Weaver down, Sowers up...

[FuriousGeorge]

He was drafted before Jered Weaver and just after Justin Verlander in the famed 2003 amateur draft's Round 1.

This was actually the 2004 draft.

[The Loveable Losers]

Yeah, Rotowire confirmed what I'm thinking with a caveat. They think he might be able to get by as a 'crafty lefty' but still they expect an adjustment period due to his lack of anything resembling stuff.

[tol1l1yboy]

I wouldnt be very high on him if I were any of you. Guys that dont strike out people have to rely on their defense. He is basically Jason Johnson and look at what he did this year.

Sure he is an unknown and didnt give up a lot of runs but this is in triple a...I know someone signed him already in my league this afternoon but I wasnt going to take a chance on a guy that cant strike anyone out in the minors let alone the majors.

[Super Manny]

For what it's worth, Peter Gammons has just confirmed on Baseball Tonight that the Indians plan to call up Sowers within the next week to replace Jason Johnson.

[Wade Boggs' Mustache]

I wouldnt be very high on him if I were any of you. Guys that dont strike out people have to rely on their defense. He is basically Jason Johnson and look at what he did this year.

Sure he is an unknown and didnt give up a lot of runs but this is in triple a...I know someone signed him already in my league this afternoon but I wasnt going to take a chance on a guy that cant strike anyone out in the minors let alone the majors.

Just because a guy cannot strike anyone out in the minors does not mean they won't have any success in the majors. Believe it or not, some pitchers actually rely on their location and deception to succeed. A guy that comes to mind when looking at Sowers' numbers, Tom Glavine. Here's a guy who didn't K anymore than Sowers did in the minors, but I'm pretty sure he's had a decent career. You don't need to strike out 12/9 innings to succeed. If anything scares you, it should be his number of walks, not the fact he can't strike people out. Just my $.02.

[Sunspot]

Not to mention, with a lower K total, he could keep his pitch counts down and stay in games longer. Innings are a point in my league. Don't get me wrong, I usually like the K guys, but Sowers seems very smart out on the mound, and that has, in the past, transitioned well to the majors as compared to pure fireballers.

[The Loveable Losers]

I wouldnt be very high on him if I were any of you. Guys that dont strike out people have to rely on their defense. He is basically Jason Johnson and look at what he did this year.

Sure he is an unknown and didnt give up a lot of runs but this is in triple a...I know someone signed him already in my league this afternoon but I wasnt going to take a chance on a guy that cant strike anyone out in the minors let alone the majors.

Just because a guy cannot strike anyone out in the minors does not mean they won't have any success in the majors. Believe it or not, some pitchers actually rely on their location and deception to succeed. A guy that comes to mind when looking at Sowers' numbers, Tom Glavine. Here's a guy who didn't K anymore than Sowers did in the minors, but I'm pretty sure he's had a decent career. You don't need to strike out 12/9 innings to succeed. If anything scares you, it should be his number of walks, not the fact he can't strike people out. Just my $.02.

I completely agree with you but you have to have a very low number of walks to succeed if you don't strike out a significant number of batters. A good rule of thumb is a 2/1 k/bb ratio is the bare minimum to be a successful major league pitcher.