Brandon Wood Going To Pittsburgh Pirates

In a move that had been rumored since yesterday, the Pittsburgh Pirates claimed infielder Brandon Wood, the former mega-prospect who has thus far been the worst hitter of his generation. It’s a pairing made in...well, not heaven. Maybe the waiting room of a dentist’s office. Perhaps in the chat room of a shady online dating site for ex-convicts. Whatever it is, it just fits. From Ken Rosenthal:

Wood figures to get shot at shortstop with #Pirates. Team has not been happy with CedenoThe move makes sense for the Pirates, as they’ve been starting Ronny Cedeno at shortstop, dealing with his inconsistent defense in the hopes that his bat will come around. That’s kind of like watching a pot of water to see if it will boil, provided the pot of water is on top of the box that the stove came in, and not on a functioning stove. So the Pirates don’t have much to lose by seeing what Wood can offer -- he really was a fantastic prospect, and he is still just 26.

It wasn’t always like this.

That was a shortstop. A 20-year-old shortstop. Sure, it was the California League, which is a hitters’ league, but you can understand why people were giddy about him. According to Baseball America, he was the #3 prospect in the game heading into the 2006 season. He was a sure thing. He had some more good years in the minors, albeit with some serious strikeout concerns, and no one -- no one -- saw this coming: