a perfect 9-for-9 stealing bases during the regular season and could conceivably fill the role that Dave Roberts filled during the 2004 postseason.

Should Cash be included on the roster, Julian Tavarez and Kyle Snyder, who’ve been with the Sox all season long, would be excluded, along with Jon Lester.

Still to be determined is the starting rotation for the first round — beyond the obvious selection of 20-game winner Josh Beckett as the Game One starter.

The Sox must choose who will pitch Game Two — and thus, also, Game Five. When Curt Schilling was scratched from yesterday’s start in favor of Julian Tavarez, speculation mounted that Schilling would be the choice for Friday’s Game Two.

But even an abbreviated start yesterday would have given Schilling four days of rest before Game Two, so his removal seems unrelated to the schedule. Similarly, the Sox seem unconcerned that Matsuzaka has performed better on the road (4.02 ERA; .230 batting-average against) than at home (4.86 ERA; .266 batting-average against), and don’t seem inclined to make that a factor in the decision-making process.

Instead, the Sox may believe that Schilling can benefit more from the additional time off than Matsuzaka. Perhaps the extra rest can restore some of the velocity that’s gone missing from Schilling’s fastball in recent weeks.

That will mean that Schilling will make just one start in the Division Series, but be positioned to open the ALCS — should the Sox get that far — on regular rest. Given Schilling’s track record against the Yankees, a possible ALCS opponents, and Matsuzaka’s relative struggles, that could be one more factor in setting up Matsuzaka as this Friday’s Game Two ALDS starter.

smcadam@projo.com