Tag: Craig Hansen

Who Was the Red Sox Prospect You Thought Couldn’t Miss But Flamed Out?

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The Globe raised this question and I immediately shouted CRAIG HANSEN at my computer. I’ll never forget seeing a guy walking around in a legit stitched Hansen jersey one summer weeks before the kid even got called up. People, including myself, were that confident in the St. John’s closer. Welp, he never really panned out. Him and Manny Delcarmen were supposed to lock down the 8th and the 9th at Fenway for a decade but it just didn’t happen. Craig Hansen only played four seasons and finished with an 6.34 ERA and now is literally an insurance salesman. One of my old buddies always theorized Hansen didn’t work out because of the stitches on the baseball. Supposedly he was so dominant in college because college baseballs have stitches that are more raised so it was easier to throw wicked breaking balls. Whether thats true or not I have no idea, but it was interesting to ponder. Well what about you? Who were you CONVINCED was going to be a stud but never made it? Cla Meredith? Anderson Espinoza?

Former Red Sox Reliever Manny Delcarmen Making a Comeback Attempt with the Sox

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12Up– Manny Delcarmen, 35, is looking to earn a chance with the Boston Red Sox, mentioning that he is willing to pitch in the minor leagues in order to work his way back to the majors. And he better be. Delcarmen worked out with the Red Sox earlier Tuesday, hoping to earn that second chance.

Nostalgia Alert! Former Red Sox reliever Manny Delcarmen is making a comeback attempt with none other than the Red Sox themselves. The pride of Jamaica Plain. What a throwback. I think the reason I love Delcarmen so much is because he was one of the first top Sox prospects to come along and flourish (and flame out) right when the team was at its best in the mid 2000’s alongside Pedroia, Papelbon, Lester etc. In 2007 when the Sox won it all Delcarmen had a 2.05 ERA in 44 IP with 8.4 K/9. And in 08 when they got to Game 7 of the ALCS (god damnit) he had a 3.27 ERA in 74.1 IP with an 8.7 K/9. Not too shabby.

Obviously Delcarmen didn’t have quite the same staying power as those other guys. But he was at one time the setup-man of the future to the Red Sox closer of the future in Craig Hansen. REMEMBER HIM?!

But hey scouts say he’s hitting 92 mph on the gun and he still lives a half hour away from Pawtucket so why not. This is also great for me because my go-to awkward silence icebreaker at parties is “Hey, whatever happened to Manny Delcarmen?” Now we shall see.

PS – I’ll never forget being at the McDonalds in Kenmore Square before a game and seeing a guy rocking a *stitched* Craig Hansen jersey A WEEK after the kid got called up. He was supposed to be can’t miss. Well guess what, he did miss. A friend of mine from high school swears to this day it’s because the seams are lower on MLB baseballs than in college…

“Yoan Moncada is Going to Be a Freaking Superstar”

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Courtesy of NESN

Courtesy of NESN

NESN – “There was plenty of fanfare surrounding Moncada when he defected form Cuba in 2014, and the Red Sox went all out to get him, inking the switch-hitting second baseman to a $31.5 million contract in 2015. And in his short time in the states, Moncada is turning heads.”

I feel like Costanza after he ate one of Kramer’s mangoes from Joe’s fruit shop. You want to talk about excited? How about having a player waiting in the wings that many scouts say projects to be most similar to Mike Trout.
costanza mangoes
Whether he sticks at 2B remains to be seen, Pedroia is signed through 2021 so that could be a logjam issue, but Moncada is also built like an absolute brickhouse so he may be better suited for the outfield in the long run. Of course I try and temper my expectations because it seems like the Red Sox are always overrating their prospects, but these reports are coming from national scouts. How soon is too soon to pre-order my Moncada jersey? Because I’ll never forget seeing this guy on Landsdowne with a stitched Craig Hansen jersey right after he got called up and we all know how that worked out. Let me just stick a copy of Baseball Prospectus under my pillow until then.

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