Rays Colored Glasses » Reid Brignac

Will Reid Brignac Ever Get Another Chance in the Major Leagues?

David Hill — Fri, 17 May 2013 19:47:48 +0000

Once upon a time, Reid Brignac was a highly regarded prospect for the Rays. He made the Baseball America Top 100 Prospect list from 2007 through 2010, ranking as high as 17th in 2007. Throughout his minor league career, he hit well, flashing very good power with a high of 24 home runs in 2006. As a shortstop, that was a tremendous amount of power in the minors, and he appeared destined to be a good major league player.

Unfortunately, his minor league success never translated to the majors. He split time between shortstop and second base in 2010, putting together a mediocre .256/.307/.385 batting line. However, he was still only 24 years old, and did manage to hit eight home runs. It may not have been great, but that season could have been a decent enough point to build from. Yet, that did not happen. Given the starting shortstop role in 2011, he struggled all year, putting together an absolutely abysmal .193/.227/.221 batting line, with a single home run. As bad as that was, he was even worse in his 22 at bats in 2012, leading to his being exiled back to Durham.

Then, in the offseason, Brignac was sent along to the Colorado Rockies, a team that appeared to have a need for a backup middle infilder. Given the uncertainty of the Rockies second base situation and the possible brittleness of Troy Tulowitzki, it appeared as though Brignac could get a chance to get himself on track. He cracked the Rockies Opening Day roster, and made apperances at third, short, second and left field this season.

Now, just one day after he hit his first home run as a member of the Rockies, Brignac has been designated for assignment, as Colorado called up prospect DJ LeMahieu. LeMahieu was in the midst of tearing apart the Pacific Coast League, posting an insane .364/.405/.510 batting line, and playing excellent defense. It made sense for the Rockies to bring him up.

So, what of Brignac? A former top prospect, he is only 27 years old. However, he has yet to prove that he can hit major league pitching, and be anything more than a quintessential AAAA player. He may find himself in AAA for yet another team, filling an organizational depth role and ready to be called upon in case of emergency, but that may be his ceiling now. It is a hard fall from grace for someone who, just three or four years ago, was thought of as someone that could be a key player on a contending ballclub.

Reid Brignac had his chances to become a major league player. Now, he may never get another opportunity.

Reid Brignac: From Rays Top Prospect to Struggling to Hold On With the Rockies

Robbie Knopf — Sun, 05 May 2013 16:35:43 +0000

What does it feel like when the team that drafted and developed you trades you away? Even if the deal had been in the wings for a long, it would have to a shock. You would have to get reflective, thinking about your successes and the things you failed to accomplish. You would be excited to head to your next time but still in disbelief that it was over with your previous one. Reid Brignac didn’t have time for any of that.

“No doubt, I could see the signs right in front of me,” he said. “I’m not an idiot. I’ve been in this game long enough, I understand the business side of the game that goes along with just playing the game.

“I knew if I was going to be in Rays camp it was going to be very difficult for me to make that team, so I was really hoping Andrew gave me a chance to get with another team before spring training, to get with my new team and play for my new manager.”

Reid Brignac wasn’t going to be in Tampa Bay forever. That might as well have been a foregone conclusion from the moment the Rays drafted him. But he didn’t dream of leaving like this. He dreamed of turning into one of the top shortstops in baseball, pairing great power with even better defense, before pricing himself out of the Rays’ budget and leaving via a trade or free agency. He dreamed of being a cornerstone player in the Rays’ success and a player who Rays fans would sorely miss when he departed. That dream came crashing down years ago.

Reid Brignac ran out of chances. He played very well as a utility infielder for the Rays in 2010, but he sputtered completely when the Rays made him their starting shortstop in 2011 and didn’t impress enough in the minor leagues in 2012 to get more than 42 plate appearances in the major leagues. In 716 plate appearances with the Rays, he managed just a .227/.268/.317 line (63 OPS+). He was playing great defense, but it didn’t matter. He wasn’t hitting at all and the Rays had to look elsewhere. Brignac recognized that. He stopped dreaming of reaching the potential everyone thought he had and started looking in the mirror and realizing that the next opportunity he received might be his last. Brignac getting traded wasn’t a wake-up call–that had happened much earlier when he was toiling at Triple-A with no hope of breaking into a starting role for the Rays again. Heading to Colorado was simply a fresh start and what Brignac hopes is the first step in a turnaround that helps him carve out a carve out a career in the major leagues.

Reid Brignac, the shortstop prospect who ranked among the top prospects in the Rays system for years and years, is gone. In his place is a 27 year old utility player hoping desperately to prove that he belongs in the major leagues. With the Rockies, Brignac is just thankful to be in uniform and willing to do anything just to keep playing. Does he have enough of his once-abundant talent still within him to make that happen?

Ex-Ray Reid Brignac Goes From Starting Alongside One Long Beach State Dirtbag to Caddying for Another

Robbie Knopf — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 11:47:12 +0000

Reid Brignac had his chances. It was heart-wrenching to watch Brignac struggle as mightily as he did as the Rays’ starting shortstop in 2011, bu the Rays stuck with him as long as they could before deciding they had seen enough. It was abrupt end to what looked like would be an extremely productive career for Brignac in a Rays uniform. For the 2007 Montgomery Biscuits, third baseman Evan Longoria, playing in his first full season as a pro, led the team with 20 home runs. Second on the team with 17 homers was shortstop Reid Brignac. The Rays never thought Brignac would be nearly as good as Longoria- but they did believe that he would playing alongside Longoria on the left side of their infield for years to come. However, it just never came together. While Longoria starred for the Rays, Brignac saw his career coming apart. Even when Longoria went on the DL for most of 2012, Brignac couldn’t even crack the Rays’ major league roster. And now Brignac is gone from Tampa Bay, having been traded to the Colorado Rockies. Evidently, it’s quite appropriate that Colorado was the place he ended up.

The 2005 Long Beach State Dirtbags featured a left side of the infield scouts drooled over: junior shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and sophomore third baseman Evan Longoria. Longoria had been a shortstop in high school and at junior college, but he deferred to the more established Tulowitzki and moved to third base. After Longoria was selected 3rd overall by the Devil Rays in the 2006 MLB Draft and went pro, it was Brignac who had the opportunity to play the role of Tulowitzki and star alongside Longoria. Now that Brignac has failed, though, it’s the real Tulowitzki who’s in his way, making his future as a starting shortstop in the big leagues look bleak. Unlike Longoria, Brignac can’t just move to another position and be an impact player. His bat has never come along and he’s best known for his defense at shortstop these days. His role with the Rockies if he can hit well enough to get playing time is going to be to make some starts in place of Tulowitzki after Tulowitzki (exactly like Longoria) struggled through an injury-riddled season in 2012 and looks to work his way back. If Brignac can somehow makes a breakthrough at the plate, maybe starts at second base and third base could be in order, but at this point, Brignac has slipped from potential star shortstop to backup at best. Brignac has the privilege of playing with two former Long Beach State stars in Longoria and Tulowitzki. However, while everything was lined up perfectly for him to play alongside the first, he’s stuck behind the second and it’s going to take a shocking series of events for him to get another chance.