May 23, 2013

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Waiver Wire Articles

Following are the one hundred most recent articles for the category Waiver Wire .

05/23/2013: It is inexcusable to release Jon Rauch

by Pat Andriola

05/23/2013: The daily grind: 5-23-13

by Brad Johnson

05/23/2013: And That Happened

by Craig Calcaterra

05/23/2013: Strength of schedule: Adjusting pitcher values

by Moe Koltun

05/23/2013: Visualization: Handedness through history

by Dan Lependorf

05/23/2013: The Roto Grotto: targeted z-scores

by Scott Spratt

05/23/2013: Defense and RBI: Opportunity, uncertainty, and the problem with regression

by Matt Hunter

05/22/2013: The daily grind: 5-22-13

by Brad Johnson

05/22/2013: And That Happened

by Craig Calcaterra

05/22/2013: Fantasy Waiver Wire: Week 8, Vol. II

by Jack Weiland

05/22/2013: The hardest thing

by Derek Ambrosino

05/22/2013: 20th anniversary: Blue Jays mascot ejected

by Chris Jaffe

05/22/2013: Currently historic: A plethora of new stuff

by Jason Linden

05/22/2013: BOB:  Owners’ meeting update

by Brian Borawski

05/21/2013: And That Happened

by Craig Calcaterra

05/21/2013: The daily grind: 5-21-13

by Brad Johnson

05/21/2013: 50th anniversary: Jim Maloney: a star is born

by Chris Jaffe

05/21/2013: Diamonds in the rough: starting pitchers

by Noah Woodward

05/21/2013: Profar could be on a Cingrani-esque schedule

by Jeff Moore

05/21/2013: Is 5/125 the new 5/55?

by Greg Simons

05/21/2013: The Verdict: keep your trade secrets to yourself

by Michael Stein

05/21/2013: THT Awards

by John Barten

05/20/2013: Closer watch

by Karl de Vries

05/20/2013: The daily grind: 5-20-13

by Brad Johnson

05/20/2013: And That Happened

by Craig Calcaterra

05/20/2013: The Hot Seat

by Scott Strandberg

05/20/2013: AL Central: state of the division

by Chris Jaffe

05/20/2013: Fantasy Waiver Wire: Week 8, Vol. 1

by Karl de Vries

05/20/2013: Louisville slugging in 2013

by Frank Jackson

05/20/2013: 5,000 days since Eric Milton’s no-hitter

by Chris Jaffe

05/17/2013: The daily grind: 5-17-13

by Brad Johnson

05/17/2013: And That Happened

by Craig Calcaterra

05/17/2013: Gems without whiffs

by James Gentile

05/17/2013: 40th anniversary: Bobby Valentine breaks his leg

by Chris Jaffe

05/17/2013: Strength of schedule: Adjusting hitter values

by Moe Koltun

05/17/2013: Fantasy Waiver Wire: Week 7, Vol. III

by Jack Weiland

05/17/2013: Card Corner: 1973 Topps: Mike Andrews

by Bruce Markusen

05/16/2013: Dear Jonathan Sanchez: Do you mind if we ‘Oliver Perez’ you?

by Pat Andriola

05/16/2013: The daily grind: 5-16-13

by Brad Johnson

05/16/2013: And That Happened

by Craig Calcaterra

05/16/2013: How Scott Kazmir got his groove back

by Kyle Boddy

05/16/2013: Three more for eternity

by Don Malcolm

05/16/2013: Not exactly definitive

by Don Malcolm

05/16/2013: The all-decade team: the ‘40s

by Richard Barbieri

05/16/2013: Of Uggs and Uggla

by Derek Ambrosino

05/15/2013: The daily grind: 5-15-13

by Brad Johnson

05/15/2013: And That Happened

by Craig Calcaterra

05/15/2013: Running hot and cold

by Shane Tourtellotte

05/15/2013: The Phillies should retool but not reboot

by Brad Johnson

05/15/2013: Fantasy Waiver Wire: Week 7, Vol. II

by Karl de Vries

05/15/2013: Currently historic: 300 strikeouts?

by Jason Linden

05/15/2013: Mike Moustakas’ hole

by Noah Woodward

05/15/2013: BOB: How bad is the Marlins’ attendance?

by Brian Borawski

05/14/2013: And That Happened

by Craig Calcaterra

05/14/2013: The daily grind: 5-14-13

by Brad Johnson

05/14/2013: How much do hot/cold starts matter?

by Greg Simons

05/14/2013: 25th anniversary: The Jose Oquendo Game

by Chris Jaffe

05/14/2013: Jonathan Schoop and the value of role players

by Jeff Moore

05/14/2013: THT Awards

by John Barten

05/13/2013: The daily grind: 5-13-13

by Brad Johnson

05/13/2013: And That Happened

by Craig Calcaterra

05/13/2013: 30th anniversary: Reggie’s 2,000th K

by Chris Jaffe

05/13/2013: NL Central division update: May edition

by Jason Linden

05/13/2013: Fantasy Waiver Wire: Week 7, Vol. I

by Jack Weiland

05/13/2013: Last remaining teammates

by Chris Jaffe

05/13/2013: The Hot Seat

by Scott Strandberg

05/12/2013: The curious case of Vernon Wells

by Matt Filippi

05/12/2013: 60th anniversary: Whitey Ford’s near no-hitter

by Chris Jaffe

05/10/2013: The daily grind: 5-10-13

by Brad Johnson

05/10/2013: And That Happened

by Craig Calcaterra

05/10/2013: 15,000 days since facial hair returns to baseball

by Chris Jaffe

05/10/2013: Cooperstown Confidential: What really happened with Fritz Ostermueller and Jackie Robinson

by Bruce Markusen

05/10/2013: Fantasy Waiver Wire: Week 6, Vol. III

by Karl de Vries

05/10/2013: Still life, after all

by Azure Texan

05/09/2013: Oh Dusty

by Pat Andriola

05/09/2013: And That Happened

by Craig Calcaterra

05/09/2013: 40th anniversary: back-to-back first homers

by Chris Jaffe

05/09/2013: The Roto Grotto: rates versus opportunities

by Scott Spratt

05/09/2013: Swing rates: the John Farrell effect

by Moe Koltun

05/09/2013: Winning, TWTW, and the purpose of baseball

by Matt Hunter

05/08/2013: And That Happened

by Craig Calcaterra

05/08/2013: The daily grind: 5-8-13

by Brad Johnson

05/08/2013: Fantasy Waiver Wire: Week 6, Vol. II

by Jack Weiland

05/08/2013: What nobody is talking about

by Greg Simons

05/08/2013: Currently historic: A truly rare achievement

by Jason Linden

05/08/2013: Craig Anderson’s greatest day

by Frank Jackson

05/08/2013: 40th anniversary: Stargell hits one out of Dodger Stadium

by Chris Jaffe

05/08/2013: BOB:  Stadium updates

by Brian Borawski

05/07/2013: And That Happened

by Craig Calcaterra

05/07/2013: The daily grind: 5-7-13

by Brad Johnson

05/07/2013: Josh Donaldson and the myth of the ‘New Moneyball’

by Pat Andriola

05/07/2013: Fun with minor league leader boards

by Jeff Moore

05/07/2013: 90th anniversary: Casey Stengel goes bonkers

by Chris Jaffe

05/07/2013: THT Awards

by John Barten

05/07/2013: A.J. Ellis: hardly swinging, hardly missing

by Noah Woodward

05/07/2013: Baseball Press: a fantasy secret weapon

by Jack Weiland

05/07/2013: The Verdict: keeping it on the DL

by Michael Stein

05/06/2013: The National League Graph, 2013

by Dave Studeman

05/06/2013: And That Happened

by Craig Calcaterra

05/06/2013: The daily grind: 5-6-13

by Brad Johnson

<< Click here to return to the category list.



April 22, 2011

Pirates claim Brandon Wood

The former prospect reclamation project continues in Pittsburgh.

Strange, it doesn’t seem too long ago that a skinny 19-year-old shortstop named Brandon Wood first gained attention after clubbing 43 home runs in the Cal League. The year was 2005, and the bandwagon runneth over as Angels fans eagerly awaited the next franchise-changing shortstop to arrive in Orange County.

Call it a failure in player development or Wood’s own failure to recognize advanced pitching, but since 2008 Wood has logged 461 major league plate appearances, posting an atrocious 32.7 percent strikeout rate coupled with an almost non-existent walk percentage of 2.8.

His power also has evaporated as an Angel, and Wood has managed to post a career batting line of only .168/.197/.259. Opposing pitchers have long been keen to the fact that you don’t give Wood anything decent to swing at—is this a product of “pressing,” where Wood feels the need to impress in his few chances at the plate? Or is Wood completely fooled and at the pitcher’s mercy?

Looking over Wood’s count/balls-strikes data provided by baseball-reference, rarely does he find himself in any 2-0 and 3-1 counts. Take, for example, his career in situations where he was ahead in the count, even and behind the count.

{exp:list_maker}Batter ahead: 111 plate appearances
Even count: 174 plate appearances
Pitcher ahead: 209 plate appearances{/exp:list_maker}
Despite his struggles, there still seems to be a divide among baseball analysts in terms of Wood’s true talent level. Obviously, the Pirates are willing to take a chance on Wood in the hopes that he can put up numbers even remotely similar to his Triple-A career of .283/.350/.536 in over 1,400 plate appearances.

After making a habit of acquiring every Andy LaRoche and Lastings Milledge from the former can't-miss prospect junk pile, the Pirates now add Brandon Wood to that list.
Posted by: Vince Caramela


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