Wood or Gamel???

[smack]

My buddy had a choice of them in a trade and chose Gamel. Personally, I think fantasy wise, I\'d rather have Wood. A debate started that was pretty 50/50.

Any Gamel followers out there that can explain why you\'d rather have him than Wood? Maybe I\'m not seeing something.

Cheers.

[jackalope]

I think this is the case of the \'Fresh Face\' versus \'old hat\'.

Wood has been a high prospect for a while now. Came on the scece with an OBSENE season a few year\'s back. since then he\'s been less than spectacular, or at very least has not lived up to expectations set for him following that season.

I have not followed Gamel for long and there are some queston marks surrounding his ability to keep hitting to the clip he has this season so far. That being said, he has not yet showed he can\'t.

I don\'t think Wood is any closer to sticking as a MLB regular than Gamel while LAA are in contention and has not impressed at the MLB level in either of his two chances.

I think I would have gone with Gamel as well here. I\'m not an owner of either, but as quickly as minor league stock can rise and fall, I\'d take the chance that Gamel\'s stock will continue to rise like a poor man\'s Braun rather than take on Wood who may never hit at the MLB level.

[J Status]

My heart says Wood but my mind says Gamel\'s. As porter alluded to, Gamels hasn\'t proven he can\'t whereas to a certain extent, Wood has demonstrated those limitations. If Wood was still a SS he would definitely get the nod.

[enfuego]

yeah despite my worries about gamel since laporta got traded (ie. he\'s been pretty awful .243/.288/.350 in july and even worse in august) i think i would still take a gamble on him.

wood\'s dream season a few years ago came in the california league which is a hitter\'s league and has been known to inflate numbers. since then he\'s been pretty good at the AA and AAA but as jake and porter pointed out, he\'s never been able to put it together at the major league level.

he\'s only 23, so i wouldn\'t give up on him yet, but i think i would have taken the chance on gamel as well.

[Hardyvan123]

I would look at other options both these guys really have big question marks, wood\'s batting eye and Gamel lack of power and is still unproven at higher levels, ie. Batting without Laporta and his stumbles in AAA, both could turn out but chances are 50-50 that they become good players maybe less than 5% that they become stars

[MrQuacky]

I agree with the above posters -
Heart: Wood
Head: Gamel

BTW Wood\'s 4:43 BB/K numbers were terrible this year with the Angels. It tells me that he has a long way to go with his approach at the plate, and also suggests to me that he may never be anything more than a .260 hitter with some pop.

Of course, Wood definitely has serious talent, and he\'s still a kid just breaking in. A kid who has some MLB experience under his belt, something Mat Gamel does not yet have (save for 2 games).

One thing I would like to note is that Wood is perceived to be a better defensive player than Gamel, and therefore it is possible that Wood sticks at 3rd base and Gamel of course will likely play the OF.

If you are truly stuck on a decision, you may want to note the likely position elegibilities long-term.

[Ogie_Oglethorpe]

J Status wrote:

My heart says Wood but my mind says Gamel\'s. As porter alluded to, Gamels hasn\'t proven he can\'t whereas to a certain extent, Wood has demonstrated those limitations. If Wood was still a SS he would definitely get the nod.

FWIW Wood does qualify at SS in any keeper league using a 20 game elig rule.

[J Status]

Yeah, back when I posted that he wasn\'t yet. A long time ago for sure.