Brignac has regressed severely as a hitter against more advanced pitching since then, however. His approach has left a lot to be desired, as his OBP totals have dropped significantly—.330 at Double-A in 2007, .300 at Triple-A in ’08. While he still flashed signs of power potential and ranked among International League leaders in doubles when he was promoted to the Rays to fill in for an injured Jason Bartlett, he posted a discouraging line of .250/.300/.412. He struck out in more than a fourth of his plate appearances (26.4 %) as his walk rate fell to 6.6%, leaving him with a telling 93-to-25 K/BB ratio before a wrist injury cut short his season. Many scouts still feel that he can rebound and provide adequate offensive contributions at the major league level, especially for a shortstop.

Brignac, to his credit, has put to bed any talk about a position switch with his marked improvements defensively. A unanimous selection by the managers and coaches as the best defensive shortstop on the circuit, he nearly cut his errors in half and flashed solid range. Granted, major league managers and coaches crew up similar defensive awards every chance they get, so it is hard to read too much into that. Many scouts (and Baseball America) agreed, though, and there is seemingly a consensus within the industry that he will be able to stick in the majors for a long time even if the bat does not come around.