2009 Draft
After reading about the 2008 Draft, it does not seem possible that a draft could get worse. But, only one year later, the Red Sox had one of the worst drafts in their history.
What made the 2009 Draft so terrible was just like the draft one year prior: a lack of talent. Yes, the 2009 Draft had Stephen Strasburg, AJ Pollock, and Mike Trout. But by the time the Red Sox picked at pick 28, the talent was all gone.
Their first selection was Rey Fuentes, who never played a game for the Boston Red Sox. While he still had value, he was dealt with Casey Kelly and Anthony Rizzo to San Diego for Adrian Gonzalez.
Fuentes has played in only 55 games over three seasons in the majors. And while hindsight is 20/20, the Red Sox passed up on James Paxton and Garrett Richards.
Jeremy Hazelbaker is another prospect who never lived up to any hype he had. Hazelbaker was a college player who was drafted in ’09, but did not make his MLB debut until last year. And hitting .235 in over 100 games, he has not fared well in his small sample size.
Sadly, he was the 2nd best player the Red Sox drafted. The first? Alex Wilson, current reliever for the Detroit Tigers. You know, the Tigers, the team that has been notorious for having a well below average bullpen.
Next: Who will Red Sox draft in the first round?
Wilson’s career ERA is 2.86, and that is factoring in a year where he had a 1.91 ERA. For a reliever, his ERA is pretty high, especially for someone in high leverage situations. While Theo Epstein hit on most of the drafts during his time in Boston, this was the backend of a two-year stretch where he guessed wrong on many prospects.