Boston Red Sox Will “Blow Up Their Farm System”
Headlined by the likes of infielder Yoan Moncada, third baseman Rafael Devers, outfielder Manuel Margot and RHP Anderson Espinoza, the Boston Red Sox have arguably the best minor league system in all of baseball. Add in guys like Xander Bogaerts, Mookie Betts, Blake Swihart, Eduardo Rodgriguez and other talented youngsters on the MLB roster, and the Red Sox may also have the best overall collection of young talent.
Simply put, the Red Sox are loaded with talented players who should be able to help them not only in the near future, but for many years. We all love to sit back and dream on what a prospect can bring to the table, but as we know, it can be a dangerous game.
For every Bryce Harper or Kris Bryant, there are thousands of Craig Hansen or Jason Place who never reach their immense potential. There is plenty of risk and reward in the prospect game, but building your MLB team through the farm system is undoubtedly smart.
When you have the extreme prospect depth like an organization like the Red Sox, you will be okay with a few busts, knowing that not all of them will flame out. Sure, only a handful of these prospects will make it to the big leagues, and even fewer will succeed, but if you have many talented ones, the chances of hitting on them are much greater.
This all brings us to a recent report that is getting some attention from Red Sox’s fans. Jason Mastrodonato, beat writer for the Boston Globe, recently spoke to a rival executive who is foreshadowing what president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski is going to do with the Red Sox’s talented farm system.
One rival exec fairly certain the Red Sox are going to blow up their farm system. "Dave is going to make some moves. He'll be busy."
— Jason Mastrodonato (@JMastrodonato) October 18, 2015
Now, some fans are going to agree with this, and some will not. Former Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington was thought-of as a bit of a prospect hoarder. He was building an impressive minor league system, but he did not use it to supplement the major league team enough to see his hard work through.
Dombrowski has a history of trading away prospects for major league talent. At times, that is the right thing to do, but there are certainly times where it backfires as well. Obviously, that all depends on who you are trading and what you are trading for.
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If Dombrowski believes that the Red Sox are only a piece or two away from being legitimate playoff contenders, then I would not mind to see him use the Red Sox’s stock of talented prospects to help the major league team get back on track.
That being said, the strongest organizations in baseball typically build their team primarily through their minor league systems. If Dombrowski is too aggressive, he could seriously impact the long-term health of the organization in a negative way. I understand wanting to get quality MLB talent on the roster, but you have to keep in mind a long-term approach as well.
With the Red Sox spending a ton of money in free agency last off season, I would not be surprised to see their most major moves of this off season come from the trade market. Finding productive players in rebuilding organizations and using your extreme minor league depth to acquire them could be a wise move for the Red Sox.
That being said, they need to be careful. Trading away multiple superstars could hurt this organization for a very long time.
Next: Who on the Roster can the Red Sox Trade?