Eight years ago, Brandon Wood was a first-round pick (23rd overall) by the Angels. Five years ago, Baseball America dubbed him the third-best prospect in the game. He ranked 8th and 16th on that same list the following two seasons. Now, the 26-year-old Wood may be an organizational afterthought. According to Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times, Wood's chances of making the Angels' roster are dim, barring a trade or release of fellow infielder Alberto Callaspo.
Wood hit just .146/.174/.208 last season through 243 plate appearances. He managed just six walks while striking out 71 times — more than 29% of his plate appearances.
Wood is now out of options, meaning he'd have to pass through waivers unclaimed for the Angels to re-assign him to the minor leagues. Despite his struggles, it's unlikely this would happen, as a rebuilding team (DiGiovanna speculates on Toronto, specifically) would give him a chance based on his track record as an elite prospect.
Despite a strong push over the past week in Spring Training (7-19 with 2 HR, a double, and a triple), Wood remains buried on the team's depth chart. Maicer Izturis and Callaspo are ahead of him at third base, Erick Aybar and Izturis are ahead at short, while the combination Kendrys Morales (who will open the year on the DL), Mark Trumbo, and Howie Kendrick are in front of him on the first base depth chart.
DiGiovanna speculates that a trade of Callaspo to a team in need of infield help, such as the Phillies, would create room for Wood to make the club. We heard last week though that the Phillies payroll is tapped out, and Callaspo is set to earn $2MM this season. A release of Callaspo's non-guaranteed contract would also create room. The Angels, however, would still be responsible for part of his salary and would be risking a somewhat known commodity for Wood's upside, which may never surface.
It seems likely that Wood's time as an Angel may be coming to a close, with either a trade or DFA coming in the near future, giving him a chance at a fresh start in a new organization.
I’m surprised that Wood wasn’t a throw in the Wells trade. I would love to see if Dwayne Murphy could do anything with him
Good point. Would have made sense. Angels maybe didn’t want to let him go yet, who knows.
Why would the Jays do that? He’d still be out of options and Toronto would run the risk of still having to DFA him, and then losing him via waivers, which is exactly what will happen if he doesn’t make the Angels’ opening day roster.
Which is why the Jays would likely take a pass on him. No good on the active roster and you can’t send him down without losing him.
he’s 26 and proven all he can in the minors. At this point its change of scenery and produce or he’s out of the mlb, so him being out of options is irrelevant..
This guy raked in AA and AAA, you don’t just lose skill, but you lose confidence in yourself and things can spiral out of control when you don’t believe in yourself.
but you bring him here, tell him he has an everyday job rain or shine aslong as he commits to making the necessary improvements the coaching staff suggests for him, it could turn him around..
If it doesn’t it doesn’t, its not like its going to cost the jays a playoff spot.
So, in Toronto, where do you play him on an every day basis?
3B. I am not saying that it would happen but it could make some sense for them to take a chance on him. He has proven he can hit in the minors and maybe a change of scenery and a chance to play everyday would help him. Somebody will take a chance on him and he could turn it around.
third base, move bautista back to RF which he prefers.
Rivera can spend some time at DH and be a 4th OF for days off.
I think the “playing in Japan” clock is ticking on Wood. He seems to be the embodiment of a 4A player.
Nearly 500 big-league PA’s and an OPS under .500? Not a big sample size, but I’d say he’s probably done, although his minor-league numbers are great. Those are some absolute brutal numbers and he looks more timid at the plate than any big-leaguer I’ve ever seen outside of maybe 2010 McLouth.
There’s a little known story about a trade involving Gary Matthews to Boston for Mike Lowell at the Winter meetings last offseason, of which the Angels pulled out of at the last minute upon the discovery of his thumb injury… Or was it his wrist?
The same thing happened with the Rangers.
This tells me the Angels were not exactly sure Brandon Wood was ready to be the everyday third baseman for the Big Club on Opening Day 2010.
They were right.
Since Wood was already out of options, perhaps the plan was him sharing time at 3B with an aging veteran/mentor in Mike Lowell.
Unfortunately, that trade falling through pushed Wood forward, and he had to fight through it all season.
Not really an excuse for such a miserable season, but those are the facts — as far as I know.
And perhaps Wood benefitted from Kevin Long’s offseason instruction using that drill he is somewhat famous for using, which helped Robinson Cano turn back into a monster at the plate.
The issue of course is time. And with the team already hoping Scott Kazmir and a handful of other players bounce back this season, there isn’t anymore room for crossing their fingers with Wood.
It’s time to move on.
If he doesn’t make the opening day roster for the Angels, I think the Pirates are a great spot for Brandon Wood in 2011.
I agree with nearly everything you said. But the Pirates? They already have Josh Fields, Andy Marte, and Garret Atkins in camp. That’d be a miserable place to be yet another failed young 3B looking for at-bats. Unless you’re thinking of him as a shortstop…
I am actually. Although I heard Garrett Atkins was released.
I even had a crazy thought about the Angels keeping Wood as one of those #9 hitting shortstops, like Walt Weiss and Ozzie Guillen, and just closing the door on his power potential and focusing on being a good defender.
That of course would be pending a bounce back season from Erick Aybar.
But like I said, it’s a crazy thought.
SS or 3B, Wood can probably land on any club where the pressure of performing on a team that is expected to win right now isn’t as much of a priority as it is in Anaheim.
I could see the Pirates taking a chance on Wood if he were available. They seem to collect failed former 1st round picks – but it wouldn’t be a bad roll of the dice to see if he can at least out play Cedeno.
I agree completely with this Cedeno is annoying me as a Pirate fan. What about someone like an A ball player with a little upside for him. Can’t really give up a top prospect and I don’t think his resume warrants even a B or C-type MLB ready prospect. At the same time though he is still pretty youngwith a lot of team control.
The Pirates could give him regular playing time wich might help him develop a comfort level both at the plate and in the field.
I could definitely see the Pirates taking a chance on him. What else do they have at SS? Cedeno? Cirasco? Why not?
Has Wood’s time with the Angels already ran out?
I can’t imagine Angels thinking much if anything of him right now.
Can he still play short at all? Or is he strictly a third baseman now?
He had errors all over the diamond, but he can play 3rd, short and first if need be
Padres
Cmon guys his OPS was only .382 give him a break! He’ll turn it around…….oh wait no he won’t, .382 OPS is god awful and he has no future in MLB
Haha, you got us good. I was about to get on the phone with Wren until I read the end. Then I remembered I don’t have Wren’s phone number. Actually, I don’t know anyone’s phone number…….literally. So all you’ve accomplished is reminding me that I’m miserable, and for that I won’t stop until you take your last breath.
A .382 OPS? The Orioles might want to give him a look at their cleanup spot.
Wow sick joke dude. Never heard an Orioles joke before…
Lighten up. I figured someone with the name O’s2011Champs had a sense of humor.
Nice
I’m sure the Phillies would have some interest in him… not sure what the Angels would want back in a deal.
Brown, Singleton, Kruk, and Valdez.
I don’t see the phillies being a fit.. they are a win now team and don’t have the time to have him out their strugglying..
I see the Mets showing interest in him….that is, if he’s still capable of playing at short. Have him at AAA Buffalo until he learns a little something called PLATE DISCIPLINE (Wood’s biggest achilles heel the Angels have failed to fix), shift Tejada to 2nd base and use Wood as Plan B in case something does happen with Reyes.
I have a question. If a player is placed on waivers, how is the process handled since no teams have records?
It’s based in 2010 record…
Like to see the Dodgers in on this. Blake already hurt…
I’ve always thought Wood was good enough to man SS, about half of the SS in the league suck with the glove.
The Angels have really done some odd things with their hitting prospects.
Agreed. It’s pretty rare to see a supposed top prospect called up to play once every two weeks the way the Angels seemed to always do with Wood. I think they really wrecked his confidence and made it to where he really pressed in those rare instances where they gave him an extended look. He seemed to make some adjustments (cutting down his Ks in the minors) so it’d be interesting to see if he could put it together in the big leagues with a good hitting coach and a patient organization.
somewhat similar to Dallas Mcphereson
Agreed but it didn’t help that his Spine blew up every time he tried to play.
He was basically given the job in 2010 playing pretty much every game for the first third of the season or so, so the “sporadic at bats” argument has lost it’s luster. Cutting down the K’s at the expense of shortening his swing and diminishing any type of gap power is pretty much useless, we might as well just stick with Callaspo because he’s at least proven he can hit above the Mendoza line.
He pretty much has the upside of Gary Coleman at this point, at least on the Angels roster.
to the padres as a backup left side of the infield player? yes please
to the padres as a backup left side of the infield player? yes please
There’s a little known story about a trade involving Gary Matthews to Boston for Mike Lowell at the Winter meetings last offseason, of which the Angels pulled out of at the last minute upon the discovery of his thumb injury… Or was it his wrist?
The same thing happened with the Rangers.
This tells me the Angels were not exactly sure Brandon Wood was ready to be the everyday third baseman for the Big Club on Opening Day 2010.
They were right.
Since Wood was already out of options, perhaps the plan was him sharing time at 3B with an aging veteran/mentor in Mike Lowell.
Unfortunately, that trade falling through pushed Wood forward, and he had to fight through it all season.
Not really an excuse for such a miserable season, but those are the facts — as far as I know.
And perhaps Wood benefitted from Kevin Long’s offseason instruction using that drill he is somewhat famous for using, which helped Robinson Cano turn back into a monster at the plate.
The issue of course is time. And with the team already hoping Scott Kazmir and a handful of other players bounce back this season, there isn’t anymore room for crossing their fingers with Wood.
It’s time to move on.
If he doesn’t make the opening day roster for the Angels, I think the Pirates are a great spot for Brandon Wood in 2011.
why did you repeat this
Because while replying to the previous comment, I had not actually decided what I was going to say about this post, lol. It sort of materialized in my reply and so I just cut and pasted it to start another thread. Probably not necessary, but whatever. lol
ahhh….i was just curious..
regardless i pretty much agree with you…ive thought it was time to move on for quite a while..
its lame that mike scoscia gets a boner for certain people and either keeps them around way past their stay point (wood) or dislikes them and chooses to sit them and eventually move them… (napoli)
you think mathis is going to contribute 30 homers this season…? ya know?
Wood might make some sense for Arizona. It’d beat rolling out Melvin Mora at third. Of course, Wood still needs some coaching on cutting down his K rate so on second thought Arizona might not be the best place for him.
Working with Clint Hurdle in Pittsburgh is an interesting thought.
If Wood is DFA’ed I think he’d be a good fit for the Indians, who insist on giving Chisenhall more seasoning time. Donald is injured which leaves 3B to……Jayson Nix? Jack Hannahan? Clear Wood needs a change of scenery.
Wood may never make it but folks are all too quick to write him off. Sample size. Sample size.
The most PA’s received during a single season – 226. That’s roughly 1/3rd of a season. His total of 479 PA’s (about 2/3rds of a regular season) has been spread out over 4 years. He’s been shuffled back and forth from the big club to Salt Lake for 4 years now. Go ahead and find some guys that flourished under those circumstances. It just doesn’t happen.
His performance to date has been historically bad. No question about it. There is also no question that Brandon Wood has crazy skills. You are talking about a guy who has career OPS around 900 while playing a decent SS/3B. A guy who was a consensus top 10 minor league player.
I, for one, am not prepared to write him off. It’s incredibly clear that we haven’t seen the real Brandon Wood. Maybe we never will. But there is no way anyone can convince me that a guy who mashes in the minors is anywhere close to being as bad as Wood has been to date.
Call it poor management by the Angels by shuffling him around. Call it a head case situation where Wood has become his worst enemy. Maybe it’s Hatcher’s coaching? Whatever the case may be, Wood is exactly the kind of guy that someone needs to take a chance on. Give him plenty of rope and see what happens. I still think there is a 260 / 25HR guy in there.
The guy hasn’t even shown a glimmer of hope at the major league level. He hit .146/.174/.382 in nearly 250 PA’s last year (not 226, AB’s and PA’s are not the same thing), and they were consistent at bats especially when he was essentially given a job in the first three months of 2010. Do you know how bad .146 is? He was pretty much the worst hitter in baseball last year. Not to mention his 10 errors in 67 GS (which is on pace for around 25 errors in a full season). 6 BB’s and 71 K’s. Watching every first pitch fastball down the middle of the plate. And etc. etc. etc.
Having “crazy skills” in the minors in a historically hitter friendly league has no relevance to major league ability. How can you be historically bad while possessing crazy skills? If he is a head case then I don’t want him around anyways, as it takes serious self-confidence and mental fortitude to be a professional athlete in baseball or any pro sport for that matter. Maybe he can find a therapist and squeak out a job for a bottom barrel, no pressure team like the Pirates, Indians or Orioles, but we can’t afford to carry him on a top tier team expected to compete for the division.
After 2010 where he was GIVEN the job and pretty much did as bad as you can possibly do, how much more rope does he really deserve? People that still have an endless fountain of faith for this kid intensely baffle me.
I think the glimmer of hope other clubs would focus on is the adjustment he made at the minor league level. His strikeout rate steadily declined from a horrid 28.5% in 2006 to 18.7% in 2009 without a drop in his power numbers.
You’re absolutely right. His major league performance has been as bad as it gets. But the way the Angels handled his development is about as bad as it gets too.
I would just be hesitant about writing off a player who not that long ago was ranked as the No. 3 prospect in all of baseball before he’s even received a full season’s worth of PA at the big league level.
Some guys just take longer to get it at the major league level. Others never get it. If I was running a rebuilding team, I’d take a chance on Wood to see whether he’s the former or the latter.
My bad about the PA’s – yes he has received a grand total of 479 PA’s over his ML career. The %’s still work out though – he saw approximately 1/3rd of a season in 2011 and his entire MLB stint over 4 years still equates to a total of approximately 2/3rds of a full season.
Wood was the starter for the first 1.5 months of the season. Then he had a month off (May 23rd – June 15th). He played pretty regularly for a few more weeks and then he started a stint of irregular play. It wasn’t until September that he was getting regular starts again. That is incredibly erratic. If you can find some examples of players that thrived after seeing that type of usage I would love to see. Fact is, playing everyday, then being benched and playing maybe once every two weeks, and then playing everyday again is challenging.
Crazy skills in the minors translates to ballparks outside of SLC. He destroyed Rancho Cucamonga and Arkansas. Neither are hitter friendly. It just so happens that most of his minor league career has been spent in SLC so that’s the location that we have the most data about him from.
We don’t have much reliable data on Wood from a defensive perspective. All we have to go on really are scouts reviews. Those will vary from very strong to average. I can’t recall the last scouting report that indicated his glove was below average. He made his fair share of errors but we all know that errors just might be the worst possible way to rate a defensive player available to us. It’s quick, easy, and unfortunately, fraught with problems.
There is absolutely no defense to his poor performance in 2010. If I thought that he would repeat that performance then there is NO way that I would hold onto him. He was, as I said above, historically awfully. However, I don’t see the roster so full of talent that we can’t carry the guy and give him one more shot. Callapso does nothing for me. I love Izturis but he loves the DL. Aybar was terrible last year. Kendrick refuses to progress. Fact is the Angels need help all over the infield. Wood could be useful.
Should the team release him I bet he doesn’t last an hour or two before another team claims him.
You really REALLY like brandon wood dont you..? 🙂
Im just messing with you guy, but in all honesty…unless a miracle is occuring and his last two homers mean the bat is heating up…im afraid its gonna be the same ol’ “dead” wood. Hopefully the angels will have enough sence to make some kind of move. I dont know if sending him down would be the answer…(your just going to lose him)…hopefully they can dupe someone into some kind of trade that would benefit the team. How that would work…i have no clue…
I think taking off the the pressure to perform now, on a team expecting to win now, will get Brandon Wood out of his head and onto the field. Some rookies thrive right away on a winning team (Alfonso Soriano, K-Rod), but unfortunately Brandon Wood isn’t one of those players.
I wouldn’t mind seeing the Braves get Wood. He could serve as Chipper’s backup at 3B allowing Prado to stay in left. He could also pick up some additional at bats with some playing time at SS and 1B. And hopefully grow into a regular starting 3B somewhere down the line.
I know most people want to give up on him and I can understand why but he could just as easily be the next Nelson Cruz as he could Dallas McPherson (sorry Dallas).
Since Morales will start the year on the DL, I bet that Wood will make the team coming out of spring training. Even assuming that Scioscia keeps 12 pitchers, that leaves 4 roster spots for reserves: Wilson (or Mathis, if Wilson starts); Callaspo; Willits; and Wood.
Releasing Wood would compromise the Angels’ MI depth. If they only keep Callaspo, who do they call up in the event of injury (which is guaranteed to happen)?
you dont see trumbo on the bench opening day? The guys it performing in spring training, and I would much rather have him at first to start my season..?
Not on the bench–he will be the starting 1B.
You are right though; the tougher question is what happens when Morales returns? If the Angels find a way to give Trumbo regualar ABs, great–otherwise I would rather see him in the minors. If you keep Trumbo, I think either Wood or Willits gets released or traded. Since the Angels have more OF depth (Pettit, Moore, etc.), I would lean toward moving Willits, but lets see what happens between now and mid-April.
Yea, Im suprised they both are still on the team (willits and wood)…I have no problem with either of them, but both are sub par players as compared to the overall team. Trumbo actually started out a pitcher believe it or not…and ended up playing first base. That shows some versatility….why not start training him for third?
they actually tried that, and it did not go well