1:38pm: Sowers cleared waivers and will head to Triple A, reports Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
9:53am: Indians pitcher Jeremy Sowers has been placed on outright waivers, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Rosenthal says the lefty is likely headed to the minors if unclaimed.
Sowers, 27 in May, posted a 5.25 ERA, 3.7 K/9, and 3.8 BB/9 in 123.3 innings for the Tribe last year. He was better in the minors, but it was his fourth Triple A stint (excluding one start made in '05).
Sowers was drafted 20th overall by Reds GM Jim Bowden in '01, but did not sign. He was known to be a very difficult sign prior to the draft, and already had a commitment to Vanderbilt. Three years later the Indians drafted the brainy southpaw 6th overall. His polish got him to Cleveland in '06, but he was never able to strike out big league hitters and his groundball rate dropped since that rookie season.
I hear this was done to clear a spot for Grudzeilanek. Interesting.
How many minutes do you think will transpire before he is claimed? I think the Pirates could have used him much more than Hayden. It’s very interesting who has been placed on waivers so far this Spring.
Royals love former prospect burnouts.
For a lefty 27yr old, probably making the league minimum salary, I cannot imagine him not being on someone’s MLB roster within the next couple months.
I never seen the potential in this guy. He was like a young Jamie Moyer. No stuff at all, threw around 87 on a good day and didn’t have the stuff to get hitters out. He can maybe find his niche in some sort of a bullpen role, but I don’t think he has a career as a starting pitcher.
I thought he had potential. Never the potential to be a frontline starter, but maybe a guy who could be slotted in the fourth or fifth spot in a rotation. He’s still young so he can still be that kind of guy.