Phillies Alumnus Domonic Brown is Still Playing, Believe It or Not
The Rockies signed former Phillies outfielder Domonic Brown to a minor-league deal, giving another shot to the former top prospect.
Just saying the name Domonic Brown is like a curse word for Phillies fans. The former top prospect gave the team enough hope to let Jayson Werth walk in free agency, but after one strong half in 2013, he fell off the rails. I ranked Brown as the top prospect who never panned out for the Phils.
Brown reached his apex of potential in 2011 when Baseball America ranked Brown as the No. 4 prospect in all of baseball. He ranked ahead of such players as Aroldis Chapman, Eric Hosmer, and Manny Machado. He battled injury that year and the next, hurting his ability to become a full-time major-leaguer.
That all changed in 2013 after Brown got off to a hot start in spring training. He came out on fire in the first half, hitting for an .859 OPS with 23 home runs in 95 games. He was especially hot in May, hitting 12 home runs with a .991 OPS. He was named an All-Star that season.
Brown was never the same player again after that first half. From that point on, he hit for a .239/.294/.356 line in the rest of his time in Philadelphia.
His downfall mirrored the team’s as a whole, so many fans associated Brown with the team’s collapse.
The Phils finally gave up on Brown after the 2015 season when they outrighted him off the 40-man roster. He elected free agency rather than head back to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Unsurprisingly, no team offered him a major-league deal, so he signed with the Blue Jays to a minor-league contract instead.
More from That Balls Outta Here
Brown has continued his trip around the MLB, this time landing a minor-league deal with the Colorado Rockies according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports.
Brown is a longshot to make the Rockies’ roster. They already have several outfield spots locked in with Carlos Gonzalez, Charlie Blackmon, Gerardo Parra, and David Dahl. In addition, they signed Ian Desmond to a large contract this winter, although he is expected to play first base.
Ironically, Brown signed with the Rockies despite him having a terrible track record at Coor’s Field.
Since 2009, he has the third-lowest OPS of all hitters with 25 or more plate appearances.
Teams will keep on signing Brown just because he is a former All-Star, even if it is nothing more than a minor-league contract. He may very well return to his early 2013 form, but that seems unlikely four years later.
