The Boston Red Sox have developed an excellent reputation in
recent years for their ability to identify, scout and draft/sign top-notch
amateur talent. As a result, current key contributors like Dustin Pedroia, Clay
Buchholz and Xander Bogaerts are all products of their player development
system. Despite such strong examples, the organization hasn’t nailed every
player development move—nor should they be expected to.
Just because a player has been drafted doesn’t mean they are
in the fold. It can be a difficult proposition to come to terms with the dozens
that are selected annually, and there are always some that go
unsigned—typically because they are going to college or because they want more
money than the team is willing to give. For the fun (and agony) of it, let’s
take a look at some of the best players the Red Sox have drafted
over the past decade, did not sign but have gone on to have success with other
teams.
Steve Pearce, First Baseman- Drafted 10th Round in 2004: 10 years
and four organizations after being selected by the Sox, Pearce finally made a
splash in the majors this season at the age of 31, hitting .293 with 21 home
runs for the Baltimore Orioles. It took nine minor league seasons and parts of
seven major league seasons before he was finally able to find a regular gig.
However, he looks like he has finally stuck and may be a better-fielding Brian
Daubach for a new generation.
Pedro Alvarez, Third Baseman- Drafted 14th Round in 2005: A major
prospect coming out of high school, Alvarez passed on signing in order to
attend Vanderbilt. The move paid off, as he polished his game enough to become
the second overall selection in the 2008 draft. Although he has 104 home runs
in five seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, he has also hit just a combined
.235 with 678 strikeouts in 592 games. Nevertheless, now playing third base, he
has few peers in the big leagues that can match his power at the position.
Charlie Blackmon, Pitcher- Drafted 20th Round in
2005: Boston thought enough of his pitching prowess to draft this future
major league outfielder as a hurler. Electing instead to attend Georgia Tech,
he ultimately became a 2008 second-round pick of the Colorado Rockies and developed
into a starter for them midway through last year. This was a breakout season for him, as he hit .288 with
19 home runs and 28 stolen bases, numbers that would have been a big help to
the anemic production the Red Sox got from their outfielders in 2014.
Jason Castro, Catcher- Drafted 45th Round in 2005: The Red Sox
appear to have their catchers of the future on the horizon in Christian
Vazquez and Blake
Swihart, but if they had retained Castro they could have had real a log jam
on their hands. A solid receiver, Castro is better known for his bat, which has
launched 32 home runs over the past two seasons and helped earn him a 2013
All-Star nod.
Brandon Belt, Outfielder- Drafted 11th round in 2006: Passing up a
chance to join Boston to go to school (community college and then the
University of Texas), Belt became a fifth-round pick of the San Francisco
Giants in 2009. Monster minor league numbers, including a collective .350
batting average have not yet fully translated at the big league level. Still,
the large left-handed hitter is just 26 and has a career 125 OPS+ in his four
seasons by the bay.
Yasmani Grandal, Catcher- Drafted 27th Round in 2007: Following a
standout career with the Miami Hurricanes, Grandal was taken by the Cincinnati
Reds with the 10th overall selection in the 2010 draft. He was then flipped to
the Padres in a trade
the following December. Sandwiched around a 2013 suspension for PEDS, he has
managed a combined 120 OPS+ in parts of three seasons for the
offensively-challenged Padres. On the other hand, his lack of defense has led
to him seeing more time of late at first base where his bat doesn’t play up
nearly as much.
Nick Tepesch, Pitcher- Drafted 28th Round in 2007: A career record
of 25-12 with a 3.45 ERA in four minor league seasons in the Texas Rangers’
system carried the big right-hander to the majors in 2013. He is just 9-17 with a 4.56 ERA in 42 games (39 starts) over the past two years in the majors but is
still young, and having already held his own, may see brighter days ahead.
Alex Meyer, Pitcher- Drafted 20th Round in 2008: Just 24, the
right-hander has long been considered one of the top prospects in all of
baseball, including placement in MLB.com’s top-100 list in each of the past
three years. Following a star turn at Kentucky, he was selected in the first
round of the 2011 draft by the Washington Nationals but was traded
to the Minnesota Twins following the 2012 season. He has struck out 10.4
batters per nine innings in his three minor league seasons, and having just
completed a successful 2014 campaign in Triple-A should be a good candidate to
join the Twins’ rotation in 2015. With the Red Sox in full rebuild
mode—especially with their starting pitching, having a prospect the caliber of
Meyer would be nice—even with the youngsters they already have competing for
openings.
Yan Gomes, Catcher- Drafted 39th Round in 2008: Yet another
catcher that couldn’t come to terms with the Red Sox. After being drafted by
the Toronto Blue Jays and looking like a fringy prospect at best, he was traded with
infielder Mike Aviles to the Cleveland Indians in November, 2012 for pitcher
Esmil Rogers. Since then, Gomes’ emergence has been nothing short of amazing,
as he has paired surprisingly solid defense behind the plate with impact
offense. Playing full time for the first time in 2014, he batted an impressive
.278 with 21 home runs and 74 RBIs in 135 games for a Cleveland team that was
in contention until the final weeks of the season.
Statistics and draft
information via Baseball Reference.
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