Give It Away Now

A few years ago, I found myself in a heated argument about former Sox prospect Abe Alvarez. After the second-round pick was named Pitcher of the Year for the Sea Dogs back in ’04, I figgered he’d eventually prove a useful left-handed cog in the machine, most likely at the back of the rotation. The other gentleman politely disagreed, claiming Honest Abe was a soft-tosser destined to unravel in the big show. Fueled by the demon alcohol, our disagreement quickly got out of hand.Needless to say, I ended up killing the other guy with a crude weapon fashioned from a broken Schlitz bottle and plutonium. But I still carry the lesson of that day: Prospects are prospects, and no matter what the stat sheets and minor league reports tell you, you’re never quite sure what they’re going to give you on the main stage.It’s a point that the great Chad Finn hammers home in his insightful piece on what it’s gonna take for the Sox to pry Adrian Gonzalez from San Diego.Simply put, it’s gonna take prospe...