When checking my teams this morning, I noticed something odd with my AL-only roster. Angels' 3B Brandon Wood was listed as active. That was odd because there had been no indication that he was being considered for recall, and, with Chone Figgins nearly ready to be activated, there didn't seem to be a place to play regardless.
Is Wood being rewarded for something that isn't glaringly apparent in his AAA performance? I don't know, but this seems to be a very strange move if the Angels are not intending to give him the opportunity to stick with the big club. My suspicions is that is exactly what the Angels are going to do.
But my suspicion isn't born out by an analysis of the Angels roster. There are DH ABs available if Shea Hillenbrand is benched. There could be 3B ones if Figgins plays in the OF, but there is $35MM or so reasons to believe there won't be too many ABs left after Garrett Anderson, Gary Matthews, Jr and Vlad get theirs. Wood could still make spot appearances at SS, but that seems less plausible given his 2007 focus on 3B and the presence of Erick Aybar and Macier Izturis.
He could remain as a bat off the bench. That move would signal the end of Robb Quinlan's run as an Angel or possibly OF Reggie Willets. This appears to be the most logical as Wood's power would be a definite upgrade over either of them.
Still, the rationale seems weak, but my spider sense is still tingling.