Plenty of success stories this year in the Top Ten stories thread, but as always, there were disappointments too:

#10 and #9. Craig Hansen and Clay Buchholz. Not really Minor league disappointments since they pitched well in brief stints in Pawtucket and Portland. The major disappointment is that they were unable to translate ANY of this success to Boston.

#8. Terumasa Matsuo. An ERA over 4 in Greenville couldn’t be what the Sox expected when they signed him after dominating in Japan’s Independent league. Of course, we don’t know what the quality of this league was but I guess I expected it was at least at the Greenville SAL level. At 26, I can’t see much of a future for him.

#7. Bryson Cox. A repeat disappointment as he was number 3 on my Top Ten Disappointments last year, and still is a disappointment after showing some real potential in Greenville. Moved up to Lancaster and reverted to last years disaster with a 5.80 ERA and 1.49 WHIP. He just isn’t striking out enough batters for a power pitcher.

#6. Jon Still. After last year’s big numbers and power, I was sure he’d crush high A pitching in that hitters league and park. And he started out that way, but faded badly. And we know his defense is suspect behind the plate so if he doesn’t hit, he’s not a prospect. Luis Exposito has clearly passed him on the catcher prospect list.

#5. Dustin Richardson. He started great and finished strong, but what the eff happened in between?! He was once being talked about as someone who could help the Sox bullpen this year. Now he’s looking like a Prospect-turned-Suspect.

#4. Nick Hagadone. Losing a left-hander with top of the rotation potential to injury constitutes a major disappointment. Not in performance, of course, but that his development has been derailed and endangered. REALLY hope he bounces back from the TJ surgery.

#3. Ryan Dent. Couldn’t hit and couldn’t field this year. OK, he’s only 19 but still, he was a very high pick.

#2. Mark Wagner. His .219 average followed by an .091 in the playoffs is one of the big disappointments this year coming off of last season’s big numbers in high A, and playing a position we desperately need to fill in Boston. He looks like just another guy with overinflated numbers at Lancaster – the same thing that happened to Aaron Bates, Tony Granadillo, Mickey Hall, etc. when they moved up to AA.

#1. Noone! There were no big-time disappointments in 2008 like, say, Dan Bard last year. I thought this was an outstanding year for our minor league system and the lack of any big time bust is just another testament to the quality and continued renaissance of the Sox minor league organization.

Ryan Kalish makes the list for me. Decent discipline but no power. Perhaps it was just the lingering effects of his hamate surgery, but I was expecting more.

Aaron Bates also makes the list. Had a huge year in Lancaster last year, with good home/road splits. Came into Portland and laid an egg for most of the year. First hand accounts indicated he had slow bat speed and even slower foot speed. He's getting old relative to the competition, so he's going to have to make strides in 2009. He'll be eligible forthe Rule V draft after next season, and will anyway be passed by Anderson, so look for him to be traded in the next 12 months. He's not worth a 40 man roster spot and someone would definitely pick him up if he does anything next year. I suspect his invite to the AFL is largely for the purpose of showcasing him.

Oscar Tejeda, Jose Capellan, Chris Province after his promotion to Lancaster, Eddie Lora's GCL experience, Israel Perez

When does Kalish stop getting the post injury slack? I think what you see is what you get and I think he was the biggest disappointment of the year. Last year at this time many people were saying he was the number one prospect in the system. I'm very interested to see how he does in Hawaii this fall.

I don't really see the point of listing guys like Wagner and Richardson who didn't have much of a chance to make it before the season started. If they underperform it doesn't cost the organization a whole lot.

If I had to rank the guys that cost the Sox the most expected major league value this year it'd go 1) Kalish 2) Hagadone 3) Middlebrooks 4) Dent 5) Tejeda

Your read on Wagner is way off, JB H. Going into the season he was considered our top catching prospect. Now that'd be Exposito. Sure, that's disappointing.

PECOTA had Wagner projected to be below replacement level this year, and he's getting close to his prime years. His track record was superficially impressive but that's it.

#1: Nick Hagadone. Watching our 1st Round pick from the 2007 draft have his arm fall off after 10 innings sort of, well, sucked. He started the year as the #7 prospect in the organization on www.soxprospects.com. Sure, TJ surgery doesn't carry the same stigma as it did 10 years ago, but it's not good to lose a 1+ year of development from a guy who is already 22 and has yet to pitch above Low A.

Nothing really huge to gripe about. I consider Buchholz and Hansen MLB disappointments, since they were both fine in the minors. The good really outweighed the bad this year, in terms of minor league prospects.

You'll have a hard time finding anybody who thought Kalish was the #1 prospect in the system coming into this year, outside of the Kalish family of course. The HWL will be interesting for him b/c he'll have had a full month off to rest his wrist (which we'd heard through the grapevine is still not 100%) and it will be a reasonable gauge to see if he can spike his power numbers.

Don't think WMB was a disappointment due to the fact that every month his BA was better than the previous month. Also came up with some key hits at important times during the season. He was a 19 yr old kid getting his first taste of Pro ball. Overall, not a great performance but showed great improvement, both offensively and defensively, as the season progressed.

Wagner's my top disappointment as well - but I still believe he has a future with Boston. He has an ideal power swing for Fenway - a Lowell-esque hook - and put up a 1.000 OPS at Hadlock before his August collapse. He was godawful in August, it's true, and had a bizarrely terrible/unlucky season on the road. I'm glad the Sox sent him to the AFL, that's something of a vote of confidence. Exposito's clearly passed him as best in-system prospect for catcher of the future, but if we're taking bets on bounceback prospect of 2009, he's got my vote. His 2008 was too weird to be definitive.