Boston Red Sox: 10 biggest first-round draft pick disasters

Red Sox 2016 Draft

No. 12 – Jay Groome
No. 20 – Gavin Lux (Dodgers)

We’ll wrap up with a player who hasn’t necessarily failed yet and one who has yet to prove himself at the major league level.

Jay Groome was a very talented pitcher who evaluators were extremely high on when the Red Sox drafted him 12th overall a few years ago. He flashed that potential in Rookie ball and Low-A during his brief pro debut in 2016 but the wheels feel off the following year. Groome ended up needing Tommy John surgery and missed the entire 2018 season.

Groome has only tossed a total of four innings since returning to the mound last year. He has a long road ahead to build himself back up and try to rediscover the form that once made him a first-round pick. He might pan out eventually but Groome’s stock has clearly plummeted.

While every other draft class on this list has focused on a future All-Star that the Red Sox missed out on in the first round, Gavin Lux has a mere 23 games under his belt at the major league level. He has much more to prove before we can truly regret passing on him.

However, MLB Pipeline ranks Lux as the second-best prospect in baseball for a reason. A thin Red Sox farm system only has one prospect ranked in the top 50. Having a young player of Lux’s caliber would have completely changed the outlook of the future of this organization.

Perhaps it’s too soon to include the first round of the 2016 draft on this list but it’s certainly trending in that direction with Lux ready to contribute to a championship contender while Groome is still trying to find his form in the lower levels of the minor league system.