Brandon Wood

[Erstad Grit]

Hit .098  with 1 HR for the Sugar Land Skeeters, in an Independent baseball league. 

 

I respect that he is still grinding it out holding on to a hope, but find it really sad. 

[disarcina]

one of the last reclamation projects at the Sugar Land Skeeters -- if I am remembering this right, was a former LHP signed by the Halos after being among the league leaders in strikeouts for about three seasons -- the guy had something like an 0-3 record with an ERA of 14.50 or something with the Skeeters.

 

Not too much after that (in 2014) he was winning something like 16 games for the Oakland A's and pitched very effectively at times (before kinda of trailing off at the end of the season).

 

Scott Kazmir.

[wopphil]

I'll never understand how he flopped so bad. He was so good in the minors, at young ages at every level. And I realize he struck out a fair amount, but it wasn't an exorbitant amount (and he had acceptable walk rates).

[Tank]

wood was a total feast or famine kind of player, like a modern-day roy hobbs minus the storybook ending and the unknown chick who shoots him.

 

he burst on the scene in the minors, but was pretty much done by the time he hit anaheim. such a weird career arc.

[nando714]

He is why I don't mind trading rondons.

[Oz27]

I'll never understand how he flopped so bad. He was so good in the minors, at young ages at every level. And I realize he struck out a fair amount, but it wasn't an exorbitant amount (and he had acceptable walk rates).

I never understand how people talk suggest that we should have seen him coming. In hindsight, there were flaws that we underplayed a little much. But I'll never understand how someone who put up a .970 OPS at AAA as a 23-year-old, which came both after and before excellent seasons at AAA and also after huge campaigns at other minor league levels, just stopped being able to hit. In '09 his AAA OPS was .910, in 2010 he went back there on that rehab assignment and it was just .496 in 54 PA. You can talk about holes in his swing and whatever, but someone who had a .970 OPS at AAA in 2013 shouldn't be putting up a .314 OPS at independent ball just six years later. It's one of the most perplexing tales you'll ever come across and I've always felt so damn sorry for him over it.

[Oz27]

Also, Tracy McGrady played on that team? What the hell?

 

Ryan Langerhams and Delwyn Young too.

[Blarg]

Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom.

 

Wood is trying to find harder rock by the looks of it.

[gurn67]

I remember when he didn't want to play Winter ball because it would interfere with his wedding. I'm sure his fiancee thought she was marrying a Major League ballplayer.

[mtangelsfan]

I remember when he didn't want to play Winter ball because it would interfere with his wedding. I'm sure his fiancee thought she was marrying a Major League ballplayer.

 

That is a stupid post. 

[laagamer]

When I was in HS and we brought him up, I sent him an encouraging fan letter along with a Quakes rookie card of his.

Came back a week into the offseason signed.

Man is first class in my book and I wish him nothing but the best.

[Don]

Yeah, I don't get what happened to him. You'd think that even if he "missed" as a prospect, he'd be coming off of someone's bench putting up a .240/.310/.420 line as a backup SS/3B/LF or something.

[Mark68]

Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom.

 

Wood is trying to find harder rock by the looks of it.

I think he's trying to get under the rock.

[Angel Oracle]

The sad part is that he turns 30 next season.  

[mtangelsfan]

And the exact same "joke" has been made on here before. Probably from the same guy.

 

Doesn't make it any less stupid or insulting.

[Richard]

Yikes..

 

 

Who was a bigger bust, Wood or McPherson?

[nando714]

The sad part is that he turns 30 next season.

Then he's ready for a 10 yr deal

[m0nkey]

Yikes..

 

 

Who was a bigger bust, Wood or McPherson?

in before 7 posts about how mcpherson wasn't a bust and it was his back that did him in

[nando714]

McPherson would have been solid if it wasn't for his back issues

[AngelsLakersFan]

Yikes..

 

 

Who was a bigger bust, Wood or McPherson?

 

IMO Wood was definitely a bigger bust than McPherson.

 

They were similar hitters in the minors (Dallas was better) but Wood was the shortstop, and McPherson wasn't much on defense.

 

A major problem with Brandon, that I remember pointing out about a year or two before he came up, was that he wasn't hitting enough at AAA to stick at third base, and he wasn't a strong enough defender to stick at short. Unfortunately his complete lack of hitting ability after that made his defense a non-issue.

[T.G.]

Definitely one of the nice ball players I've ever met at spring training.

[Erstad Grit]

Dallas was a bigger bust since we pumped him up as the reason to let Glaus go. 

[Tank]

this board sure likes to forget that mcpherson injured his back.

[tdawg87]

And hit pretty well in his time with the Angels.

Wood, on the other hand...

[WallyWorld]

the thing with Wood was that he wasn't as bad as his stats showed, things just snowballed on him. You could see it all over his face. Once he got too far into his own head it was game over.