Great article @Senna. I read it last night. My son has used Maxbat, Sambat, Slugger, and a couple others not worth mentioning. He loves training with wood in the offseason and would like to use it in season too but it can get pretty expensive and I dont think that he gets quite the same pop as a good aluminum or composite.
The last bats purchased (that are his new favorite) is the Sambat Pro Select 4-pack. It is relatively inexpensive at $399 for 4 pro level bats (they did not have the 6-pack Pro Select when we got them last fall). They are all slightly different...some with thicker handles, bigger barrels, or different knobs, etc and you get an assortment at whatever length you order. Our only request was no bats with the thickest handles (1"+) as he does not like very thick handles and they sent everything less than 1". We got 4 bats and he really liked 3 of them and then sold the 4th to a buddy for $100. $100/each is a rock solid deal for pro-level bats imo.