Boston offer for jj

[Kelbysdaddy]

mlbtr had a post that boston was going after jj and that the brewers were asking for bucholz or dan bard but boston would only give up mike bowden. what was doug thinking assuming he could get either of those 2? i think i would have taken bowden over gomez.

[Invader3K]

This is already being discussed in the main thread about the Hardy trade.

 

My take is that either the rumor is false and Boston wasn't even offering Bowden (or perhaps were asking for more than just Hardy for him), or that Melvin and staff are very unimpressed by the scouting reports on him.

[nate82]

I'm very unimpressed with Bowden. Bowden's FIP in the minors was 4.08 the MLE for that is 5.04. That is worse than Manny Parra and about equal to what Bush did an injury year. Bowden's upside would be nothing more than a #4 pitcher at best he is probably more of a bullpen arm than a starter.

 

If you want to look inside the Brewers organization to get a clearer example Josh Butler is comparable to Bowden.

[dadofandrew]

Buchholz and Bard are stud prospects, Bowden is a more pedestrian one.

[Ennder]

I don't think they meant Hardy for those guys straight up, Hardy as part of a deal involving them makes sense.

[dadofandrew]

Looking at Bowden's numbers, he looks very solid. If he threw hard, I bet that deal would have been made.

[Invader3K]

I thought I read he tops out around 90 or so. That could have been a big turnoff.

[804Sox]

Yeah. Bowden doesn't have great velocity. He sits low 90s (90-92?) and can touch mid-90s with his 4-seam, that he generally keeps down in the zone. I watched him pitch at the MLB level a couple times at the end of this year, and the FB didn't look great - it straightens out a lot when he leaves it up in the zone, as he did against the Yankees late in the season - but when he pitched earlier in the season and last season he was very impressive. It might just be that he was worn down - I don't know. In any case, he's primarily a pitcher that needs to hit his spots to be effective, but luckily that's what he's good at. He has a 2-seam, a nice curve, and a really nice changeup too that he works in well, in addition to a slider that he started working on this year. There was a stretch of games in the middle of this season where he had bad results, but, according to people that saw him play and pitch logs, he was throwing a ton of sliders - way more than one ordinarily would - so his stats over this stretch are a bit deceiving.

 

Overall, he's a solid pitching prospect that should improve some, but is ready to contribute at the MLB level. he's not a top-of-the-rotation guy, but has a sturdy frame and should be a workhorse 3/4 starter. Not the guy to pair with Yo Gallardo at the top of the staff, but probably better, even right now, than Suppan, Looper, et al.