27. Ryan Westmoreland
Ryan Westmoreland, OF, Boston Red Sox –
"“Ryan Westmoreland was the most talented player I’ve ever drafted,” the quote reads. “He would have been Boston’s lefthanded Mike Trout. A New England kid. It was a great story. He was a racehorse, 6-foot-3, strong, and as fast as can be. Raw power. Great defender. He could have been Boston’s center fielder for 15 years.”"
Those were the words Jason McLeod, the Chicago Cubs Scouting Director, used to describe Ryan Westmoreland.
Westmoreland is the only player in 2010’s top 50 that never recorded a Major League appearance. In the previous season, he played in 60 games and hit .296 with a .401 on-base percentage. Boston had a local star to man centerfield for the foreseeable future. He was the next big thing. Not long after these rankings were released, Westmoreland required brain surgery to remove a cavernous malformation that could eventually cause a variety of maladies from blindness to paralysis or even death. He went in thinking the surgery would, in essence, fill a pothole on his path to Major League stardom.
The surgery left him with a whole set of new issues, including trouble with his equilibrium, and numbness in his face, hands, and feet. After clawing his way back to the point that he was able to play in an instructional game in the Dominican in late 2011, they found a second cavernous malformation and a second surgery was required. He officially retired from baseball in March of 2013. He is currently an assistant coach UMASS Dartmouth and has his sights set on eventually making his way to a Major League front office.
26. Brett Lawrie
Brett Lawrie, 3B, Milwaukee Brewers – Brett Lawrie had a solid six seasons in the majors. He racked up 15.1 rWAR in a short period of time. His 2.52 rWAR/season is the eighth-best on this list, right between Madison Bumgarner and Michael Brantley. He made his debut during the 2011 season and played his last big-league game in 2016 at age 26. He had 31 defensive runs saved in his first 166 games at third base. His bat never quite came alive with a career OPS of .734.