Do the Bucs have the next Cal Ripken on their roster?

"He's still going to get better. He looks like the next Cal Ripken to me."
--San Jose manager Lenn Sakata

Who is that about? Chase d'Arnaud? Maybe Jordy Mercer?

Er, no. Brandon Wood.

See, the link will take you to Baseball America's Top 50 prospects from 2006. I'm definitely on the side of "don't trade too many prospects" but in the interest of equal time to the other side, I thought I'd link to this showing just how uncertain prospects can be.

Some other highlights:

- Lastings Milledge called a future All-Star

- Andy Marte will be a "special hitter."

- Troy Tulowitzki called "better than Bobby Crosby"....back when that was a bold statement.

- Conor Jackson compared to Superman.

It's all worth a look as a trip down memory lane and a reminder that there's no certainty when it comes to prospects panning out.

10 months ago Raybin 4 comments 0 recs |

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Sakata isn't wrong

Wood still looks like Ripken Jr…..he’s a stocky SS with some pop in his bat…he’s just not as good.

by Brakeman8 on Jul 25, 2011 11:03 AM EDT reply actions

Last 5 words...

…are quite possibly the understatement of the year

Kamerion Wimbley is the truth

by Raybin on Jul 25, 2011 11:15 AM EDT up reply actions

there’s no certainty when it comes to prospects panning out.

There are two ways to view this, though:

1. There’s no certainty when it comes to prospects, so there’s no great loss by trading several of them for major league players.

2. There’s no certainty when it comes to prospects, so you need to hold on to as many of them as you can to maximize the chances of some panning out.

My belief is that the second interpretation is more accurate for a small-revenue team like the Pirates, while a large-revenue team like the Yankees can afford to deal prospects. A small-revenue team needs to build from within, so prospects are more valuable; a large-revenue team can build through free agency so it can use its prospects for in-year trade chips.

by DG Lewis on Jul 25, 2011 11:24 AM EDT reply actions

From January 2011

This article was written in January of this year about the top 20 from the 2006 list. When I read it, I had no idea who Brandon Wood was, but I had to laugh at the comment about him:

Update: Hit .169 in parts of four major league seasons. He’s not even the next Billy Ripken to me.

I didn’t realize that he was the same guy the Pirates picked up this season, since the name didn’t mean anything to me at the time. The comment about Jackson was also a little bit funny: