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Brandon Wood cut from winter ball team
November 18th, 2008, 8:05 am · 6 Comments · posted by Sam Miller, The Orange County Register
Dallas McPherson Brandon Wood, once the Angels’ most promising prospect, was cut by his Dominican winterball team because of poor play, the LA Times reports.
Three years ago, Wood, then a 20-year-old in high-A ball, emerged as one of the top prospects in all of baseball. He hit 43 home runs and 51 doubles for Rancho Cucamonga that year, and was the first player in history to have 100 extra base hits in a single minor league season. Baseball Prospectus and Baseball America rated him one of the five best prospects overall. The only question seemed to be whether he would hit like Cal Ripken, Jr. at shortstop or like Mike Schmidt at third base.
The next year, at double A, he hit just 25 home runs, but he still slugged .553 and was very young for the level. In 2007 he moved to triple A, saw his power drop still further, and was by now striking out nearly three times as often as he walked. Baseball Prospectus dropped him to 38th on its annual prospects list.
He recovered some of the power in 2008 and roasted the Pacific Coast League for a .970 OPS. Wrote Baseball Prospectus’ prospect guru Kevin Goldstein: “Scouts have always seen Wood as just a few adjustments from really taking off, and maybe this is it.”
But he was awful during 157 big league plate appearances, walking just four times, striking out 43 and putting up a batting line eerily similar to Omar Vizquel’s.
Before last year, Baseball Prospectus’ Pecota prediction tool forecast Wood to be worth about four to six wins per season over the next half-dozen years.
In 48 at-bats with the Estrellas in the Dominican league, he had eight hits and 16 strike outs. He homered just once.
Forty-eight at-bats against uneven competition can’t tell us much, and Wood still has plenty of past success — and undeniable power — to build on. Don’t be surprised to hear rumor-mongers in the media floating a lot of Garrett Atkins trade scenarios in the next few weeks, though.
More Angels news:
- Randy Johnson could be the answer.
- Good year for Angels to be buyers.
- Frankie not in New York yet.
- Teach your daughter knuckler, call the Angels.
6 Comments
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This does not bode well. How long can we wait for it to start clicking for him?
Maybe if Brandon Corked Wood he could hit. Until then, he’s an injury away from being McPherson.
somehow I trust the judgment of Reagins and Scoscia better than the “Estrellas” of winter ball. I’ll wait and see for myself, thanks…
Playing time…he needs playing time. If you recall, he started to get some hits just before the season ended and Aybar and Kendrick came back. He’ll be good once he gets playing time. I hope.
If Troy Glaus was a rookie under Mike Scioscia and Mickey Hatcher he never would have amounted to anything. Please Arte, bring someone in who understands developing young power hitters and give them complete power over Scioscia and Hatcher. Brandon will be a good hitter but he must be given a real chance. Look at Troy Glaus’s early years to see what these guys do early on and how they do after a year or so of playing.Glaus went from one homer in 48 games to 29 in a full season to 47 his second full season. His rookie year wasn’t good but he was allowed to play anyway and did great.
I just get tired of seeing how Mike Scioscia handles these kids. He plays them a while and then benches them because they aren’t producing. No duh, kids don’t always produce right away. You’re supposed to give them a job and bat them low in the order. Don’t put any pressure on them and let them learn. I haven’t seen Brandon get a real chance yet.
Hail, Hail Brian, You are right on! Scioscia runs Wood up and down between AAA and the Bigs for half of ‘07 and completely blew that season for him, and then turns around and does practically the same thing in ‘08. The management of this young talent sucks. For the player’s sake I hope the Angels trade him to a team that knows how to bring power along. He was sent to the Domincan because that’s what Scioscia did when he was a player.