Tell what in your opinion would be the worst imaginable Angels case scenario this off-season? Who would you hate to see depart? Conversely who would you love to acquire via free agent signing or trade? Is there an Angel player you would love to see released? Is there a player that you believe could be a cheap pick-up? Is there a player who you believe could be a 'difference maker' we would be wise to try to get? IYO who on the Angels could be tabbed untouchable?

A nightmare would be if Angels signed Vlad, Lackey, Figgy, Abreu, Oliver, Quinlan and Escobar.

Overhauling means mostly new parts. That's the way to go...oh yeah...fire Scioscia!

Seeing the angels trade Wood. I know we might need Figgy to come back, but Wood is going to a monster. I mean, as a 3b, he would definitely fit into a spot we absolutely need.

Also, signing a washed up veteran (Abreu, Vlad, Beltre, Matsui, etc...) and not doing anything else. I mean, almost all four of those guys would produce something, but we can't keep signing 35 year olds and expect them to fill our playoff offense gap.

One of main reasons Boston destroyed us for so long was because our pitchers were scared of their hitters. Sometimes the pitchers fearing throwing to a batter (i.e. Manny a few years ago or A-Rod now) can lead to better postseason numbers than being an actually good hitter.

Brandon Wood will be 26 by next season. He's starting to look more and more like a bust, and a monster one at that. The Halos should have traded him a couple of years ago when he was a prospect with a lot of trade value. Now he's just another guy who hits for power at AAA.

His birthdate is 3/2/1985.

Do the math. He is 24 now. He will be 25 for 100% of the 2010 season and won't be 26 until Spring Training of the 2011 season.

He would have 700 major league at bats instead of 200 right now if the Angels had not wasted so much time.

You can't be a bust until you fail or are out of baseball for some reason.

Let's judge the guy as a bust or not after he plays.

Making a "bust" call on Wood after 200 at bats would be like proclaiming the next elected president moments after Rhode Island's exit poll. Who cares what the other 49 states do right? We have a winner with data to prove it!

He will get his chance next season. Let's not judge Wood because his manager played Figgins who just happens to be one of he better leadoff men in the game.

The only bust I want to see is him busting out like Kendry did.
Did you think Morales was a bust before this season?

The Angels will be extremely competitive next year without signing a single free agent. Wtih a starting nucleus of Weaver, Saunders, Kazmir and Santana, the Angels will be in most games all season long. They could fill the holes they have from within the organization a nd put a good line up on the field. I'd rather have them do that than make another GMJ signing by overpaying an aging free agent who becomes a drag on payroll half way through his contract.

Amen!

The worst possible scenario would be that the team offers arbitration to Vlad Guerrero.

It's true- Brandon Wood has shown us nothing to say that he is a future star besides his AAA numbers. But wasn't that the case with alot of Angels youngsters? Aybar was hitting .260 after almost a full season's worth of at-bats and look at how he's matured.

Truth is the very few of our top players in the MLB play at that level their first season in the bigs. Most develop after a few seasons. Thats how it'll be with Wood- he's gonna be great, they just need to go through two seasons of .270 15-20 homers and 80-100 strikeouts before he breaks out for .290 30 homers and 60-80 strikeouts for 7-10 seasons.

The worse case scenario would be to give in to all the free agents' demands, raise ticket prices, have these free agents either get injured or not produce, see attendance decline, and have a disappointing season.

The Angels may feel they have no choice but to raise the payroll and raise the ticket prices to stay competitive, or they may determine that they can't charge fans what Boston charges their fans. I really doubt if the club made money this year with all the giveaways and discounts. They went to bat for the fans when the economy soured and went the extra mile to get 3 million to the ball park.

This organization has been good to us as fans and I trust them to do the right thing, whatever it is. It's our chance to reciprocate that loyalty if they make a decision we don't agree with, or it doesn't work out the way it is anticipated because they are in a real tough spot.

"two seasons of .270 15-20 homers and 80-100 strikeouts before he breaks out for .290 30 homers and 60-80 strikeouts for 7-10 seasons."

Well, I am certainly on record as believing that there is no good reason to believe conclusively at this point that Wood can't produce in the majors, but I think your strikeout numbers are way, way too optimistic.

I think if Wood does become a monster, he will still be striking out about 150 times a year just like lots of other high producers.

It is not a matter of strike out or produce. He is going to strike out alot. It is a question of how much production comes with the high strikeout total, a little or alot?

Wood will strike out a whole bunch in the majors, but he doesn't have the make up of Mark Reynolds or Adam Dunn. He's much more of a contact hitter than the two of them.

Wood can't hit breaking balls- thus he strikes out a lot because pitchers know his weakness (like Vlad with breaking balls into the dirt). Once he learns how to hit these breaking balls, he will stop striking out so much. Also, he'll become more patient at the plate as he ages.

The one thing I worry about with this team is if we don't have a pure power hitter pitchers won't really see as a cleanup hitter. Torii is a great #3-5 hitter, but outside of Napoli we don't have a pure power hitter.

Have you actually seen Wood play, other than with the Angels?

>>Once he learns how to hit these breaking balls, he will stop striking out so much. Also, he'll become more patient at the plate as he ages.<<

Shouldn't he have learned how to hit a breaking ball while in the minor leagues? Don't they have hitting coaches there?

Also, how do you know he'll become more patient at the plate as he ages?

I always wonder how so many fans "know" all of this about Wood and other minor league players.

I'm not looking to fight with you; I just wonder how you can "know" any of this?

I agree with you 100%. Wood is a sure superstar. All he needs is a chance.

Worst case scenario is bringing back Vlad, Figgins and Abreu. I want these guys gone.

"Shouldn't he have learned how to hit a breaking ball while in the minor leagues? Don't they have hitting coaches there?"

Most minor league pitchers don't have a Major league breaking ball or Major league control of there pitches, that's why they are in the minors.

Look at Howie, he can hit the krap out of a fastball, it was the breaking ball giving him problems and he tore it up in the minors.

There you go again. Your comtempt for Brandon surfaces again. I just don't understand why you are so down on 24 yr old Brandon Wood.

"Shouldn't he have learned how to hit a breaking ball while in the minor leagues? Don't they have hitting coaches there?"

If the ml pitchers had good-great secondary pitches they'd be in the ML's and not in the ml's

From the article on the Angels website entitled "Somber day as Angels clear lockers",

"Scioscia has the same mentality at third base if Figgins decides to leave the team. Brandon Wood is out of options and would likely be the team's starter there if Figgins departs. Wood is just a career .192 hitter in 224 Major League at-bats but is a career .286 hitter in the Minors with plus power."

"He's absolutely ready for the opportunity much like Kendry Morales was ready for the opportunity," Scioscia said. "I'm not saying he's going to put up Kendry's numbers, but him playing in the Minors right now isn't going to help him in the Majors. He's ready for that challenge."

Do you see he's only had 224 sporadic ML AB's over 3 seasons when it takes 200+ consecutive AB's in 1 season PLUS 800+ TOTAL ML AB's to truly evaluate a player. Just look at the #'s for Kendry Morales, Erick Aybar, and Howie Kendrick and how they improved the closer they got to the 800 mark.

"Also, how do you know he'll become more patient at the plate as he ages?"

Some of us read comments from his hitting coach at SLC and Mike along with watch more than just what he does at the plate. we watch how he approaches each pitch during different scenarios and compare them to what was said about his "new" approach at the plate beginning just after the ASB in '08.

One way you can see that he's changed his approach to hitting would be by comparing his S O rate from '08 to '09 where he dropped his S O rate from around 30% down to just over 20%. He's waiting more on the pitches, letting gthe ball get deeper in the strike zone, and driving the ball to RCF a lot more which allows him to make more contact. That's what they teach all hitters.

What he NEEDS is consistent ML AB's to show one way or the other, just like K-Mo, Erick, and Howie.

He reached the ML's when he was only 21 and hasn't been allowed to have enough consistent PT / PA's / AB's to get his offensive game together.

Someone will give him that opportunity and I hope it'sthe Angels in '09 so if what I believe will happen does then all the naysayers will finally put their tails between their legs and not speak of things they no absolutely nothing about.

There's a lot more to understanding baseball than just watching it on TV.

I can see Brandon a second Mark Reynolds in a couple years...they are both very similar in almost all aspects.

I agree offensively with Brandon striking out less.

Because of being a natural SS, I believe Brandon actually may be a better defensive player than Reynolds.

I can't wait for Brandon to reach the 800+ ML AB mark with the Angels so a true evaluation can be made of him as a MLB player.

Re-signing Vlad is the worst case scenario.