Matt

Brown

The Angels could send Matt Brown down to make room for Santana and then demote Santana and activate Howie Kendrick prior to Saturday’s game.

Brown was 0-for-4 in 18 days with the Angels.

Brown will take the spot of Brandon Wood on the Angels’ roster. He won’t have any fantasy value.

Brown, who was up briefly back in May, was hitting .276/.358/.504 for Salt Lake. He should have been called up as soon as Howie Kendrick got hurt, considering that the Angels never had any intention of giving Brandon Wood semi-regular playing time. Brown will serve as a backup at third until Kendrick returns.

Unfortunately, it was his only hit in three at-bats, so his average dropped to .489. Brown is 26 and has nothing left to prove in the minors, but it looks like the Angels will send both he and Brandon Wood back to Triple-A and go with a bench of Gary Matthews Jr., Reggie Willits, Robb Quinlan and the backup catcher. After finding $5 million in the couch cushions to buy Bobby Abreu, the Angels have steadfastly refused to do anything else that might involve spending money. Cutting Quinlan and going with Brown or Wood would certainly make a lot of sense, but Quinlan has a guaranteed contract and the other two have options remaining.

With no takers for Gary Matthews Jr. and no willingness to eat salary and cut Robb Quinlan, the Angels had no room for some pretty useful players here. Brown especially deserved a job. Wood is certainly more talented, but he’s guaranteed several more chances. Brown isn’t.

Brown, who started every game for Team USA in the Olympics, is joining the Angels for the third time this season. He finished up at .320/.373/.580 with 21 homers in 400 at-bats for Salt Lake.

Brown looked like a better bench option than Robb Quinlan entering 2009, but he had a disastrous season, hitting just .245/.333/.415 at Triple-A Salt Lake. We still like him as a potential role player, but the Angels didn’t want him back even with Quinlan gone.

Brown replaces catcher Bobby Wilson on the roster and will provide some infield depth as a reserve.

Matt Brown or Brandon Wood will be sent down to make room for him.