Michael Bowden

[ShawonOmeter12]

with the news that the red sox released him do you think theo will want to reunite with him? I think it would be a decent buy low type situation to see what he can give us in the pen. He is easily worth the risk over camp in my opinion.

[PriortoTheoIhadWood]

Low upside and he's been around forever, but sure.

[ShawonOmeter12]

Low upside and he's been around forever, but sure.

 

isnt he still just 25 yrs old? he has put up good Ks in the minors and was a former 1st rd pick, he has to be worth more then shawn camp.

[PriortoTheoIhadWood]

Low upside and he's been around forever, but sure.

 

isnt he still just 25 yrs old? he has put up good Ks in the minors and was a former 1st rd pick, he has to be worth more then shawn camp.

 

Doesn't throw hard or have any kind of wow pitch...At one point there was some hope he'd be Jeff Suppan.

 

Honestly seems like one of our non-Wood AAA rotation arms.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I don't know much about Bowden, but I find this kind of amusing because there were several posters at SoSH that were getting a bit up in arms because they thought he'd be our PTBNL in the Theo trade.

 

But yes, seems like Theos type of target.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Looking over this guys minor league career, I'd definitely take a flier. Doesn't scream out superstar, but he certainly looks better than anything we have in Iowa as far as starters or even give him a crack at the big league pen. There's really nothing to lose and no reason not to.

[UK1679666180]

Great kid, watched him in HS. Why not take a chance, haven't followed him much since being drafted.

 

I know in HS he was 91-93, flashed a plus curve, no change, strong, rigid mechanics.

[Guest]

If we were willing to grab Shawn Camp at the end of ST and give him a spot in the pen to try and fool people with his frisbee slider, then I don't see why we wouldn't try to get Bowden in here.

[davell]

I kind of hope we wait for Byrd to get going a bit, if he's what it'd take for us to get him.

[jersey cubs fan]

I kind of hope we wait for Byrd to get going a bit, if he's what it'd take for us to get him.

 

Why would it take a trade of Byrd to get a guy who was released?

[davell]

Do I have the DFA process confused? If we're the highest team to claim him, is he ours?

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I kind of hope we wait for Byrd to get going a bit, if he's what it'd take for us to get him.

 

Why would it take a trade of Byrd to get a guy who was released?

 

DFA isn't released.

 

They have 10 days to either trade, release or waive him. So if other teams are interested and offering the Red Sox something of value, it might take something of value to get him.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I kind of hope we wait for Byrd to get going a bit, if he's what it'd take for us to get him.

 

Why would it take a trade of Byrd to get a guy who was released?

 

DFA isn't released.

 

They have 10 days to either trade, release or waive him. So if other teams are interested and offering the Red Sox something of value, it might take something of value to get him.

 

This being said, perhaps a deal for Marlon Byrd wouldn't be the worst thing. Sure, it could be viewed as selling low, but even if he does manage to raise his .065/.147/.065/.212 line, how much more would we really get for him? I'd take Bowden and a fringe prospect and call it a day.

[jersey cubs fan]

I kind of hope we wait for Byrd to get going a bit, if he's what it'd take for us to get him.

 

Why would it take a trade of Byrd to get a guy who was released?

 

DFA isn't released.

 

They have 10 days to either trade, release or waive him. So if other teams are interested and offering the Red Sox something of value, it might take something of value to get him.

 

then somebody might want to edit the first post in the thread.

 

Either way, not sure it makes any sense that you "kind of hope we wait for byrd to get going", since the 10-day window isn't set by the Cubs.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Speaking of DFAd one time top prospects:

 

Orioles Claim Luis Exposito, Designate Josh Bell

By Ben Nicholson-Smith [April 17 at 1:06pm CST]

The Orioles announced that they claimed catcher Luis Exposito off of waivers from the Red Sox. To create 40-man roster space for Exposito, Baltimore designated infielder Josh Bell for assignment.

 

The Red Sox designated Exposito and Michael Bowden for assignment in a recent roster shuffle. The 25-year-old Exposito spent last season at Triple-A, where he posted a .242/.298/.367 line in 359 plate appearances. He prevented one third of stolen base attempts from behind the plate.

 

Bell, once considered a top prospect, has fallen out of favor in Baltimore. He spent most of last season at Triple-A, where he posted a .253/.320/.438 line in 438 plate appearances as Norfolk's third baseman. He has a .485 OPS in 226 plate appearances at the MLB level.

 

According to BBR, Bell was the 60 prospect before this season and he's only 25. He's struggled big time, but as long as we don't mind giving him a 40 man spot, he could be an interesting plan c after Stewart or Vitters for 3B. Someone should claim him very soon.

[Clem Fandango]

I would take a flier on Josh Bell if we didn't already have Vitters in the system. He and Vitters each have their pros and their cons and they kind of balance each other out, but Vitters is younger, in AAA already (where Bell would be), and is easily a better pure hitter than Bell (who provides a little more patience and power than Vitters).

 

I like Bell, but we don't really need him.

[davearm2]

So this is what it has come to: guys that can't cut it in Baltimore are welcome on the Cubs.

[Clem Fandango]

So this is what it has come to: guys that can't cut it in Baltimore are welcome on the Cubs.

 

Circle of Life, bro.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

So this is what it has come to: guys that can't cut it in Baltimore are welcome on the Cubs.

 

We're a small market team, we have to take what we can get.

[TruffleShuffle]

According to BBR, Bell was the 60 prospect before this season and he's only 25.

 

well that can't possibly be true, because he's not even rookie eligible any more, so he wouldn't be evaluated by BA. not to mention that they probably aren't going to rate a guy with a 6 BB/78 K ratio in 226 major league plate appearances as the 60th best prospect in baseball.

[davell]

That's the Josh Bell on the Pirates. He's really good. The one on Baltimore sucks.

[Clem Fandango]

That's the Josh Bell on the Pirates. He's really good. The one on Baltimore sucks.

 

You're right, but B-R has it wrong. Josh Bell's (Baltimore) minor league page has him confused with the other one.

[toonsterwu]

Didn't realize this was being discussed here ... I'd take a chance on both kids if we had the opportunity. Bowden's sort of stuck in no-man's land as a pitcher in some respects - he's an end of the rotation type, basically Jay Jackson, a flyball guy with a fastball and very average secondary pitches. The curveball simply wasn't working for him - I recall hearing how they scrapped the curve because the quality wasn't there anymore. As a pen arm, he's not really an end of the pen type arm, as the fastball really doesn't have the juice, and with his mechanics, consistency would be an issue, something you really don't want. But ... considering the sad state of our pen ... why not? He has decent enough stuff with the 4-seamer, cutter, and slider options available, and he's young enough that it's worth a flyer. Shawn Camp and Nate Robertson are filler guys (along with a few others). Don't see any harm with cutting one of them and testing Bowden out. Ideally, I'd send him to AAA's pen, but if you need to keep in the bigs, okay. (hmm ... more I think about it, never realized that Jay Jackson was a fairly decent comparison for him pitching-wise).

 

I'm far more interested in Bell. The power is still there. He's struck out far more in the bigs than he did in the minors, which I think is attributed to his swing. Sure, he's a butcher at 3rd ... but it's not like the top 4 levels of our system have studs defensively at 3rd base (Vitters/Cerda/Rohan, amongst others). I mean, 3rd isn't exactly a deep position in the system. With Cerda on the DL, there really isn't a natural 3rd baseman in Tennessee, Daytona, Peoria right now (Rohan really should be at 1st/LF, but is passable for the needs at 3rd), with a lot of middle infielders kicking over there (Nate Samson played third the other day, Dustin Harrington has manned some third, and well ... Zapenas/Darvill have played some third at Peoria off the top). Why not take a flyer? Ideally, you'd stash him in AA somehow, as Vitters will likely be given as much time as needed. Unless the organization is ready to push Candelario to full-season (and he might not stick at 3rd) or move Javier Baez to 3rd (and they shouldn't move Baez to 3rd unless they are absolutely certain he can't stick at short), the system is really devoid of intriguing third base options. Bell would likely rake at AA, which wouldn't mean much (other than giving the solid pitching staff there some additional help), but ... why not see if you can fix that swing?

 

In saying all that, I don't expect Bell to happen. I think someone will give him a look for AAA, in all likelihood, and I don't see us creating space for him in Iowa right now.

[Little Slide Rooter]

The one case I could see them having interest is as a 3B plan B2. Just a guy to have available as a fallback from Stewart, who does have a history of injury. If we are rebuilding, it would be more worthwhile to give him a look than Baker who's gone after this year(unless they inexplicably re sign him) and DeWitt who the manager doesn't seem to like, mostly because he's not very good. If you're going to waste a roster spot, may as well be with a 25 year old with a modest upside. Does Bell play anything other than 3rd?

[dew1679666265]

Does Bell play anything other than 3rd?

 

He's played a total of 8 games outside of third base throughout his minor league career.