Jays Snag Canadian Shawn Bowman From Mets

True to his word about filling every need the Jays have as diligently as possible, Alex Anthopolous and the Blue Jays claimed 3B Shawn Bowman off waivers from the Mets. On the surface, this doesn’t seem like much of a move, but players like Brian Dopirak and Garrett Jones have proven that some players take longer than others to progress to an MLB level.

Shawn is from New Westminster British Columbia, stands 6’2″ 190 lbs, and was selected 357th overall (12th rd) of the 2002 draft.

I’ll only look at his most recent stats in AA from 2009:

347 ABs, had 102 hits for a .294 average, 24 doubles, 3 triples, 9 HRs, 44 RBI, 25 walks and 101 SO. He sported a .346 OBP and .458 SLG, all of which is fairly average overall.

If he had received 500 ABs, his stats would have been:

500 AB, 146 hits, 35 doubles, 4 triples, 13 HRs, 63 RBI.

Nothing stands out to be above average with Bowman, but he could always hit his stride as a 25 year old. He had been projected to be a much better power hitter when he was drafted, but for whatevre reasons he was never able to get more than 400 ABs in any one season throughout his development. It could be that with more ABs and the extra motivation of playing for a Canadian team Bowman could turn the corner and become a serviceable 3B. I’m more interested to see at which level they play him, AA or AAA, since they only have Christian Colonel filling that hole in AAA while Brad Emaus has been taking that position on in AA. With Brad Emaus starting off so hot (great spring and a .333 average and .455 OBP  with 2 doubles and 1 HR thus far in AA), he could get a shot at 3B in AAA.

More to come on this subject, but a nice and cheap grab that could turn out ok for the Jays and provides some depth at a very weak position for them.