Dermal "Dee" Brown, future Royals star

KUCFChiefs · 03-13-2008, 04:07 PM

http://www.minorleagueball.com/story.../13/164441/967

Failed Prospect: Dee Brown
By John Sickels
Posted on Thu Mar 13, 2008 at 03:44:41 PM CDT

Failed Prospect: Dee Brown

One of the biggest prospect busts of the last decade is failed Kansas City Royals prospect Dee Brown.

Dermal Brown was drafted in the first round in 1996, 14th overall, out of high school in New York. He got into just seven games in his pro debut in the Gulf Coast League, going 1-for-20. Extremely toolsy, he was considered highly-promising due to his power/speed combination, and wasn't quite as raw as a lot of cold-weather high school players. I didn't give draftees grades back then but in retrospect his scouting reports would have earned him a Grade B or B-.

Brown moved up to Spokane in the Northwest League in 1997, hitting .326/.404/.564 with 13 homers and 17 steals in 298 at-bats. Power and speed were quite evident, and he drew 38 walks in 298 at-bats against 65 strikeouts. Scouts were also impressed with his work ethic. I didn't give short-season players letter grades back then, but he'd get at least a Grade B now and perhaps a Grade B+.

1998 saw Brown assigned to Wilmington in the Carolina League. He hit .258/.347/.403 with 10 homers, 26 steals, and 53 walks with 115 strikeouts in 442 at-bats. He also got into five games for the major league club. Brown got off to a really slow start, plus Wilmington was death for hitters, so his performance was actually pretty solid. At this point his biggest problem was defense, as he looked very sloppy with the glove according to scouts. I gave him a Grade B-, but noted that he could put up monstrous numbers at Double-A Wichita.

Brown began 1999 at Wilmington, hitting .308/.431/.548 in 61 games. Promoted to Wichita, he went on a real tear, hitting .353/.440/.591. He combined for 25 homers and 30 steals and walked 79 times on the season. Power, speed, strike zone judgment, fairly good strikeout rate, just 21 years old. There were still doubts about his glove but everything else looked excellent. I saw him play a lot for Wichita, and he was so far above the league it was ridiculous. He hit everything, fastballs, breaking stuff, changeups. I gave him a Grade A and didn't look back.

Brown went to spring training in 2000 with a shot at an outfield job, but he didn't make the roster and got sent to Omaha to work on his glovework. He sulked, got into an argument with his manager, even got suspended at one point. Remember, his work ethic and attitude were considered positives before this point. He recovered enough to have an OK year in Triple-A, hitting .269/.324/.491 with 23 homers and 20 steals, showing the power/speed combo again. His plate discipline took a big hit, with just 37 walks against 112 strikeouts. I didn't lose faith and gave him a Grade B+, but it was clearly a disappointing season.

The Royals gave Brown a job in 2001 and he hit .245/.286/.350, much less than expected, in 380 at-bats. He ended up back in Omaha in 2002, and has spent the last five years bouncing around the upper minors. His last significant major league playing time was in 2004 when he hit .259/.293/.349 in 195 at-bats for the Royals. His career line in the majors is .233/.280/.333 in 814 at-bats.

What the hell happened here?

Picking through the Rotowire archives, I find this quotation from former Royals GM Allard Baird on March 26th, 2004. GM Allard Baird said "I still believe he has the physical attributes to hit, but he needs to turn those attributes into performance. To this point, he hasn't."

Living near Kansas City and going to a lot of Omaha and Wichita games during Brown's tenure, I saw a lot of Brown at all three levels, and I think Baird was right, the attributes were there. The bat speed was always there, and when his swing was locked in, he showed power to all fields, wasn't a strict pull hitter, and handled both breaking stuff and fastballs well. He would go on terrific hot streaks at times. He showed the ability to control the strike zone at least adequately. This is the player I saw in Double-A and Triple-A, a guy who looked like a solid major league regular outfielder at worst.

And then he'd move up to the majors and he didn't look like the same guy. His swing would be. . .trying to find a word for it. . .less fluid? Awkward? Almost constricted in a way? He didn't look like he was having fun, he didn't look relaxed. He would press. He'd be either too passive or too aggressive, unable to find a middle ground. His body language in the majors was very different than in the minors. Nagging injuries didn't help, but even when healthy he just didn't look like the same confident player I saw in the minors.

The 2000 Omaha sulking went away quickly enough that the organization still liked him a lot as a person, and from what I heard from local sources his problems post-2000 weren't work-ethic related. But I do think perhaps there was something psychological going on, in the sense that he was never able to get truly comfortable in the majors. Why that happened, I don't know.

Sure-Oz · 03-13-2008, 04:16 PM

I hope Greinke doesn't end up like that, all the tools in the world to be succesful but a .2 brain

**Reaper16** · 03-13-2008, 04:18 PM

Has any organization in professional sports drafted as poorly as the Royals did during the mid-90's to early 2000's?

keg in kc · 03-13-2008, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reaper16

Has any organization in professional sports drafted as poorly as the Royals did during the mid-90's to early 2000's?

The Chiefs.

We're gluttons for punishment.

**Bowser** · 03-13-2008, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reaper16

Has any organization in professional sports drafted as poorly as the Royals did during the mid-90's to early 2000's?

I'd be suprised to hear it.

At least Gordon was a hit, and Hochaever looks like he may challenge to be on the big league roster.

Demonpenz · 03-13-2008, 04:50 PM

There was a story when dee brown was hurt or something that he didn't leg out a ground ball and the manager benched him because of lack of hustle. I am not sold that it was a bad pick just another players the royals failed to develop or coach. Hello Affelt!

Valiant · 03-13-2008, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reaper16

Has any organization in professional sports drafted as poorly as the Royals did during the mid-90's to early 2000's?

We just never kept our stars, and never spent money on A talent..

91. Sweeney, Randa
92. Damon, John Lieber
93. Jacque Jones
94. poop
95. Beltran,

We had enough to build a great team besides pitching if we ever would have spent some money...

Sure-Oz · 03-13-2008, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valiant

We just never kept our stars, and never spent money on A talent..

91. Sweeney, Randa
92. Damon, John Lieber
93. Jacque Jones
94. poop
95. Beltran,

We had enough to build a great team besides pitching if we ever would have spent some money...

When the hell did we have jacque jones?

Deberg_1990 · 03-13-2008, 05:36 PM

I wonder how many Busts the Royals have had since the early 90s? Particulary pitchers....

Hmmmm

Sure-Oz · 03-13-2008, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

I wonder how many Busts the Royals have had since the early 90s? Particulary pitchers....

Hmmmm

Jeremy Affeldt, Jeff Austin, Mike Macdougal, Dan Reichert, Colt Griffin etc...all projected to be starters. Of course the lone pitcher we develop thats any good in Rosado turned out to get hurt after a few years...

Griffin should've never been drafted though jeez

beavis · 03-13-2008, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sure-Oz

I hope Greinke doesn't end up like that, all the tools in the world to be succesful but a .2 brain

Greinke has already had a more successful career than Brown. Granted, that isn't saying much...

beavis · 03-13-2008, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sure-Oz

When the hell did we have jacque jones?

We didn't. He was drafted by the Twins.

Sure-Oz · 03-13-2008, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beavis

We didn't. He was drafted by the Twins.

That's why i asked, i always thought he was a Twin but Valiant had him on his list...

beavis · 03-13-2008, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sure-Oz

That's why i asked, i always thought he was a Twin but Valiant had him on his list...

I know, just confirming.

heapshake · 03-13-2008, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beavis

We didn't. He was drafted by the Twins.

He was also drafted by the Royals, but they didn't sign him

03-13-2008, 04:07 PM
KUCFChiefs Banned Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Gainesville, MO Casino cash: $10004900	Dermal "Dee" Brown, future Royals star http://www.minorleagueball.com/story.../13/164441/967 Failed Prospect: Dee Brown By John Sickels Posted on Thu Mar 13, 2008 at 03:44:41 PM CDT Failed Prospect: Dee Brown One of the biggest prospect busts of the last decade is failed Kansas City Royals prospect Dee Brown. Dermal Brown was drafted in the first round in 1996, 14th overall, out of high school in New York. He got into just seven games in his pro debut in the Gulf Coast League, going 1-for-20. Extremely toolsy, he was considered highly-promising due to his power/speed combination, and wasn't quite as raw as a lot of cold-weather high school players. I didn't give draftees grades back then but in retrospect his scouting reports would have earned him a Grade B or B-. Brown moved up to Spokane in the Northwest League in 1997, hitting .326/.404/.564 with 13 homers and 17 steals in 298 at-bats. Power and speed were quite evident, and he drew 38 walks in 298 at-bats against 65 strikeouts. Scouts were also impressed with his work ethic. I didn't give short-season players letter grades back then, but he'd get at least a Grade B now and perhaps a Grade B+. 1998 saw Brown assigned to Wilmington in the Carolina League. He hit .258/.347/.403 with 10 homers, 26 steals, and 53 walks with 115 strikeouts in 442 at-bats. He also got into five games for the major league club. Brown got off to a really slow start, plus Wilmington was death for hitters, so his performance was actually pretty solid. At this point his biggest problem was defense, as he looked very sloppy with the glove according to scouts. I gave him a Grade B-, but noted that he could put up monstrous numbers at Double-A Wichita. Brown began 1999 at Wilmington, hitting .308/.431/.548 in 61 games. Promoted to Wichita, he went on a real tear, hitting .353/.440/.591. He combined for 25 homers and 30 steals and walked 79 times on the season. Power, speed, strike zone judgment, fairly good strikeout rate, just 21 years old. There were still doubts about his glove but everything else looked excellent. I saw him play a lot for Wichita, and he was so far above the league it was ridiculous. He hit everything, fastballs, breaking stuff, changeups. I gave him a Grade A and didn't look back. Brown went to spring training in 2000 with a shot at an outfield job, but he didn't make the roster and got sent to Omaha to work on his glovework. He sulked, got into an argument with his manager, even got suspended at one point. Remember, his work ethic and attitude were considered positives before this point. He recovered enough to have an OK year in Triple-A, hitting .269/.324/.491 with 23 homers and 20 steals, showing the power/speed combo again. His plate discipline took a big hit, with just 37 walks against 112 strikeouts. I didn't lose faith and gave him a Grade B+, but it was clearly a disappointing season. The Royals gave Brown a job in 2001 and he hit .245/.286/.350, much less than expected, in 380 at-bats. He ended up back in Omaha in 2002, and has spent the last five years bouncing around the upper minors. His last significant major league playing time was in 2004 when he hit .259/.293/.349 in 195 at-bats for the Royals. His career line in the majors is .233/.280/.333 in 814 at-bats. What the hell happened here? Picking through the Rotowire archives, I find this quotation from former Royals GM Allard Baird on March 26th, 2004. GM Allard Baird said "I still believe he has the physical attributes to hit, but he needs to turn those attributes into performance. To this point, he hasn't." Living near Kansas City and going to a lot of Omaha and Wichita games during Brown's tenure, I saw a lot of Brown at all three levels, and I think Baird was right, the attributes were there. The bat speed was always there, and when his swing was locked in, he showed power to all fields, wasn't a strict pull hitter, and handled both breaking stuff and fastballs well. He would go on terrific hot streaks at times. He showed the ability to control the strike zone at least adequately. This is the player I saw in Double-A and Triple-A, a guy who looked like a solid major league regular outfielder at worst. And then he'd move up to the majors and he didn't look like the same guy. His swing would be. . .trying to find a word for it. . .less fluid? Awkward? Almost constricted in a way? He didn't look like he was having fun, he didn't look relaxed. He would press. He'd be either too passive or too aggressive, unable to find a middle ground. His body language in the majors was very different than in the minors. Nagging injuries didn't help, but even when healthy he just didn't look like the same confident player I saw in the minors. The 2000 Omaha sulking went away quickly enough that the organization still liked him a lot as a person, and from what I heard from local sources his problems post-2000 weren't work-ethic related. But I do think perhaps there was something psychological going on, in the sense that he was never able to get truly comfortable in the majors. Why that happened, I don't know.
Posts: 59

03-13-2008, 04:16 PM	#2
Sure-Oz Stay positive, don't give up Join Date: Dec 2001 Casino cash: $3439383	I hope Greinke doesn't end up like that, all the tools in the world to be succesful but a .2 brain
Posts: 46,182

03-13-2008, 04:50 PM	#6
Demonpenz I got Rice cookin in the micro Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Apartment "G UNIT!" Casino cash: $3152136	There was a story when dee brown was hurt or something that he didn't leg out a ground ball and the manager benched him because of lack of hustle. I am not sold that it was a bad pick just another players the royals failed to develop or coach. Hello Affelt! __________________
Posts: 54,267

03-13-2008, 05:36 PM	#9
Deberg_1990 In Search of a Life Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: San Antonio Tx. Casino cash: $3914454	I wonder how many Busts the Royals have had since the early 90s? Particulary pitchers.... Hmmmm __________________ Originally Posted by Cassel's Reckoning: Matt once made a very nice play in Seattle where he spun away from a pass rusher and hit Bowe off his back foot for a first down. One of the best plays Matt has ever made.
Posts: 66,914