What does the Angels’ inability to land free agent Adrian Beltre have to do with the White Sox?

 

Well, for starters, it could provide a cautionary tale.

 

Like the White Sox will do this upcoming season, the Angels went young at third base in 2010 to fill a void while figuring that their hot-shot prospect could hang out at the bottom of the order for a while until he found his way.

 

Brandon Wood might eventually turn into the big-league player he has been projected to become, but last season he was simply overmatched with the Angels. His .382 OPS was the worst of any player with at least 200 at-bat since Frank O’Rourke’s .325 mark in 1912 for the Boston Braves.

 

Wood was eventually yanked as the Angels starter, but Wood still dragged the team’s third basemen to a .573 OPS, the lowest in baseball.

 

So the Angels ended up looking into Beltre, but didn’t think he was worth the six years, $96 million he received from the division rival Texas Rangers. Could the White Sox find themselves in a similiar situation next offseason?

 

Brent Morel is the hot-shot prospect that is the leading candidate to take over the starting third base job for the White Sox in 2011. Like Wood, Morel is considered a fabulous defensive presence on the left side of the infield. And Wood was even considered to have an even bigger upside than Morel.

 

But not all news is bad. Yes the White Sox will expect solid defense from Morel and will let him find his way near the bottom of the order – just as the Angels did with Wood – but there are some differences that could work in the White Sox’s favor.

 

Wood’s potential was based on his power potential. But with that long power-producing swing there were holes that American League pitchers exposed. Morel has a more controlled approach, capable of hitting balls back up the middle, or at least where they are pitched. He even flashed some power to center field when he was called up last season.

 

Another positive for the White Sox is that unlike the Angels, they could actually have other third base options that can not only take over if Morel fails, but can also push the youngster in spring training. Mark Teahen, Dayan Viciedo and Omar Vizquel all are options at third.

 

All three have their downside, from Teahen’s inconsistency to Viciedo’s inexperience to Vizquel’s age, but the White Sox certainly won’t be caught empty handed.

 

Ultimately, going young at third base can have its issues. The White Sox, though, seem to have other directions they can head. It's all on Morel, though. The trick will be to not let the kid feel like he has so much weight on his shoulders.

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/white-sox/...-looks-familiar

I think one of the biggest difference is that the Angels were going to need Wood to really produce in order to win and compete for the division. The White Sox don't necessarily need Morel to hit like a stud becuase the burden on the offense to score runs falls on the proven guys like Pierre, Alexi, Dunn, Konerko, Rios, CQ, etc. Morel is there defense and to gain plate experiences. Sure if he hits for a Carlos Pena batting average it will be hard to keep him in there, but even if he hits a Joe Crede career .252 BA then Morel and the sox will be fine. The Angles really lost out last year in offensive production, espeically when Morales went down, so their was more pressure on Wood there.

Apparently today is some kind of Brent Morel day.

 

http://tinyurl.com/25rmatx

 

 

 

I'd gladly take a .750ish OPS with the projected stellar defense in year one from Morel. This franchise desperately needs to infuse some cheap/controllable talent from within. If Beckham bounces back and with how cheap Ramirez is given his production you'd be getting a whole lot of bang for a cheap buck at three infield positions.

IMO, Wood was known to have issues before last year.

I wasn't even legally able to drink when Brandon Wood was drafted. He's the text book definition of AAAA player. Please let's not even mention him in the same sentence with Morel. Which is what I just did.

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/white-sox/...-looks-familiar

What a f***ing idiot. Wood is a horrific defensive player who was once a much much more highly regarded prospect than Morel, but as of a year ago, most everyone thought Wood had major holes to his game. This comparison is utterly terrible.

 

Note: I'm not stating that Morel will be great, just stating that the comparison made by Padilla is a horrendous one.

What a f***ing idiot. Wood is a horrific defensive player who was once a much much more highly regarded prospect than Morel, but as of a year ago, most everyone thought Wood had major holes to his game. This comparison is utterly terrible.

 

Note: I'm not stating that Morel will be great, just stating that the comparison made by Padilla is a horrendous one.

Ya, Wood and Morel really couldn't be any different when it comes to the type of player they are. That really is a terrible comparison.

 

As long as Morel doesn't pull a Brian Anderson on us offensively, he should be just fine as the starter.

Wood is freaking terrible. He's been playing short term at the ML level for the past 3 years already and he's sucked hard in all of them. Brent Morel at least showed an ability to hit the ball well last year and didn't hit below .200. Plus, Morel can actually play defense. Bad comparison.

I was thinking Teahen for Mike Trout. What does Soxtalk think?

Morel is far from certain. Even if he had been serviceable last year, Vizquel's re-signing was crucial and saved me from a lot of worrying about third base. Morel at this point may as well be Josh Fields, Chris Getz, or Brian Anderson. Hope he proves that he isn't those guys.

 

Going into this year with the stubborn thought that the Sox will be just fine with Morel, Sale, some of the scary bullpen names I've been reading about, and to a lesser extent, Santos is wrong. I'll feel better about all of them if come July they haven't pissed on themselves. These guys have more question marks than the friggin Riddler. Don't misunderstand what I'm saying- they are all capable and could be just fine. Until they are just fine, however, this is what I'm worried about most for 2011.

I was thinking Teahen for Mike Trout. What does Soxtalk think?

 

This poster thinks yhat you need to learn what color teal is. I could barely read your post.

What a stupid article. By Padilla's logic, nobody should ever bring up a third base prospect. They might all suck!!!!!

What a f***ing idiot. Wood is a horrific defensive player who was once a much much more highly regarded prospect than Morel, but as of a year ago, most everyone thought Wood had major holes to his game. This comparison is utterly terrible.

 

Note: I'm not stating that Morel will be great, just stating that the comparison made by Padilla is a horrendous one.

 

The comparison was going into the season with a question mark at third. I thought the article did a nice job at that, and showing why the Sox are not in as bad a bind.