Interesting Article About Former Top Prospect

[Inside Pitch]

Good for Wood.  Being  happy and healthy is the best thing anyone can hope for.

[failos]

10 hours ago, eaterfan said:

Why? Both had big power and their biggest issue was strike outs? They may have very different results once Adell hits the majors, but it's not like the questions with Wood aren't the same ones that exist with Adell.

Just because you can make the comparison doesn’t mean you should.

[AngelsLakersFan]

19 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

Nope. He killed it. .900 OPS, 25 HR.

However it was when his strikeout problem really became a legit concern. 28.5% K rate.

This is why I think Adell needs more time. His strikeout and walk rate at SLC this past year was ugly.

Those are great numbers in the big leagues but they aren't that special for a prospect. Consider Jared Walsh's one season in AA he had a .919 OPS and a considerably higher wRC+ (tougher hitting environment) and he is a fringe major leaguer.

Brandon Wood's .907 OPS at AA was 4th on his team, behind Sean Rodriguez (1.123), Mike Eylward (26 yo journeyman), and Terry Evans (.938). . 

[failos]

9 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

Actually they do.

Actually they don’t.

[Dick B Back]

I’ve joked alot on AW over the years about Brandon Wood, usually to make the point that there are no guarantees.

As a 56 year fan of the Halos (yes, I said Halos), I would have loved to see him become the stud we all hoped he would be.

It didn’t work out but I sure am happy for him!

[Taylor]

That's a fantastic article. I love that his life has come full circle with him now owning a training facility where he can mentor young up-and-comers.

I also thought it was amusing that his recurring nightmare involves Sosh calling him "Woody".

[eaterfan]

2 hours ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

Those are great numbers in the big leagues but they aren't that special for a prospect. Consider Jared Walsh's one season in AA he had a .919 OPS and a considerably higher wRC+ (tougher hitting environment) and he is a fringe major leaguer.

Brandon Wood's .907 OPS at AA was 4th on his team, behind Sean Rodriguez (1.123), Mike Eylward (26 yo journeyman), and Terry Evans (.938). . 

You don't think there's a difference between doing that as a corner at 24 than doing that at SS at age 21?

[AngelsLakersFan]

5 minutes ago, eaterfan said:

You don't think there's a difference between doing that as a corner at 24 than doing that at SS at age 21?

Of course there is a huge difference but that's not the point I was really trying to make. His performance was described as "crushing AA" when a more accurate description would be that he did well considering his age. Of course there was already talk of moving him to third base and every top prospect is going to be young for their league. The major difference between elite prospect Brandon Wood and fringe major leaguer Jared Walsh in this simplistic context was one being three years older. 

[eaterfan]

3 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

Of course there is a huge difference but that's not the point I was really trying to make. His performance was described as "crushing AA" when a more accurate description would be that he did well considering his age. Of course there was already talk of moving him to third base and every top prospect is going to be young for their league. The major difference between elite prospect Brandon Wood and fringe major leaguer Jared Walsh in this simplistic context was one being three years older. 

Absolutely. And it's important to remember the context and not just look at stats, or even stats and age. 

Looking back at Brandon Wood, it's easy to say, he struck out a lot (people brought that up at the time) but that was really the only question. Angels fans and the national media downplayed these concerns because of the monster power and there are plenty of guys who strike out a lot and figure it out as they age. I was pretty young and just getting into following prospects at the time. I'm optimistic about Adell, but at the same time I'm cautious because I could see Adell heading the same way as Wood. If he fails everyone will look back and say we overlooked the contact issues and high strikeouts, and say he was clearly overrated when we have our next highly ranked prospect in that mode. Obviously, Wood is about as bad of a situation as there could be, so the odds of Adell busting that badly are low. But, I think it's a fair comparison to make and at least question why we think Adell will be better.

[AngelsLakersFan]

22 minutes ago, eaterfan said:

Absolutely. And it's important to remember the context and not just look at stats, or even stats and age. 

Looking back at Brandon Wood, it's easy to say, he struck out a lot (people brought that up at the time) but that was really the only question. Angels fans and the national media downplayed these concerns because of the monster power and there are plenty of guys who strike out a lot and figure it out as they age. I was pretty young and just getting into following prospects at the time. I'm optimistic about Adell, but at the same time I'm cautious because I could see Adell heading the same way as Wood. If he fails everyone will look back and say we overlooked the contact issues and high strikeouts, and say he was clearly overrated when we have our next highly ranked prospect in that mode. Obviously, Wood is about as bad of a situation as there could be, so the odds of Adell busting that badly are low. But, I think it's a fair comparison to make and at least question why we think Adell will be better.

I think a more apt comparison to a failed Angels prospect would be Kotchman. Adell has much more in common with him than Wood, IMO.

[eaterfan]

3 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

I think a more apt comparison to a failed Angels prospect would be Kotchman. Adell has much more in common with him than Wood, IMO.

I disagree simply because the big question for both Adell and Wood was the contact issue. Kotchman was always thought to have an advanced approach at the plate who would be a high contact guy. The question with Kotchman was always whether or not that doubles power would turn into HR power as he got older. 

[AngelsLakersFan]

2 minutes ago, eaterfan said:

I disagree simply because the big question for both Adell and Wood was the contact issue. Kotchman was always thought to have an advanced approach at the plate who would be a high contact guy. The question with Kotchman was always whether or not that doubles power would turn into HR power as he got older. 

I agree that Adell and Wood have more similar hitting styles but in terms of age, performance, defensive value I think Kotchman was a more similarly valued prospect. Interestingly Kotchman had the same number of career homeruns when he got his first call up at 21 as Adell does now. Adell is about half a year ahead of him though they both played against competition of a similar age difference.

[Chuck]

4 hours ago, failos said:

Actually they don’t.

They do in context that both were top prospects. Both had the minor league numbers, both have power, both K'd quite a bit in the minors as well. 

So yeah, they belong in the same sentence because Adell hasn't done squat in the big leagues yet. 

[tdawg87]

Wood is kinda sexy tbh. Yes homo.

[ten ocho recon scout]

4 hours ago, tdawg87 said:

Wood is kinda sexy tbh. Yes homo.

Wood you?