The Red Sox Way!

[MuzzyField]

The micro view is exceptionally expressed here, but I believe this organizations problem to be a macro in nature.

I sure have no idea how to solve it, but I'm pretty sure firing the manager isn't going to fix this. Oh, and he should be fired, he's earned it.

Tito's departure is currently my pin point, Theo too, but the turnover in baseball operations may be having a more significant effect. Hell, what is JWH thinking and doing? Maybe he's "figure it out "and is running the team like one of his hedge funds.

Is Larry waiting in the weeds to "save the day?"

How'd we get here and how do we get out of it?

 

[jasail]

I think part of this is cyclical, to the extent that the Sox saw unprecedented success (for this org) between the end of the DD era and the beginning of the BC era, so this resulted in at least some competent baseball people leaving the Sox FO for better FO jobs elsewhere. I also think this team has a huge problem in its MLB scouting department; IMO, this is both evident in their signings, as well as their day-to-day scouting operations.
 
That said, I think the biggest problem at present is even more narrow than that - they have failed to adjust to a changing game. The strike zone has gotten bigger, power numbers have gone down, the rules of the draft signing have changed and there is an increasing reliance on power throwing bullpens. Yet, the Sox continue to trot out a lineup full of wait for your pitch to hit power hitters and have few power arms in their bullpen (few if you want to include Taz and Ogando as power arms). While the comparison is not great, this is somewhat similar to the Pats adjustments to PI rules. Granted the Pats adjusted, they just arguably made the wrong adjustments (e.g., off the line zone corners with limited increase in pass rush).
 
They are making a concerted effort to get younger, as the game favors younger players. Right now, they're just in an awkward position of having either guys the game has to some extent passed by and other guys who may be on the cusp of being ready but are not ready yet. This last point may be a product of bad drafts from 2007 -2010 as they have nobody on their MLB roster from these drafts (Brentz being the closest) and those they drafted during that stretch that are MLB players are contributing elsewhere (Rizzo and Wilson) or injured (Vaz). So, the jury is still out on how well they are adapting, as it's still to early to pass judgement on their draft approach now as the 2011 class is just breaking through. But hope is not lost, the 2011 class is looking good and to a lesser extent so is the 2012, and while the 2013 and 2014 classes don't look great, it's still way to early to tell and so much of that depends on the growth of very young guys like Ball, Stank, Kopech, Chavez and Travis. 
 
The other aspect of this that I haven't touched on is amateur scouting. Right now Bogaerts comes from the 2009 signing class and looks good, but so much of the success of this will ultimately depend on guys like Castillo, Devers, Margot, Guerra, Moncada et al panning out in the next few years. But similar to the draft, the last 1/2 of the Theo era did not produce a lot of MLB talent, which exacerbates the problem of a very young and very old roster, but there is a lot about the signings in more recent years to be excited about. 
 
Bottomline is I'm not impressed so far with the BC era, particularly the MLB scouting, but (outside of Xander) he wasn't provided a whole lot of youth from the last 1/2 of the Theo era to supplement the roster for 2014 and 2015. 

 

[nattysez]

 
The other aspect of this that I haven't touched on is amateur scouting. Right now Bogaerts comes from the 2009 signing class and looks good, but so much of the success of this will ultimately depend on guys like Castillo, Devers, Margot, Guerra, Moncada et al panning out in the next few years. But similar to the draft, the last 1/2 of the Theo era did not produce a lot of MLB talent, which exacerbates the problem of a very young and very old roster, but there is a lot about the signings in more recent years to be excited about. 
 
Bottomline is I'm not impressed so far with the BC era, particularly the MLB scouting, but (outside of Xander) he wasn't provided a whole lot of youth from the last 1/2 of the Theo era to supplement the roster for 2014 and 2015. 

 
The minor league forum may be a better place to ask this, but is there a sense of what happened?  
 
Given the Cubs' run of excellence in terms of scouting and developing young players since Theo took over, he clearly put together a strong talent evaluation contingent in Chicago.  Did he lose too many key underlings along the way in Boston?  Is it just that it's hard to "hit" on as many draft picks when you're picking lower in the draft?  
Earlier this year, I'd started writing a post asking how it was possible for the Cubs to bring up Rizzo, Soler, Russell, Baez and Bryant (and now Schwarber) and have only one of them struggle mightily, while the Sox have had X and Betts struggle (until recently), JBJ struggle mightily, WMB flame out, Checchini fall apart, etc., but I decided that this is more a function of base talent and draft position than a failing on the part of the Sox -- the Cubs' players didn't struggle as much as the Sox's because the Cubs guys are just better players and were drafted higher as a result.  Is that analysis off?
 
Edit:  Another frustrating example is the Giants -- the "we intentionally signed Michael Tucker in 2004 to avoid having to spend money on a draft pick" Giants -- winning while trotting out this all-homegrown infield:
 
Posey C -- 1st round, 5th pick
Belt 1b -- 5th round
Panik 2b -- 1st round, 29th pick
Crawford ss -- 4th round
Duffy 3b -- 18th round (replacing Panda, who was signed as an amateur free agent)

 

[Savin Hillbilly]

 
Earlier this year, I'd started writing a post asking how it was possible for the Cubs to bring up Rizzo, Soler, Russell, Baez and Bryant (and now Schwarber) and have only one of them struggle mightily, while the Sox have had X and Betts struggle (until recently), JBJ struggle mightily, WMB flame out, Checchini fall apart, etc., but I decided that this is more a function of base talent and draft position than a failing on the part of the Sox -- the Cubs' players didn't struggle as much as the Sox's because the Cubs guys are just better players and were drafted higher as a result.  Is that analysis off?

 
Rizzo did struggle mightily, but he did it in San Diego--and even after he stopped struggling mightily, it took him a while to get out of second gear. At the end of the 2013 season, age 24 and with 1211 major league PA under his belt, his career OPS+ was a whopping 101.
 
This year, at 23, Soler's OPS+ is 100. Russell's, at 21, is 103; they're swimming in the same end of the pool as Betts and Bogaerts. Baez is their JBJ, albeit younger. It's way too early to say anything about Schwarber. Bryant looks great, but look at these two lines:
 
A: 246 PA, 12 2B, 8 HR, 33 BB, 72 K, .295/.398/.488
B: 245 PA, 14 2B, 12 HR, 10 BB, 58 K, .300/.331/.517
 
A is Bryant, B is Will Middlebrooks at the same age. 
 
I mean, sure, if you say Bryant is in a different class than WMB, I'm not going to argue with you. But still, all he has established so far is potential.
 
The overall point being, the grass is always greener. Chicago's kids aren't doing as much better than ours as one might think. And yes, they've been drafting higher for longer.

 

[MuzzyField]

Do you think the Sox called the Padres about Rizzo?
Why not toss Anderson in a dumpster, keep Beltre and drop the hard-on for A-Gone and keep Rizzo and let him grow? I think 2013 Rizzo is enough to win. Nap can go sleepless somewhere else.

 

[radsoxfan]

 
 Bryant looks great, but look at these two lines:
 
A: 246 PA, 12 2B, 8 HR, 33 BB, 72 K, .295/.398/.488
B: 245 PA, 14 2B, 12 HR, 10 BB, 58 K, .300/.331/.517
 
A is Bryant, B is Will Middlebrooks at the same age. 
 
I mean, sure, if you say Bryant is in a different class than WMB, I'm not going to argue with you. But still, all he has established so far is potential.
 

 
I understand your overall point, but even bringing up this comparison is sort of silly. They aren't just in a different class, they are in a different stratosphere. 
 
There are so many differences to bring up from pedigree, to scouting reputation, to numbers. To be simplistic, Bryant had a career 1.092 OPS in the minors.  WMB had a career .780 OPS.
 
I know you didn't mean to say they are equals.  But Bryant has a WAAAAAY higher probability of success in the majors than WMB after the first 245 PA.  It was pretty likely Middlebrooks was playing over his head. If anything, Bryant hasn't even hit his stride yet. 

 

[GeorgeCostanza]

Don't have much to add other than my gratitude to all the excellent posters in here. Been a long time lurker but don't believe I have ever posted in the Red Sox forum. I sort of fell out of love with baseball shortly after Pedro left, and because I generally make poor decisions, chose this year to try and get my love back for the game and home team. Oops.

How does it come to pass that a such a wide variety of talent, grouped together on the same team, perform so far below expectations/projections? There must be an issue in recognizing/developing/evaluating talent on a large scale no?

 

[nattysez]

The overall point being, the grass is always greener. Chicago's kids aren't doing as much better than ours as one might think. And yes, they've been drafting higher for longer.

 
Wow, you're absolutely right.  I'm particularly amazed/disappointed that I forgot about Rizzo's 2013 with the Cubs when he had an OPS+ of 103 over 160 games and they basically said "he was rushed, but we stink and think he'll be good, so we're sticking with him."  That's arguably what the Sox did with X last year (minus the whole arguably-undermining-his-confidence-by-making-him-change-positions thing), which is starting to yield positive results this year.

 

[MuzzyField]

Who currently runs the Red Sox? Is that a better launch point? It's not Larry.  Is it JWH? It can't be Ben.  The money being spent points to a different management philosophy that is failing.  
 
I think it's broken on multiple levels, and wish to know how to fix it. I started the thread because I have not faith in the current front office to fix this... they created it.  
 
Maximum spending combined with maximum acumen shouldn't be sucking to this level.  I'm not willing to wait for the team to solve their self inflicted problem.  Let's break out the C4 and blast a path to eventual success.
 
Before we jump into the who can we sell mode, let's determine if the organization is correctly calibrated to gain anything in the transactions.  
 
FYI, I'd wouldn't have ever hired him, but Bobby Valentine, knowing that he was the short term stooge played his hand well, went nuts (like most of us) and  helped create the 2013 title.  Every game that Farrell manages results in BV getting more credit for 2013.
 
We can't fix this until the problem is identified and those that are feeding it are outed.  
 
When the lineup numbers were presented as number one and the pitching prediction was number 5, didn't anyone at the table throw a few comments out regarding weight issues, not a leader, might not be a switch hitter in the AL?
 
HR can't play LF, but might be an expensive DH in waiting.  Need to cut bait or minimize the waiting.  
 
Yay pitching, none of these arms are aces and I don't trust this group to trade and break even finding one.  
 
How many titles does this win? 

 

[wade boggs chicken dinner]

The minor league forum may be a better place to ask this, but is there a sense of what happened?  
 
Given the Cubs' run of excellence in terms of scouting and developing young players since Theo took over, he clearly put together a strong talent evaluation contingent in Chicago.  Did he lose too many key underlings along the way in Boston?  Is it just that it's hard to "hit" on as many draft picks when you're picking lower in the draft?

The one thing about 2007-11 was that those were the pre-slotting days when the Sox were spending a relative large amount of money on the draft.

One thing it tells us is how much of a crapshoot the draft is outside the first few picks. some guy wrote on SP that of 137 high school pitchers drafted in the first round between 1999-2011, just 22 have a career WAR of over 5.0. But the problem in our current era is if a team misses on a couple of drafts, it has organizational holes that are difficult to fill without spending a ton of money. Plus, younger prospects may be rushed through the system since they don't have competition from older prospects.

I am a firm believer that for the most part, other than picking high, teams can't consistently outdraft each other. Which is why signing Moncada was such a big deal to me.

 

[Buzzkill Pauley]

The one thing about 2007-11 was that those were the pre-slotting days when the Sox were spending a relative large amount of money on the draft.

One thing it tells us is how much of a crapshoot the draft is outside the first few picks. some guy wrote on SP that of 137 high school pitchers drafted in the first round between 1999-2011, just 22 have a career WAR of over 5.0. But the problem in our current era is if a team misses on a couple of drafts, it has organizational holes that are difficult to fill without spending a ton of money. Plus, younger prospects may be rushed through the system since they don't have competition from older prospects.

I am a firm believer that for the most part, other than picking high, teams can't consistently outdraft each other. Which is why signing Moncada was such a big deal to me.

The draft is a numbers game, and international amateur signings are a crap shoot. In either case, the only way to win is to sign as many of the best youngsters as possible and hold onto most of them in hopes a few of them pan out.

It takes patience. Not just in terms of prospects' baseball skills, but also in terms of the burden of "win now" seasons being placed unreasonably by the MLB club, even when a glut of injuries derail the team's legitimate chances. Look at the period from the last pitch of 2008 to the first pitch of 2011. There's a lot of young talent that was traded out of the organization.

Put another way, missing big on first rounders like Place or Fuentes doesn't matter quite as much as it might seem, but only when the MLB club's in-season "needs" aren't annually culling from the players who actually are developing nicely.

 

[Super Nomario]

Who currently runs the Red Sox? Is that a better launch point? It's not Larry.  Is it JWH? It can't be Ben.  The money being spent points to a different management philosophy that is failing.  

Why can't it be Ben?

 

[JimBoSox9]

For a business with such an oversized media presence following them around 24x7, we know NOTHING about the people in these operations roles below the AGM level.  It's infuriating.  The point above about advance scouting problems is a great one but answering it is completely opaque.  What's the turnover been since the glory peaks of 2007, among the folks who are going to the games and actually feeding data into the stack?  Mapping that should be easy, but teams are so crazy about trade secrets they behave like they're holding DARPA contracts.

 

[Savin Hillbilly]

 
I understand your overall point, but even bringing up this comparison is sort of silly. They aren't just in a different class, they are in a different stratosphere.  

 
I wasn't bringing up the comparison qua comparison (though I do think you're putting it a bit too starkly--Middlebrooks was a #50-ish ranked prospect with a bullet, not some off-the-radar schmo). I was bringing it up to remind people of how little a player's first half-season's worth of PA tells us. 
 
Anyway, Bryant is kind of off the table if we're comparing the systems' developmental performance because he spent so little time in the minors and, to all appearances, needed even less. All the Cubs had to do was not mess him up. There's really no analogue to that in the Sox' recent history, partly because they haven't drafted high enough.

 

[jasail]

The one thing about 2007-11 was that those were the pre-slotting days when the Sox were spending a relative large amount of money on the draft.

One thing it tells us is how much of a crapshoot the draft is outside the first few picks. some guy wrote on SP that of 137 high school pitchers drafted in the first round between 1999-2011, just 22 have a career WAR of over 5.0. But the problem in our current era is if a team misses on a couple of drafts, it has organizational holes that are difficult to fill without spending a ton of money. Plus, younger prospects may be rushed through the system since they don't have competition from older prospects.

I am a firm believer that for the most part, other than picking high, teams can't consistently outdraft each other. Which is why signing Moncada was such a big deal to me.

I agree, the draft is a crap shoot. However, from 2006 - 2010 the Sox failure to draft well and make good international signings is the single biggest problem with the Sox current roster (and this was during a time when the draft and the international market favored teams with deep pockets). For as much of a crap shoot as it is, teams in the post-PED era can't have a 5-year spell where they draft poorly, make few impact international signings and trade away their best pieces for more veteran talent. The result is that you end up with an old and expensive roster supplemented by kids that were rushed up and this becomes the baseline for which all their other organizational problems stem.
 
Looking at the first two rounds, notable later draft picks and more expensive international signings:
 
2006: Jason Place; Daniel Bard; Kris Johnson; Caleb Clay; Justin Masterson; Ryan Kalish (9); Josh Reddick (17); Engel Beltre; Oscar Tejada; Stomley Pimental. 
2007: Nick Hagadone; Ryan Dent; Hunter Morris; Will Middlebrooks (5); Anthony Rizzo (6); Michael Almanzar; Rafael Espinoza; Roman Mendez
2008: Casey Kelly; Bryan Price; Derrick Gibson; Ryan Westmoreland (5); Ryan Lavarnway (6); Christian Vazquez (9); Junichi Tazawa; Juan Ugas; Oscar Perez
2009: Reymond Fuentes; Alex Wilson; Jose Vicino; Raul Alcantra; Mario Alcantra; Xander Bogaerts; Jair Bogaerts; Iago Januario; Jose Iglesias; Jorge Padron; Robert Del Rosario
2010: Kolbin Vitek; Bryce Brentz; Anthony Ranaudo; Brandon Workman; Sean Coyle (3); Garin Cecchini (4); Adalberto Ibarra; Juan Carlos Linares; Edwar Garcia; Aneudis Peralta; Anuery Tavarez
 
The 4 guys in bold are currently cost-controlled MLB guys. One is a young SS with a ton of potential who is probably one of the best players on the 2015 squad and another is one of the most reliable bullpen arms. The other two are injured and likely out for a good portion, if not all of the season. 
 
In italics I've highlighted the 7 players that are folks you could consider MLB contributors. Bard was good for just over a year before flaming out in historic fashion. Masterson was traded for VMart and put in a few good seasons in Cleveland before getting his pension from the Sox. Reddick was traded for Bailey and has been up and down, but seems to finally be putting it together at 28 in Oakland. Middlebrooks was traded for Hannigan, but is still Middlebrooks. Rizzo was traded for Gonzalez and looks like an All Star LHH power bat. Lavarnway is a replacement level player who may catch on as a back up C for a few years, but also may be out of the league this season. Alex Wilson was traded for Porcello and looks to be a useful bullpen piece. Jose Iglesias was traded for Jake Peavy and seems to be on to stardom in Detroit. 
 
As I pointed out above, there are other problems with this team, but the biggest problem, IMO, is how few home grown players in that 24-28 year old range they have contributing to their MLB roster. This is a product of multiple poor years in the draft and in international signings, coupled with trading away some of what turned out to be the better talent and not recouping these losses. The result is that these roster holes are filled by expensive, older players and guys that are rushed up to the majors. It's such a seeming organizational problem right now, that they've gone out of their way to acquire these types of players from outside of the organization (Kelly, Miley, Porcello). The problem is teams aren't selling real talent in this age group, they're selling fringy guys, about to get expensive guys and guys that haven't lived up to their potential. 

 

[snowmanny]

In less than a year they've allocated over $490 Million to Hanley/Panda/Porcello/Masterson/Castillo/Craig/Koji/De Aza/Miley/Moncada.  It sure doesn't feel like a half billion dollar infusion of talent.  It feels more like they over-reacted after the Lester negotiations, but I'm happy to be proven wrong.  Obviously Moncada might turn out to be worth way more than his cost, but right now my faith in their ability to project talent has waned so it's tough to be excited.

 

[curly2]

You never know what would have happened as he got higher up the minors, but Ryan Westmoreland might be the second-biggest "what might have been" in Red Sox history, after only Tony Conigilaro.
 
At 19 in the New York-Penn League (2 years younger than the average player there) he put up an .885 OPS and went 19-for-19 in steals. He could have been a Fred Lynn who stole bases.

 

[radsoxfan]

In less than a year they've allocated over $490 Million to Hanley/Panda/Porcello/Masterson/Castillo/Craig/Koji/De Aza/Miley/Moncada.  

 
Well one of these guys isn't really like the others, though I admit to being semi-shocked to the fact that De Aza makes 5M this season.  Somehow that slipped by me when they acquired him. Not a ton of money to be sure, but for a team that invested so much in the OF recently, hard to believe they felt the need to add De Aza as a stopgap for that much (though I guess there were "cash considerations" added in by the Orioles, but I didn't see a # attached to that).  
 
Overall, the numbers attached to those players taken in sum is pretty shocking though.  Hopefully at least a few of them turn out to be useful pieces in the next few years. 

 

[The X Man Cometh]

I agree, the draft is a crap shoot. However, from 2006 - 2010 the Sox failure to draft well and make good international signings is the single biggest problem with the Sox current roster (and this was during a time when the draft and the international market favored teams with deep pockets). For as much of a crap shoot as it is, teams in the post-PED era can't have a 5-year spell where they draft poorly, make few impact international signings and trade away their best pieces for more veteran talent. The result is that you end up with an old and expensive roster supplemented by kids that were rushed up and this becomes the baseline for which all their other organizational problems stem.
 
Looking at the first two rounds, notable later draft picks and more expensive international signings:
 
2006: Jason Place; Daniel Bard; Kris Johnson; Caleb Clay; Justin Masterson; Ryan Kalish (9); Josh Reddick (17); Engel Beltre; Oscar Tejada; Stomley Pimental. 
2007: Nick Hagadone; Ryan Dent; Hunter Morris; Will Middlebrooks (5); Anthony Rizzo (6); Michael Almanzar; Rafael Espinoza; Roman Mendez
2008: Casey Kelly; Bryan Price; Derrick Gibson; Ryan Westmoreland (5); Ryan Lavarnway (6); Christian Vazquez (9); Junichi Tazawa; Juan Ugas; Oscar Perez
2009: Reymond Fuentes; Alex Wilson; Jose Vicino; Raul Alcantra; Mario Alcantra; Xander Bogaerts; Jair Bogaerts; Iago Januario; Jose Iglesias; Jorge Padron; Robert Del Rosario
2010: Kolbin Vitek; Bryce Brentz; Anthony Ranaudo; Brandon Workman; Sean Coyle (3); Garin Cecchini (4); Adalberto Ibarra; Juan Carlos Linares; Edwar Garcia; Aneudis Peralta; Anuery Tavarez
 
The 4 guys in bold are currently cost-controlled MLB guys. One is a young SS with a ton of potential who is probably one of the best players on the 2015 squad and another is one of the most reliable bullpen arms. The other two are injured and likely out for a good portion, if not all of the season. 
 
In italics I've highlighted the 7 players that are folks you could consider MLB contributors. Bard was good for just over a year before flaming out in historic fashion. Masterson was traded for VMart and put in a few good seasons in Cleveland before getting his pension from the Sox. Reddick was traded for Bailey and has been up and down, but seems to finally be putting it together at 28 in Oakland. Middlebrooks was traded for Hannigan, but is still Middlebrooks. Rizzo was traded for Gonzalez and looks like an All Star LHH power bat. Lavarnway is a replacement level player who may catch on as a back up C for a few years, but also may be out of the league this season. Alex Wilson was traded for Porcello and looks to be a useful bullpen piece. Jose Iglesias was traded for Jake Peavy and seems to be on to stardom in Detroit. 
 
As I pointed out above, there are other problems with this team, but the biggest problem, IMO, is how few home grown players in that 24-28 year old range they have contributing to their MLB roster. This is a product of multiple poor years in the draft and in international signings, coupled with trading away some of what turned out to be the better talent and not recouping these losses. The result is that these roster holes are filled by expensive, older players and guys that are rushed up to the majors. It's such a seeming organizational problem right now, that they've gone out of their way to acquire these types of players from outside of the organization (Kelly, Miley, Porcello). The problem is teams aren't selling real talent in this age group, they're selling fringy guys, about to get expensive guys and guys that haven't lived up to their potential. 

 
Good summary. I do think the description of Reddick as finally "putting it together" is off though. 4.5 fWAR in 2012, 2.8 in 2013, 2.5 in 2014. Total over those seasons being 40th among all position players. He's well beyond the point of arriving as a valuable player.
 
Kalish also has to be noted somewhere. Definitely was being counted on to be part of the next gen but for whatever reasons it never worked out. Would be in his prime right now patrolling the OF with Westmoreland and Reddick.

 

[RedOctober3829]

In hindsight, it makes you appreciate Theo Epstein more.  Look at all the signings or acquisitions that went right to build the organization back up.
 
Low-risk, high reward guys
--David Ortiz
--Bill Mueller
--Hideki Okajima
--Gabe Kapler
--Curtis Leskanic(part of '04 run)
--Doug Mirabelli
--Alex Cora
 
Free Agent Signings
--Beckett's first contract at $30 million
--Ortiz at 4/$52 million
--Pedroia 6/$40 million
--Youkilis 4/$41 million
 
Trades(giving credit to Theo for Beckett/Lowell, sorry if you don't think he was part of that)
--Curt Schilling
--Josh Beckett
--Mike Lowell
--Todd Walker
--Kevin Millar
--Mark Bellhorn
--Dave Roberts
--Mike Myers
--Coco Crisp
--Victor Martinez
--Billy Wagner
--Salty
--Andrew Miller
--Adrian Gonzalez(he facilitated getting rid of Crawford)
 
Draft(players who played significant time in the majors or are just getting up)
--David Murphy
--Matt Murton
--Jonathan Papelbon
--Dustin Pedroia
--Tommy Hottovy
--Cla Meredith
--Steve Pearce
--Jacoby Ellsbury
--Craig Hansen
--Clay Buchholz
--Jed Lowrie
--Michael Bowden
--Pedro Alvarez
--Charlie Blackman
--Jason Castro
--Daniel Bard
--Justin Masterson
--Ryan Kalish
--Brandon Belt
--Matt LaPorta
--Josh Reddick
--Anthony Rizzo
--Yan Gomes
--Alex Wilson
--Mookie Betts
--Matt Barnes
--Blake Swihart
--Jackie Bradley, Jr.
 
 
 
 
Sure, Theo had his misses too(Crawford, Lugo, Matsuzaka, re-signing Lowell) but he hit on so many others that he could absorb the misses and still contend.

 

[Larry Gardner]

You never know what would have happened as he got higher up the minors, but Ryan Westmoreland might be the second-biggest "what might have been" in Red Sox history, after only Tony Conigilaro.
 
At 19 in the New York-Penn League (2 years younger than the average player there) he put up an .885 OPS and went 19-for-19 in steals. He could have been a Fred Lynn who stole bases.

When guys like Reddick, Moss, Kalish were getting their OF callups, Westmoreland could've been there before all of them....but I think you missed one name......Tony C was my hero....but it could also be said as "one of the three biggest 'what might have been' in Sox history after Tony C and Harry Agganis"....  glad to see your comment, because losing Ryan Westmoreland was a really tough one.....thanks.

 

[snowmanny]

All respect to Agannis, but putting him in the same category as Conigliaro -who had put up OPS+ of 137,133,122,142 in his age 19,20,21 and 22 seasons (and led the league in home runs at 20) - is a bit much. Agannis was an average-ish hitter at 25/26. He may very well have put together some very good years, but Tony C was on a HOF track.