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

By Sean Penney | Jun 11, 2020

PHILADELPHIA, PA - AUGUST 14: A Rawlings leather baseball glove and a hat sit on the bench in the dugout before a game between the Boston Red Sox and the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on August 14, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Red Sox won 2-1. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) /

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(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

Red Sox 1974 Draft

No. 20 – Edward Ford
No. 21 – Rick Sutcliffe (Dodgers)

Edward Ford never made it to the majors so it’s safe to classify him as a bust. One pick later, the Los Angeles Dodgers took Rick Sutcliffe.

The right-hander put himself on the radar with a Rookie of the Year campaign in 1979, winning 17 games with a 3.46 ERA.

The Dodgers traded Sutcliffe to Cleveland after parts of five seasons and he immediately broke out by winning an ERA title with the Indians in 1982. He made his first of three career All-Star appearances the following year.

A rocky beginning to the 1984 season led to Cleveland shipping Sutcliffe to the Chicago Cubs. He responded by going 16-1 with a 2.69 ERA down the stretch to earn the NL Cy Young and lead his new team to a division title.

Sutcliffe didn’t have the most consistent career but he had some excellent seasons at his peak and could have helped put some great Red Sox teams of the 1980s over the top. That’s assuming that Boston didn’t give up on him early in his career, as two other franchises did.

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