OCTOBER 26: Brown has elected free agency, Matt Eddy of Baseball America reports on Twitter. That will bring his tenure in Philadelphia to an end, barring a somewhat surprising reunion.
OCTOBER 19: The Phillies announced today that former top prospect and starting right fielder Domonic Brown has been outrighted off their 40-man roster. As a player with more than three years of big league service time, Brown will have the option to elect free agency rather than accepting an assignment to Triple-A. Also outrighted were catcher/first baseman Tommy Joseph, outfielder Brian Bogusevic and outfielder Kelly Dugan.
Brown, 28, batted just .228/.284/.349 this season — a disappointing season and a near-mirror image of his 2014 batting line: .235/.285/.349. Ranked by Baseball America as the game’s No. 1 overall prospect midway through the 2010 season, many believed Brown to be ticketed for stardom. The former 20th-round pick batted .327/.391/.589 with 20 homers in just 93 games between Double-A and Triple-A in that 2010 campaign, leading to visions of future 30-home runs seasons from the powerful lefty batter.
Brown looked to be delivering on that promise in 2013 when he belted 27 homers and batted a hefty .272/.324/.494 in his age-25 season, but much of that production came in a torrid six-week stretch, and he’s been unable to recreate anything resembling that level of success. He’ll assuredly draw some interest from other clubs with the hope of buying low on his once-potent bat. Brown cleared four years of big league service in 2015, meaning any team that signs him would be able to control him for 2016 and 2017, if he’s productive enough to justify a spot on the roster for that long.
Making this series of moves even more disappointing for the Phillies is that Joseph, too, once ranked among their top prospects. The main piece acquired from the Giants in the trade that sent Hunter Pence to San Francisco, Joseph’s once-promising career has been slowed by injuries — most recently a series of significant concussion issues. Joseph’s first full year in the Phillies organization was marred by injuries, but he looked to have turned a corner in 2014 when he got off to a .282/.345/.551 start in 27 games at Double-A Reading. A left wrist issue that ultimately required surgery cut that season short as well, though, and he hit just .193/.220/.301 in Triple-A this season before moving to first base due to concussion woes.
The 25-year-old Dugan rated 17th among Phillies farmhands last offseason, per Baseball America, but batted just .221/.295/.298 upon reaching Triple-A for the first time this year. Bogusevic, 31, has bounced around the league since debuting with the Astros in 2010. He’s a lifetime .238/.311/.373 hitter in 834 big league plate appearances.
I wonder is some other organization could retool his swing.
Brown’s swing?
Guessing that’s who he meant.
yes, a change in philosophy and approach could do him some good. I think a team might claim him.
RIP
If Carlos Gonzalez is going to be traded, I wouldn’t mind seeing what Brown could do for the Rockies. I mean what do we have to lose.
I was waiting for a “what can Brown do for you” joke haha
But seriously, he’s just not that good. His swing needs to be reworked, his baseball IQ is poor, and he still can’t play defense despite being a pretty athletic guy. If I was another organization I’d give him a minor league deal with an invite to major league spring training. But odds are a team like Colorado would be better served giving their own young kids a chance to sink or swim at the majors to see what they have (similar to what the Phillies did when they called up Altherr who was never seen as a big time prospect but in his small sample size appears to be a serviceable OF).
I’d like to take credit for the humor, but sadly that joke was 100% unintentional. The biggest problem is that the Rockies really don’t have any young kids in the OF that are ready. Kyle Parker is probably yet another first round whiff by the previous GM and David Dahl will probably not be ready until 2017 at the earliest, but someone has to play there until then. Even without the defense and baseball IQ, I’d love to see his power in RF for the Rox. But you are correct that a minor league deal and an NRI does make the most sense in this case.
The best humor usually is unintentional. But given everything you said, sounds like the Rockies would be a good landing spot for him then.
@ RayRay
I see what you mean. What better place for a hitter than Coors field? He could be a great reclamation project.
Going to coors may be a smart idea for him as well
Dugan is an intriguing minor league free agent piece. Hes accumulated 7 years of service.
Dugan definitely has talent, but just can’t stay healthy. Seems like he’s been around forever but he’s only 25 so hopefully he can put it altogether somewhere.
More than his swing needs to be retooled:
m.mlb.com/news/article/147005266/concussion-concer…
This is the best thing for Brown. Hes needs a fresh start. No matter what he did, in Philadelphia, he’ll never be “good enough” to meet those expectations that were put on him. He was in the same class as Heyward, Stanton, Upton and Wil Myers and just never did much.
Baltimore. Typical Duquette scrap heap sign. Nothing against brown here, but this is exactly the type of player he’s known for going after and has an extensive record.. Bellview basher, brian Daubach. Lee Tinsley, Delmon Young. He’ll search for that guy with power everyone has given up on that costs league minimum every time with no floor and decent upside.
Young was an important piece in 2014. Hit around 300 the entire year. ’15 was another story for numerous guys including Young. I think Dan was very unhappy and it showed. He wanted the Toronto job but Angelos wasn’t approached properly with an offer from the Rogers Comm. people. And the team suffered!
It seems like you and someone else totally misunderstood my post judging by the minuses it received.. Duquette is VERY good at scrounging the bottom of the barrell for short term finds and always has been. I have gone over this numerous times here, as well as other places and all you, as well as anyone else had to do was look up the VERY nice numbers his discover of Daubach put up for 4 seasons, as well as Tinsley as a super sub/p/t OF during a season they were competitive to see that.
He’s as goo (or better) than anyone at finding these types, almost to a fault and will sometimes sign to many. You might remember he even went after Dontrelle Willis a couple of years back and tried to fix him even. That’s what I mean. He found Daubach in the Indy leagues.
Sometimes my posts do seem cryptic, but one thing will stay steady.. I was never in favor of Boston firing The Duke. Looking back one can say it worked out, but there was nothing wrong with the way he ran the organization, it was all on the nagging, nearly useless NE media.
Depending on what the Braves do, he could be a possibility. 2017 was always the year. Give him a minor league deal, if he makes the team, you have either a starter or at the very least a platoon/bench bat. This of course is assuming he’s willing to make adjustments. If he even can..
I can still see him being a good productive player
With all due respect, Brown has a very limited baseball IQ. He often doesn’t throw to the right base and doesn’t have a great grasp of the game. I remember I was at one game and he barely trotted to catch a ball that would have been the third out. Because of his lack of hustle, the ball dropped and the inning continued. The opposing team ultimately scored, and the Phillies lost that game. The catch that Domonic SHOULD have made would have ended that inning!
I hate to say this about anyone, but Domonic is not the sharpest pencil in the box and he’s very lazy.
He also has another strike against him: Scott Boras is his agent! He will try and oversell Dom’s services to any interested buyer. I pity the team that signs him!
I would expect Brown to command a one-year, guaranteed deal. He’s still only 28, and could be a low-risk acquisition for a team who doesn’t seem to be in contention. If he can find any semblance of his 2013 form, he could then be moved to a contender for a mid-level prospect. If he busts, it’s no big deal for a team like Atlanta or Cincinnati
Would make a lot of sense for the Braves. He could be put in LF for little money and would allow the Braves to release or trade and cover just about all of the contract of Bourn or Swisher.
This is what happens when you don’t sell your soul to me
I’d love to see the mariners pick him up and give him a give him a chance. Definitely the athletic type they’re looking for.
Athletic type? Scroll back up and watch the video I posted a link to.
I can see the Orioles, Angels, Reds, Royals, Tigers and A’s as teams that could use him.