Michael Bowden

[Seth Stohs]

The other day, there was a forum thread where many believed that the Twins should make a claim on reliever Rich Thompson who was DFAd by the Angels last week.

 

Yesterday, the Twins claimed Clete Thomas to be a backup outfielder.

 

This morning, the Boston Red Sox DFAd reliever Michael Bowden. I have liked Bowden since the Red Sox used a supplemental 1st round pick in 2005. He's had a lot of minor league success as a starter, but in the big leagues, he has been pushed to the bullpen. He has been up with the Red Sox for parts of each season since 2008, so he must be out of options.

 

With this, in all reality, being a rebuilding year for the Twins, I think it would be disappointing if the Twins didn't get a 25-year-old pitcher who still has potential but never got a chance with the Red Sox.

 

Any thoughts?

[shawntheroad]

compared to some of the options the Twins have, I think Bowden and Thompson are both upgrade to the Twins. I'd like to see them look into both.

[Thrylos]

I think that Michael Bowden and Rich Thompson are the guys who should the Twins claim instead of the usual type of pitchers they do (never-had been 30 somethings). The problem is that they need 40-man and 25-man roster spots for both of them. I guess both of them would be an upgrade over Gray and Burton right away...

[minn55441]

It's just a matter of time before another roster spot opens up. We could probably have them start a game later this week.

[whydidnt]

I was thinking the same thing regarding Bowden. He has the potential to be a pretty significant upgrade over the likes of Gray, Maloney, Burton, etc, is still young, has a decent pedigree and could probably be worked into the rotation within a few weeks.

[DaTwins]

Absolutely! Just 3 years ago he was a 5-star prospect as rated by Baseball Prospectus, I think he'd be a great pickup.

[Seth Stohs]

I wouldn't DFA Burton or Maloney yet... there are other options as well. Thompson doesn't do much for me, but Bowden, in my mind, is a must-acquire.

[Thrylos]

I wouldn't DFA Burton or Maloney yet... there are other options as well...

Assuming that Hendriks is demoted when Marquis returns next Wed, the only other option is to demote Burnett. Hate to say this, but Burnett has pitched better than Burton or Gray at this point. So one of these 2 would be the logical choise to go.

[shawntheroad]

I wouldn't DFA Burton or Maloney yet... there are other options as well. Thompson doesn't do much for me, but Bowden, in my mind, is a must-acquire.

Thompson has better K rates than Burton, Maloney and Gray and is younger than all 3. I'd have no problem switching him out for one of the others.

[Fanatic Jack]

I would keep Alex Burnett over Jeff Gray?

[Jeremy Nygaard]

he must be out of options.

Verified.

 

Bowden was known to have very good command and a great changeup and curve. I would love to see the Twins get Bowden and let him stretch back out. At the very least it would give the Twins another guy that could make the rotation next year. We're talking about a guy that has never really had a chance in the big leagues (less than a year of service time) who had been considered one of Boston's top prospects from 2008-2010.

 

Although - and it's been mentioned here - he doesn't fit the mold of guys typically claimed by the Twins (young and still projectable), his scouting report does say some things that loosely translate to him being a "pitch to contact" type guy, that's the Twins way!

[nicksaviking]

Bowden's minor league K/9 rate actually jumped 37% to 10.4K/9 after his full time move to the pen last year. If memory serves he was one of the key pieces discussed with Boston's potential offer in the Santana trade fiasco. No reason not to put a claim in. If he was with the Twins during spring training he surely would have beaten out Burton, Gray, Burnett and Maloney. Just because a club is comfortable with it's pen, doesn't mean they still shouldn't take advatage of an opportunity for potential. Who knows, this could be a reverse Ortiz.

[shawntheroad]

Anyone that could help next year's starting pitching has to be looked at. Right now, we're looking at Blackburn, Hendriks, Swarzak, and a lot of questions.

[darin617]

If the Twins do put in a claim and are awarded Michael Bowden the player that should be removed my the 40 man roster is a very simple choice. I can't believe Seth hasn't suggested it already is to remove Tsuyoshi Nishioka from the 40 man roster. If a team wants to claim him they can have him and take over his deal.

[shs_59]

Bowden, yes the Twins i'm sure are putting a claim in....we'll see if a crappier team (few and far between record wise) Puts a claim on him before we do.

 

THey'd get first rights..... Question is who you send to AAA if you're the Twins... ? Matt Maloney?

[shs_59]

Anyone that could help next year's starting pitching has to be looked at. Right now, we're looking at Blackburn, Hendriks, Swarzak, and a lot of questions.

 

Hopefully waaay before 2013 Spring Training we'll have :

 

FA , Blackburn, Swarzak, Hendriks, and Gibson..... with the possiblilty of Scott Baker being back... on a cheaper NEW DEAL.

 

Capps, Burnett, Gutierrez (better pick it up), Perkins, Burton or Gray, Oliveros, Robertson.

[Thrylos]

Bowden, yes the Twins i'm sure are putting a claim in....we'll see if a crappier team (few and far between record wise) Puts a claim on him before we do.

 

THey'd get first rights..... Question is who you send to AAA if you're the Twins... ? Matt Maloney?

Up until half of the season, the waiver claim order goes per last seasons record, so no crappier team in the AL than the Twins .

 

I think that the Twins should get rid of Gray, but that's another story

[darin617]

Send Gray or Burton down take Tsuyoshi Nishioka off 40 man roster. I'm sure Gray and Burton don't have options but if they don't get claimed so be it.

[Nick Nelson]

Bowden would seriously bolster the Twins' pitching depth, especially if they were willing to work him out as a starter.

[travistwinstalk]

First off Hendriks is not going down when Marquis comes back he made sure of that yesterday. So the Twins will have to choose either Gray or Burnett to send down. I think Gray is the right choice with Swarzak going back to bullpen. As for Bowden, Seth and I discussed this yesterday and I feel this is a no brainer. The Red Sox never gave him a chance in the big leagues much like they never gave Justin Masterson a chance and look at him now. Bowden likely is not as talented as Masterson, but he is projectable and can be a very solid reliever this year and you go into next spring and possibly give him a chance to start depending on what Twins do with rotation. Bowden is better than 3 or 4 of their relievers so I can't see any reason why they wouldn't put a claim in on him. There are guys at the end of the 40 man roster that you can remove for him. Being that the Twins had the worst record in the AL last year and have it this year if they claim Bowden they will be awarded him. Like I told Seth yesterday I will be very disappointed if the Twins don't claim Bowden.

[VodkaDave]

I'd def bring in Bowden as he would help out both the pen and potential rotation. However I will say that much like Lowrie he is a bit over-rated due to hyped up Boston prospect status, you often see this with Yankee prospects as well.

[Mr. Ed]

Up until half of the season, the waiver claim order goes per last seasons record, so no crappier team in the AL than the Twins .

 

I think that the Twins should get rid of Gray, but that's another story

Agreed. Gray got a couple cheap wins, but is not a guy you want to bring in with runners on base. Not much upside.

 

Surprisingly, Burnett has put a good run together, thus likely ensuring he'll stay.

[whydidnt]

If the Twins do put in a claim and are awarded Michael Bowden the player that should be removed my the 40 man roster is a very simple choice. I can't believe Seth hasn't suggested it already is to remove Tsuyoshi Nishioka from the 40 man roster. If a team wants to claim him they can have him and take over his deal.

Seriously good idea. They should designate him for assignment anyway on the hope and prayer that some team would take on the 6 Million still owed.

[VodkaDave]

Seriously good idea. They should designate him for assignment anyway on the hope and prayer that some team would take on the 6 Million still owed.

Pretty sure it wouldn't work like that, and nobody would ever give Nishioka that much money or even close...

[whydidnt]

Pretty sure it wouldn't work like that, and nobody would ever give Nishioka that much money or even close...

That's the point. He's wasting a 40 man roster spot right now. If he clears waivers, which he will, then he can be removed from the 40 man roster and the Twins can use that spot on someone like Bowden. If by chance someone claims him, they get his contract too, so it's a win-win for the Twins, either way. Seriously are you suggesting there is some benefit to the Twins to keep him on their 40 man roster?

[darin617]

Finally!!! Somebody else actually gets it. Too bad Terry Ryan won't do it. Also, I wouldn't be shocked if Nishioka would feel so pathetic he might approach the Twins and try to work out a buy out of his contract so he can return to Japan...

[Jeremy Nygaard]

The news on DFA'd Michael Bowden has been pretty quiet lately, so I'm linking a couple of stories and doing some math.

 

http://www.chicagonow.com/cubs-den/2012/04/fixing-the-cubs-bullpen-trade-or-internal-options/

 

http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/story/_/id/7839563/source-chicago-cubs-trade-marlon-byrd-boston-red-sox

 

It's been written lately that the Cubs are in need of bullpen help. I think that's where Bowden fits into the equation. The one thing that gives me pause is that the ESPN article suggests the Cubs will get a left-handed reliever. (Bowden is righthanded.) Regardless, Bowden's future will have to be determined in the next couple of days.

[Thrylos]

The news on DFA'd Michael Bowden has been pretty quiet lately, so I'm linking a couple of stories and doing some math.

 

http://www.chicagonow.com/cubs-den/2012/04/fixing-the-cubs-bullpen-trade-or-internal-options/

 

http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/story/_/id/7839563/source-chicago-cubs-trade-marlon-byrd-boston-red-sox

 

It's been written lately that the Cubs are in need of bullpen help. I think that's where Bowden fits into the equation. The one thing that gives me pause is that the ESPN article suggests the Cubs will get a left-handed reliever. (Bowden is righthanded.) Regardless, Bowden's future will have to be determined in the next couple of days.

There is another part to add to the equation, which makes Bowden to Cubs very unlikely:

 

a. he has to be bypassed by all the AL teams and a couple NL teams

or b. he has to be traded directly to the Cubs by Boston

 

and given the relationship between Cubs and Boston recently b is even more unlikely than a, which is very unlikely itself

[Seth Stohs]

We are getting to the point where Bowden has to be put on waivers, so something will have to happen pretty quick for him to be involved.

[Bark's Lounge]

According to MLBTR, it appears the Red Sox and Cubs are close to a trade involving Marlon Byrd with Bowden in play in their discussions.