LongDrive wrote: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.
Bill James doesn't like Brandon Wood:
About Brandon Wood, for those who still have hope, he's been 7-19, with 2 HRS, a double and a triple. He used to know how to hit.
Asked by: mauimike
Answered: March 20, 2011
Well. . .but there is a tremendous gap between the offensive context that Wood has played in in the minor leagues, and the offensive context he plays in in the majors. The Red Sox generally have pitcher's parks or neutral parks for their minor league teams, whereas the major league team plays in a hitter's park, so when the player comes to the majors there are two adjustments--a downward adjustment based on the quality of competition, but an upward adjustment based on the run context. The two tend to be a wash, and Red Sox rookies tend to hit in the majors (for the Sox) the same thing they have hit in the minors. It's been this way for decades.
The Angels are the opposite; all or almost all of their minor league teams play in extremely high-run contexts, whereas the major league team plays in a pitcher's park (2010 park factor .86), so when a hitter comes out of that system to the majors, he has TWO large negative pulls on his batting numbers, one from the park and one from the quality of the competition. Some guys deal with it fairly well, but to some players it's like they are running in knee-high water all of a sudden.
And Wood, frankly, was never that good. He had phony numbers from playing in places when teams scored 5.5 runs a game, and he should never have been expected to come to the majors and hit. He's basically Craig Paquette. He COULD hit .260 with 25 homers, possibly, as Paquette did in 1996 (.259 with 22, actually), but that's a top-end estimate.
