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BP Annual Player Comments

Year		Comment
2011		Initially kept around as a utilityman, Brian Barden went stale with disuse, earning a demotion midway through the season; he'll be a Brewer non-roster invitee this spring.
2010		The highlight of Brian Barden's season was starting at third for the Cards on Opening Day, but losing to Joe Thurston and getting outrighted in August, it's no surprise he went unclaimed and had to settle for minor-league deal with the Marlins this winter.
2009		Brian Barden played shortstop in Memphis last year, but he's not slick enough to do the same in the majors, which is why he hasn't caught on as a utility infielder.
2008		Claimed off waivers from the Diamondbacks last August, third baseman Brian Barden has doubles pop, but can't play the middle infield well enough to stick as a utility guy
2007		Barden had a nice offensive year in his third go-round in Tucson--or so it appears at first glance. He played in an offensive park in an offensive league, which doesn`t project well considering he`s already 25. He did play every infield position, and managed a career-high walk rate. Left unprotected in the previous two Rule 5 drafts, Barden was finally added to the 40-man roster this winter. He`d make a decent offense-minded utility infielder for a team that doesn`t need its primary reserve to play much short.
2006		Left exposed in the Rule 5 draft two years in a row, which nicely encapsulates how the Snakes feel about him, and no one took out a flyer either time. You`re tempted to look at that Triple-A line and say "what a nice player," but, again, context turns borderline D-Back prospects into organizational soldiers because of the friendly hitting environments of Arizona`s affiliates. His walk rate is still sub-optimal, so his OBP is largely driven by his average. He is a line-drive hitter, though, so it`s not like he`s waiting for fly balls to drop in order to reach base. May yet make a good pinch-hitter.
2005		Line-drive-hitting third base prospect, plays defense well enough to handle third in the bigs. Gap power to date, but with a fair number of doubles that could convert to homers down the road. He's relatively athletic, and has done a good job of holding onto his production as he moves up. The usual caveats about Diamondbacks hitting prospects apply: He's put up numbers in a series of hitter's parks and leagues (Major League EqA of .215 last year shows he's not ready). He has other issues that affect several Dback prospects, with a low walk rate and heavy reliance on shiny batting averages. If he consolidates his gains this year, he could make some noise, but he's got work to do.
2004		A 2002 draft choice out of Oregon State, Barden was pushed up to Double-A in his second professional season, with ade- quate results. Is he a prospect? He's young enough and can handle third well enough. But let's keep in mind that although Barden didn't fall on his face in his first year at Double-A, he didn't slug .400 in El Paso, and 29 walks in 426 plate appearances adds up to a pretty inoffensive third baseman. He needs to improve before he's going to graduate to trade bait, because with Hillenbrand and Tracy ahead of him, that's his future in purple, copper, and teal.

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