All of this recent talk about Chaim Bloom’s quest to rebuild the Red Sox farm system — and my generally cynical mood after the Mookie Betts trade — got me thinking about the Red Sox prospects through the years who didn’t make it.
For every Jon Lester or Xander Bogaerts, there are so many flamethrowers that flamed out and shortstops that stopped short. Can’t-miss kids miss all the same, in part because they’re, well, kids, in part because there are so many variables that can interfere along the way, and in part because playing major league baseball is really, really hard.