March 19, 2010 at 9:53 AM
Rankings Report: March 19, 2010
As I've mentioned in the past, this year we're going to publish "Rankings Reports" every once in a while to explain why certain players are moving up and down in the rankings. I'm publishing a short Rankings Report today, not because there were any major changes to the rankings this week, but to explain how we are going to deal with Ryan Westmoreland's unfortunate medical situation in terms of rankings. As you all know by now, Westmoreland underwent surgery on Tuesday to remove a cavernous malformation in his brain stem. By all accounts, the surgery was a success, and all signs so far have been very positive. However, at this point there is understandably no official word regarding if and when Westmoreland will return to baseball. The latest report comes from Dan Barbarisi of the Providence Journal:
Ryan Westmoreland continues to progress well following brain surgery and so far all the signs are positive ... [but] it will take weeks and then months to fully determine whether Westmoreland suffered serious damage that will affect his quality of life. It is certainly possible that Westmoreland could make a full recovery and then even resume his professional baseball career. At the moment, however, those involved are concerned with assessing his levels of function, and any insight about his playing career will come much later.
Accordingly, for the foreseeable future Westmoreland will be locked in between #1 and #2 in the SoxProspects rankings, but not numerically ranked. We'll reassess that position as more news comes in and we will add him back to the numerical rankings if and when he resumes baseball activities with the team. We continue to send our best wishes to Ryan and his family, and we also ask that the SoxProspects Community continue to respect his family's request for privacy during the recovery period. Get well soon, Ryan!