100 replies to this topic

[Lose Remerswaal]

And by "YOUR", I mean guy you just KNEW was going to make it big in the big leagues. It can be a disappointing 1st round choice, but I'd rather hear about the 34th round pick, or the undrafted guy, or the guy from the Pioneer League who you just had a hunch about and watched him move up the minor league ladder, and then either flame out before making the Bigs, or flamed out right after he got there.

Was thinking of this because they were talking about the Pavano, Rose, and Suppan rotation on Sunday Night Baseball (but not Robinson Checo, for some reason!), and how Rose was a huge disappointment, and Pavano and Suppan have had lengthy, but unspectacular, major league careers. From my dozen or so visits to McCoy, I was sure Rose was going to be the best of the three, and he had just under 300 Major League innings in 68 appearances

None of the above qualify for this question, as they all did make the big leagues, and all hung around for awhile.


My guy? Juan Pena. Drafted in 1995 at 18 years old, he was already with the big club in 1999. Had 2 great starts (6 innings, 3 hits, 1BB, 1 run vs ANA; 7 innings, 6 hits, 2BB, 0 R vs. TOR). I remember watching one of the games from a sports bar in Turks & Caicos, and just falling in love with him.

Then Tommy John surgery, and never made it back to the bigs.

So. Who was your "can't miss guy"? The guy you told your friends to keep an eye on? Your "binky"?

For purposes of this survey, the player has to have had fewer than 100 IP or 100 PA in the big leagues, or none at all.

[Dgilpin]

I always thought Phil Plantier was going to be a Sox slugger for 10+ years. But I was rather young back then..

[SaveBooFerriss]

I always thought Phil Plantier was going to be a Sox slugger for 10+ years. But I was rather young back then..

I am positive Plantier does not meet the criteria.

Off the top of my head, Wilton Veras.

Edited by SaveBooFerriss, 10 May 2011 - 12:27 PM.

[Corsi]

Tony Blanco and Seung Song.

[RedOctober3829]

Craig Hansen

[Have A Gansett]

Lars Anderson

[zenter]

I was going to say Juan Pena, but you took it, Lose.

[CHAOS]

Donnie Sadler

[MrNewEngland]

Jason Place.

[Hendu's Gait]

Kevin Morton

debut CG and then fizzled

[Hendu's Gait]

Donnie Sadler

8 seasons 800+ PA

[smastroyin]

Michael Coleman - at least he continued to suck when he went to the Yankees
Steve Lomasney

[jmm57]

Tony Blanco and Seung Song.

Wow. Tony Blanco, what a blast from the past. I used to create him to play 3B on PlayStation. Totally convinced he was going to be a stud.

[Jeff Van GULLY]

Bryce Cox. He came out blazing after being drafted in 2006 and with his pedigree, he seemed to have a great shot at being in the Sox bullpen within 2 years. Injuries seemed to have derailed his career.


Hell Jim Callis even believed back then:

Juan, Delray Beach, FL: First one to Boston - Buchholz, Masterson, or Cox?

SportsNation Jim Callis: Bryce Cox.

I'll also always have a soft spot in my heart for Jeff Corsaletti.

Edited by Jeff Van GULLY, 10 May 2011 - 12:39 PM.

[ngruz25]

Jin Ho Cho - I was at his first major league start. He held an offensively-gifted White Sox team to one run over six innings, which was pretty impressive considering he was only 22 (only run he gave up was a solo home run to a young Mike Cameron). He had been dominating the minors up until that point. His next three starts didn't go so well, and he ended his career with a 6.52 ERA in 13 games over two seasons.

Also, I always had a soft spot for Arquimedez Pozo, the greatest name in Red Sox history. How was a middle infielder with a lifetime .839 OPS and 106 homers in the minors out of professional baseball at the age of 25?

[ngruz25]

Bryce Cox. He came out blazing after being drafted in 2006 and with his pedigree, he seemed to have a great shot at being in the Sox bullpen within 2 years. Injuries seemed to have derailed his career.

Pretty sure I fell for every one of Peter Gammons' "late season bullpen call-up/closer of the future" - Anastacio Martinez, Edgar Martinez, Craig Hansen, Bryce Cox... none of them amounted to anything.

[dcmissle]

Brian Leonard Rose.

As for those not home grown, Andy Marte. Proof again that when the Atlanta Braves are prepared to bail on somebody, be afraid. Be very afraid.

EDIT -- Hansen was a kick in the nuts though, probably in everyone's top 10. Esp after all the Gammo jizz about him.

Edited by dcmissle, 10 May 2011 - 12:49 PM.

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Joel Finch, because I remember him being listed on a Topps baseball card as a Red Sox future star and he never became one.

He won games in the minors coming up and had decent ERAs, but his K/BB rate was terrible.

[JakeRae]

Pena was the first guy who came to mind for me as well. He would be my first major prospect disappointment too.

[pedro1918]

I have no idea why, but for some reason I was a big Cesar Saba fan. He was signed in the late 90's out of the Dominican as a teenager (ha!) and was a ranked Sox prospect before being traded to San Diego in the big Ed Sprague deal. I was crushed when he was traded because I (and it's possible I am the only person who believed this)thought he was going to be the best defensive shortstop of all time. I actually remember where I was when I heard he had been traded. He never really became a legit prospect in SD and it turned out he was like 4 years older than he claimed to be. I don't think he ever sniffed the big leagues.

I am still baffled by my belief in that guy.

[Rudy Pemberton]

Another vote for Pena here; IIRC, his second start was a Saturday FOX game vs. the Angels which got a lot of people excited about him.

Greg Blosser and Jeff McNeely are other guys that come to mind. Were these guys legitimately good prospects or just the best of a sorry Sox system?

[SoxScout]

1999-2000 was right around when I got into following prospects. I think it stemmed from watching Rick Asadoorian play a few times and being shocked at how far he hit the ball, followed by him being drafted by the Sox. I remember my uncle calling me and being like, "Nobody that a few weeks ago played against Tahanto fucking High School will ever play in the Major leagues. What a massive waste."

Anyways, back in those days the USA Today website was the only place that would post GCL boxscores later in the afternoon, leading to my love for Tony Blanco and Seung Song.

Blanco would flame out in the minors after being traded with Josh Thigpen to the Reds for Todd Walker in December 2002. He got 65 PA with the Nats in 2005, hitting 1 HR. In 2009 and 2010 he hit 39 and 32 HR for Chunichi in Japan. He only has 3 so far this year in 21 G.

Song was traded at the 2002 deadline with Sun-woo Kim for Cliff Floyd. After this he was never the same, always figured the Sox knew he was hurt so they dealt him. He has pitched the last few years in Korea. Read about his 1999-2001 run here, he was unbelievable.

edit: damn you Corsi!

Edited by SoxScout, 10 May 2011 - 12:55 PM.

[Rudy Pemberton]

Another guy that I haven't thought about in a long time, Sang Hoon Lee. I believe he had orange hair and had an interesting press conference (didn't he pretend to give up a homerun or something)?

[Puffy]

Andy Yount

[Shelterdog]

Can't believe it took this long for someone to say it.

Sam Horn.

[CHAOS]

8 seasons 800+ PA

Guess I didn't read the rules clearly enough .

[PortageeExpress]

When I was a kid, I was sure Sam Bowen was a future star.

[JimBoSox9]

Juan Pena and Craig Hansen are probably the two the most quickly come to mind, but I'll also throw out the "Babe Ruth of the Frontier League", Morgan Burkhart. Sort of a poor man's Jack Cust before the internet hype machine was fully functional. Aided by Gammo, I was convinced the Sox were smarter than everyone and found a diamond in the rough. Not so much.

[Corsi]

Morgan Burkhart. Sure, he was a 28-year-old rookie, but the guy could rake!

He mashed in his cup of coffee in 1999 with .935 OPS in 95 PA, but never built on it, at the major league level.

Wrapped up his minor league career in 2006 with a .990 career OPS (including his first four seasons in Independent ball). The definition of a AAAA player, I suppose.

edit: JimBoSox beat me to it.

Edited by Corsi, 10 May 2011 - 01:10 PM.

[Bigpupp]

Although he really doesn't fit under the criteria that was posted and he never actually played a game for the Sox organization; Andy Marte. I remember wanting to punch a baby when we traded him.

[Corsi]

Craig Hansen

I remember being on vacation in Florida and scrambling to purchase the mlb.com feed on my laptop so that I could watch this idiot's debut. Heady times.

[SoxScout]

I remember being on vacation in Florida and scrambling to purchase the mlb.com feed on my laptop so that I could watch this idiot's debut. Heady times.

Craig Hansen replaces Chad Harville pitching

T. Hall Strikeout Swinging
D. Hollins Popfly: SS
J. Lugo Strikeout Swinging

Probably the best game of his career.

[RingoOSU]

Can't believe it took this long for someone to say it.

Sam Horn.

Probably cause they read Lose's original post.

[Frank, Fenway]

Charlie Zink. His 2008 AAA season made it seem like he had figured it all out. Yeah, not so much.

[WenZink]

Going way back, my most disappointing Sox prospect was Billy MacLeod, a lefty pitcher out of Gloucester that was signed in 1961. I was just a kid and had seen him in a game vs my oldest cousin.

50 years ago, there wasn't much reporting on the minors UNLESS except for players from the local area. I think the Globe (or maybe the now-defunct Traveler) used to publish the stats of all local players that were in the minors... just the stats that were on the baseball cards, of course. In MacLeod's first year at pro ball (age 19), he went 15-8, and that got him a promotion to AAA Seattle before he was 20, in '62. MacLeod even got a late season callup to Boston, that year. Apparently, he was rushed, and for the next two years he shuttled back between AAA and AA ball. But then in 1965, MacLeod went 18-0 and I was sure the Sox had the next Koufax. But he never made it to the bigs. I assume it was arm trouble, although I never found out what happened, for sure.

Looking at his minor league stats, I'm stunned to see that, in his first year of pro ball, he threw over 200 innings.... I guess they didn't know about the Verducci effect back then.

[Jed Zeppelin]

I remember being at this game, Hansen's 2nd appearance in 2006 and telling everyone to watch this guy closely when he came in at the end of the blowout win. Everybody oohed and aahhed as he lit up the radar gun, and even after he gave up a few ringing line drives and a couple runs I told myself "he's going to be awesome once he adapts to the majors." I should have known better when he only got one swinging strike with that electric stuff, but I was young and foolish.

edit: Derrik Gibson is on his way to being a big disappointment for me. My adopt-a-prospect, started off his career with back to back .400 OBP seasons as a bonus baby SS with excellent speed. He even managed to sneak up to #10 on BA's Sox list before last year which was his first in full season ball. I loved his patience and natural baserunning instincts. I thought he would add weight/strength/pop and be able to maintain that high .300's OBP, but he's currently in the midst of his 2nd consecutive .600ish OPS season.

Edited by Jed Zeppelin, 10 May 2011 - 01:51 PM.

[vadertime]

Juan Diaz. I was at the Pawsox game when he homered over the CF concession stand/shack. So much power potential that never came to be.

[natpastime162]

Pena was the first guy who came to mind for me as well. He would be my first major prospect disappointment too.

Remember reading a Baseball Prospectus right after the TJ referring to his workload. I don't know breakdowns by start or anything, but he threw 187.2 innings and 4 complete games in 26 starts as a 19-year-old.

[Rasputin]

Michael Coleman. I'm still astonished that he didn't even manage to hang on as a fifth guy somewhere.

[Hendu for Kutch]

Jin Ho Cho - I was at his first major league start. He held an offensively-gifted White Sox team to one run over six innings, which was pretty impressive considering he was only 22 (only run he gave up was a solo home run to a young Mike Cameron). He had been dominating the minors up until that point. His next three starts didn't go so well, and he ended his career with a 6.52 ERA in 13 games over two seasons.

I was at that game as well. 4th of July, right?

Although he's not eligible, Frankie Rodriguez was going to be special. I was crushed when they traded him for Aguilera. As for those who are eligible, I couldn't wait to see the Dominican Mystery Man, Robinson Checo. Unfortunately I blinked and I missed him.

Edited by Hendu for Kutch, 10 May 2011 - 02:02 PM.

[21st Century Sox]

Craig Hansen. Thought the kid was a sure fire thing, was going to be the closer for a decade or more.

[TheYellowDart5]

I really wanted to say Casey Fossum, but somehow he managed to rack up 800 innings in his ML career. Man, he had electric stuff, though. I remember watching him obliterate Derek Jeter with a high fastball and thinking that he would be a surefire ace for years to come.

I definitely remember thinking Paxton Crawford would be a fireballer, and that never came to pass. And I fell hard for the Asian prospects that Duquette brought in -- Sunny Kim, Seung Song, Sang Hoon Lee. I remember reading a Gammons article back in 2001 or so about either Kim or Song pitching in the Futures game at Fenway and scooping some dirt off the mound to remember the appearance, but that he'd soon be back for good. I hope he saved the dirt.

[AZBlue]

Sidd Finch. After the Mets failed to tender a contract to him in a timely manner and the Sox signed him, I thought we were looking at a Hall of Fame pitcher.

Edited by AZBlue, 10 May 2011 - 02:34 PM.

[mascho]

Steve Lomasney

First guy I thought of. Remember playing both baseball and football against him in high school. Our senior year he hit me so hard in our football game, put his helmet right on our elbow as I tried to throw, that my elbow didn't return to its normal size for about two weeks. He could run a QB sneak and gain 10 yards simply by pushing the pile forward on his own. Incredible athlete. Was convinced he'd make it.

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

I really wanted to say Casey Fossum, but somehow he managed to rack up 800 innings in his ML career. Man, he had electric stuff, though. I remember watching him obliterate Derek Jeter with a high fastball and thinking that he would be a surefire ace for years to come.

I definitely remember thinking Paxton Crawford would be a fireballer, and that never came to pass. And I fell hard for the Asian prospects that Duquette brought in -- Sunny Kim, Seung Song, Sang Hoon Lee. I remember reading a Gammons article back in 2001 or so about either Kim or Song pitching in the Futures game at Fenway and scooping some dirt off the mound to remember the appearance, but that he'd soon be back for good. I hope he saved the dirt.

Fossum had those great K rates in the minors, but was ultimately too physically frail to hold up long in the majors. His awful season in Arizona after he was trade was probably entirely due to injury.

[bosox79]

Dennis Tankersley count?

[Buck Showalter]

John Marzano

Ted Cox

Steve Lomasney

[Worst Trade Evah]

For some reason I was always sure Laschelle Tarver was going to be a player. I didn't know as much back then I guess, but I was sure he was going to be an exciting addition.

[gammoseditor]

Mike Rozier

Michael Almanzar

[YouDownWithOBP?]

Probably too early on this, but Michael Bowden is on his way for me. After seeing Papelbon come up in July of 05, I wanted to know more about prospects before they hit the show. So it was just coming off of the 2005 draft, and I obsessed over the three pitchers taken in the first round (Hansen has already been talked about here). Looking at Bowdens soxprospects.com scouting report and amazing K numbers in high school, I was convinced some day he would be a top of the rotation starter and I would be wearing his jersey.