The long, tortured Brandon Wood era has come to an end for the Los Angeles Angels. Tuesday, the club designated the former top prospect for assignment, meaning they'll have to work out a trade with another team or put him on waivers. If no one claims the third baseman, it's possible that he'll accept an assignment to Class AAA. The move was made to get Erick Aybar back on the roster upon his return from the DL.
Angels’ Brandon Wood Designated For Assignment
It wasn’t always like this.
| Year | Age | Tm | Lg | Lev | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 20 | Rancho Cucamonga | CALL | A+ | 130 | 595 | 536 | 109 | 172 | 51 | 4 | 43 | 115 | 48 | 128 | .321 | .383 | .672 | 1.054 |
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:
| Year | G | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Seasons | 172 | 493 | 463 | 78 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 33 | 13 | 153 | .168 | .197 | .259 | .456 | 22 |
That is Brandon Wood's major-league career. Just for comparison, here's a link to Carlos Zambrano's career batting line. It's like comparing Alex Cora to Barry Bonds.
Some prospects make it, and some don’t. Few don’t make it as spectacularly as Brandon Wood didn’t make it. He is still only 26. Someone will give him another chance, and now we’ll see if that someone will trade a player to the Angels for the privilege.
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