July 23, 2011 at 9:17 AM
Past Red Sox prospect trades -- where are they now?
If you listen to sports radio or follow the Red Sox Twitterverse, you’ll hear a lot in the next week or so about which Red Sox prospects might be available at the trade deadline. Looking back at the front office’s history of trades involving prospects, you typically see two types of deals: (1) mega-deals involving two or three highly-regarded prospects in exchange for an established superstar major-leaguer, such as the Adrian Gonzalez; or (2) trading a “lottery-ticket” type prospect -- one with a high ceiling but a negligible chance of reaching it -- for a secondary role player, such as when Boston acquired OF/1B Mark Kotsay for OF Luis Sumoza in August 2008.
While the chances of a mega-deal seem less likely to occur this July 31, crazier things have happened. More than likely, look for the club to acquire a role player or two in exchange for some B- and C-level prospects. That being said, it doesn’t appear that there are any “untouchable” prospects in the Sox system right now, so any player could be available in a trade.
For an idea of what the club has done in the past, here is a list of the “prospects” that Boston has traded over the last six years, sorted chronologically by the date of the trade (along with 2011 stats through July 19). Note that this list does not include the full-fledged major leaguers that the team dealt during that time period or the minor leaguers that Boston sent to other teams in exchange for cash, such as when the club sent OF Bubba Bell to Cleveland this past March. Ultimately, the only player on the list who has gone on to stardom is SS Hanley Ramirez, but there are also a few major league regulars in David Murphy, Justin Masterson and Anibal Sanchez, as well as a few prospects with promising futures in Anthony Rizzo, Casey Kelly, Reymond Fuentes, Roman Mendez and Nick Hagadone.
For the full list, check out my column on ESPN Boston.
While the chances of a mega-deal seem less likely to occur this July 31, crazier things have happened. More than likely, look for the club to acquire a role player or two in exchange for some B- and C-level prospects. That being said, it doesn’t appear that there are any “untouchable” prospects in the Sox system right now, so any player could be available in a trade.
For an idea of what the club has done in the past, here is a list of the “prospects” that Boston has traded over the last six years, sorted chronologically by the date of the trade (along with 2011 stats through July 19). Note that this list does not include the full-fledged major leaguers that the team dealt during that time period or the minor leaguers that Boston sent to other teams in exchange for cash, such as when the club sent OF Bubba Bell to Cleveland this past March. Ultimately, the only player on the list who has gone on to stardom is SS Hanley Ramirez, but there are also a few major league regulars in David Murphy, Justin Masterson and Anibal Sanchez, as well as a few prospects with promising futures in Anthony Rizzo, Casey Kelly, Reymond Fuentes, Roman Mendez and Nick Hagadone.
For the full list, check out my column on ESPN Boston.