Former RedSox prospect busts....

[SCM33]

I thought this could stir up some good nostalgia and good conversation....lets try to keep this 1995-Current, since that was the first wave of success, and right around the time Duquette came in to office and made the team significant again.

 

When listing a player, give some comments about the player.....ie, what you head at the time about him, your excitement about the player, actual performance, notable notes about the player....lets try not to just throw out names.

 

Ill start off.

 

1995

Ken Ryan CL-the closer that wasnt.

Vaughn Eschelman LHSP- not a lot of hype, but early successes got us talking, until 96 and 97, hasnt pitched in the bigs since.

 

1996-

Trot Nixon RF-had a nice little career, was nothing close to the hype, seemed like we talked about the kid forever. Started his career alot later than most would have thought at 25 years old.

 

Arquimadez Pozo 3B-the duke made a huge deal oer acquiring this "power hitting" 3b from seattle. Never did a thing, dont know what happened to him.

 

Alex Delgado C- was supposed to be our top catching prospect....at 25 years old.

 

Jeff Suppan RHSP-as if the first time wasnt bad enough, they brought him back

 

Joe Hudson- got a lot of hype, did nothing.

 

Wil Cordero SS,2B- We got him at 24 years old after some very good seasons in MON. He couldnt play 2B, moved to LF, beat his wife and cya later. He had a promising career when we acquired him.

 

1997- terrible prospect year.

Pemberton RF- after hitting .512 the year before in little time and showing some good power, he was a big disappointment in my mind. I really liked him.

John Wasdin SP- WAYYYYYYYYYYY BACKKKKKKK. Never liked him, I loved Canseco at the time, hated the deal from the beginning.

Robinson Checo SP-So much for interntational scouting huh Duke? (Wait, there was Sang Lee, and Jin ho Cho, and Ohka later on). What a waste of money.

 

1998-another terrible year

Donnie Sadler 2B-probably one of the fastest men in baseball at the time. Very versatile........but was allergic to any type of wood.

Brian Rose SP- heavily hyped, spare a few games against NYY and he did nothing.

Jin Ho Cho SP-if i remember correctly, he was very good during the year in the minors, but awful in the bigs.....I can still remember watching his awful debut against the White Sox.

 

1999-another awful year (pattern devoloping)

Wilton Veras 3B-still waiting for him to take over 3B

Steve Lomasney C- another catching prospect. very highly touted although he never put up numbers in the minors....or majors.

Michael Coleman CF- prime time..........umm yeah. another guy Duke pushed hard, but never really had the abilities. Average to good minor league numbers.

Juan Pena SP- had some promising starts, blew out his arm. I thought he was going to be good.

 

1999- not very many

Morgan Burkhart 1B DH- not really a prospect, but he did light up the INT leagues. Had some pretty good numbers his first year, but eventually they caught up to him.

Israel Alcantara RF 1B-not really a prospect (29 at the time). Huge minor league numbers. Bad temper hahaha.

Tomokazo Ohka SP- had a good first year. Brought us Pedro. .500 pitcher for his career.

Paxton Crawford SP- like Rose, and Pena.....he was promising. Then the hotel incident occured. Never thought he woulda been very good.

 

2000

Sang Lee RP- a lot of hype was made by the duke when he signed him. Never did a thing and went back to Japan.

 

2001

Calvin Pickering 1B DH- big power numbers in the minor leagues. Never transalted. I think hes still kickign around the minors.

Casey Fossum SP- everyone thought he was too small, and he may have been. He brought in a lot of hype, but never lived up to expevtations. He had a good sweeping curveball. I think hes also still around.

 

2002

Sunny Kim- same as the other guys Duke brought in from international waters.

 

2003

Freddy Sanchez 2B- we all know how he turned out, but for us, he was a bust.

 

2004

Nobody significant

 

2005

Adam Stern OF-never translated talents into numbers. Good ones anyway.

 

Cla Meredith RP- bombed and shellshocked early. Putting together a nice career in NL.

 

Abe Alvarez SP- once a top pitching prospect, now buried in the Sox farm.

 

Craig Hansen RP- jury is still out. does not look promising.

 

Kelly Shopach C- Variteks future replacement is now a career backup. Wish we could still have him backing up Tek now.

 

2006

Wily Mo Pena OF ( I guess)-Monster. Huge power. Little defense, and no room for him in our OF. Was given every opportunity, and did little with it. Had he hit Drew would never have been signed.

 

Thats about it as we have yet to see how the newer guys pan out. Back in the Duke era, there were some pretty awful "prospects". Seemed like we only hyped them up to increase their trade value.

[a700hitter]

This post is like a horror movie for me.

[SCM33]

This post is like a horror movie for me.

Hahahahaha, come on, its nice to see where we are now compared to then though isnt it? Look how far we have come, and how much actual young talent we have now compared to then!!!!!! I think its fun to reminisce about it.

[yeszir]

f*** you Wilton Veras.

[Jayhawk Bill]

Kelly Shopach C- Variteks future replacement is now a career backup. Wish we could still have him backing up Tek now.

 

2006

Wily Mo Pena OF ( I guess)-Monster. Huge power. Little defense, and no room for him in our OF. Was given every opportunity, and did little with it. Had he hit Drew would never have been signed.

 

Kelly Shoppach is a back-up catcher, but he's among the best in MLB: his PECOTA was for 3.0 WARP, suggesting that he may be worth three wins to the Guardians this year.

 

Terry Francona misused Shoppach in 2005, giving him just two starts while subbing for Mirabelli, one against Mike Mussina and one against Bartolo Colon in his Cy Young season. Shoppach hit .000 in those starts and in a few more scattered at bats, and he was gone...the rumor was that Boston gave up Shoppach for Bard, and that the core Marte-for-Crisp deal didn't require his inclusion.

 

Wily Mo Pena hit .301 with medium power in 2006, and Boston still got JD Drew--it's not that WMP didn't hit. He didn't hit in 2007--but that's largely because Terry Francona kept using him as a pinch-hitter, and WMP is below the Mendoza line (with a .233 OBP) over his career as a pinch-hitter per BR. He was 1-11 as a PH and 0-1 as a PH for the DH, for a 1-12 contribution to his batting average. WMP hit .277 with power against starting pitchers in 2007 (counting both Boston and DC), but only .220 against relief pitchers--that futility as a late-inning pinch hitter drove the low stats he put up for Boston. WMP could've covered for Manny or, especially, Coco when they struggled in April 2007; he could've covered for Drew when Drew should've been put on the DL in May; instead, Terry Francona used him from the bench, giving him irregular chances to start and lots of late-inning use, a role in which he always struggled.

 

WMP hit .293/.352/.504 as a regular for the Nats, in a pitcher's ballpark. One could legitimately criticize WMP's ability to play RF--he's always struggled defensively in RF more than he has in CF, where the balls come right at an outfielder instead of tending to drift--but WMP always hit well when he was given regular playing time.

 

***

 

The other listed prospects...well, we lost a whole lot of draft picks due to free agent signings under Duquette.

[Mr Crunchy]

sadler knocked up troy olearys wife

where is my boy jeff spinelli from revere high ?

i used to watch him when he was in high school and he was a cant miss stud

of course his father got deported when he was a kid and he found his way over to the admiral hill and brandywine projects far too often and became a heroin addict as well as a roid boy...threw low 90s in school with a 12-6 deuce that would make your knees buckle in the stands..

last i heard he was working in the chelsea market produce area

sad story

no juan pena cause he was pre 95?

john curtice?

[jacksonianmarch]

Andy Yount and Corey Jenkins say hi (both 1st rounders in 1995 for the sox).

[jacksonianmarch]

Josh Garrett- 1996

John Curtice- 1997

Jeff Everett- 1998

Rick Asadoorian and Brad Baker- 1999

Phil Dumatrait- 2000

Matt Chico (2nd round)-2001

 

wow

[Mr Crunchy]

do i need to get started here?

i can go from jeff the strutter sellars to whislin jackie guttierez to juan bustabar to phil plantier to sam horn all the way back to my all time bust out,the immortal and catatonic rogelio moret

that my friends is a tragedy that should be told to the world

[Cocos Disciples]

Izzy Alcantara forever holds a place in my heart.

[Mr Crunchy]

his appraoch to the bean ball was the most original and unique in history

[SCM33]

Josh Garrett- 1996

John Curtice- 1997

Jeff Everett- 1998

Rick Asadoorian and Brad Baker- 1999

Phil Dumatrait- 2000

Matt Chico (2nd round)-2001

 

wow

 

Sorry, maybe I wasnt clear in what I was looking for. I meant guys who actually made it to the show, but failed....

 

You do bring up some sad names though. I remember Rick Asadoorian and Andy Yount being pretty popular picks though.

[SCM33]

do i need to get started here?

i can go from jeff the strutter sellars to whislin jackie guttierez to juan bustabar to phil plantier to sam horn all the way back to my all time bust out,the immortal and catatonic rogelio moret

that my friends is a tragedy that should be told to the world

 

Thats why I said from 1995 on....

[RobZombie]

Sweet Chin Music makes his usual logistical jump and just points out his lack of intelligence.

 

His point is that because some prospects did not perform well, that ALL prospects are unpredictable. In doing so he inadvertandly blows up his own point. Will Cordero, was an established major leaguer by the time he was traded to Boston, and HE became a bust. Obviously major leaguers aren't 100% predictable either.

 

Most of the guys that this idiot points out weren't top prospects but guys who happened to have one good season in AAA. Not one of them was a top college hitter, like Pedro Alvarez.

 

Really people like this don't deserve to be Red Sox fans.

[SCM33]

Rob Zombie is just mad that I denied a PM request to be his boyfriend and is taking his anger out on every post I make it appears. I just dont find you cute man, sorry...let it go.

 

Definitions of prospect on the Web:

* the possibility of future success; "his prospects as a writer are excellent"

* expectation: belief about (or mental picture of) the future

* candidate: someone who is considered for something (for an office or prize or honor etc.)

* search for something desirable; "prospect a job"

* view: the visual percept of a region; "the most desirable feature of the park are the beautiful views"

* explore for useful or valuable things or substances, such as minerals

* prognosis: a prediction of the course of a disease

 

so ahhhh yup, it appears that prospects are unpredictable.

 

Generally, when a guy is in the minor leagues, and they are young, and they put together a good season.....I think we consider those prospects. Myabe its just me.....maybe I know nothing about baseball like you said before.

 

Nobody cares about Pedro Alvarez.

[ksushi]

Lets all just be friends, eh? Or at least not name call and play nice.

[RobZombie]

Rob Zombie is just mad that I denied a PM request to be his boyfriend and is taking his anger out on every post I make it appears. I just dont find you cute man, sorry...let it go.

 

Definitions of prospect on the Web:

* the possibility of future success; "his prospects as a writer are excellent"

* expectation: belief about (or mental picture of) the future

* candidate: someone who is considered for something (for an office or prize or honor etc.)

* search for something desirable; "prospect a job"

* view: the visual percept of a region; "the most desirable feature of the park are the beautiful views"

* explore for useful or valuable things or substances, such as minerals

* prognosis: a prediction of the course of a disease

 

so ahhhh yup, it appears that prospects are unpredictable.

 

Generally, when a guy is in the minor leagues, and they are young, and they put together a good season.....I think we consider those prospects. Myabe its just me.....maybe I know nothing about baseball like you said before.

 

Nobody cares about Pedro Alvarez.

 

First off there are people who care about Pedro Alvarez which is why people responded. It was only unitelligent people like yourself who decided that there was no difference between Vaughn Eshelman and a top college hitter!

 

You have proved that you are smart enough to look up a word on the web. Good for you. But the unsolicted homophobic comments just proved what a tool you really are.

[SCM33]

A thread a made a couple years ago that I find entertainment in reminiscing about.

 

PHIL PLANTIER!!!!!!!

Brian Rose

Paxton Crawford one bad night with a hooker and the bottle

Juan Pena...huge wins against the Yankees

Michael Coleman....prime time baby.

Casey Fossum.....ugh

Matt Murton

Robinson Checo...Duquette loved him.

Jin Ho Cho, the at the time Dice-K

Sang Hoon Lee, accomplished Japanese Closer

John Marzano, the future catcher of the organization.

Bob Zupcik, the next Dwight Evans

Scott Cooper, the worst 2 time all star ever.

Steve Lomasney, Peabodys finest

Dwayne Hosey...leadoff hitter of the future

Lee Tinsley, a little older, but see above.

Cole Liniak, slugging infielder who was talked about as a slugger of the future.

Kevin Morton, my personal favorite, and at one time, username at SOSH.

Rudy Pemberton and his .500 batting average over a stretch ( when BA was still considered a "stat")

Carlos Quintana and his "spring training battle" with Mo Vaughn for 1B starting duties.

Izzy Alcantara, hit the crap out of the ball in AAA, kicked the hell out of an unassuming catcher.

Reggie Jefferson, not really a prospect, but one of my all time favorite RedSox, was a cant miss player.

Wilton Veras...was a beast of a man, hit for zero power.....really thought he was the real deal.

Morgan Burkhart....a minor league hitting machine.

Andy Yount....pitcher turned OF

Rick Asoordian...threw 95+, compared to Roger Clemens, converted to OF, never lived to hype.

Nomar Garciappara...my favorite baseball player growing up..what would have happened had he not got hit by that Al Reyes fastball? Spiderman always lives in my heart.

Dernell Stenson.....slugging prospect who didnt deliver, and was murdered. RIP.

Juan Diaz....another one of those late 90's sluggers who did nothing in the bigs.

 

Memories.....BTW what happened to Zob Zombie? Cya later hahahaha....

[Spudboy]

Nomar a bust?

[Dojji]

This thread isn't morbid at all.

 

And yeah, Nomar's career wasn't as long as we might have liked, but a bust he ain't. Ditto for Nixon who was mentioned earlier in the thread..

[Dipre]

He specifically mentioned "Nixon had a nice career, but didn't live up to the hype".

 

Which is true.

 

Jesus Christ.

[PWNdroia]

I'm sorry, but in 2006, Wily Mo Pena had a monster season. He wasn't bad as a starter then... I actually preferred him.