> But go back and scroll through the first round draft picks in 2005 after the Pirates took Andrew McCutchen at 11—better yet, between McCutchen and Clay Buchholz in the sandwich round—and the fact remains that McLeod, Epstein and Red Sox made one of their best picks ever to get Jacoby Ellsbury at 23. Eight years and $20.8M later, they have two rings and two parades and if he leaves, the expectation that when he returns, he does so to a long, thunderous standing moment of thanks.
It is going to be sad to see Jacoby go, but his time in Boston was pretty awesome.[^f0833]
[^f0833]: It is amazing how quickly a World Series win can wipe away a few years of injuries and other “collapses.”