Know Your Jays #3: Shawn Bowman

The Jays' latest signing--picked up off waivers from the Mets and sent to Las Vegas yesterday--might at first glance seem to be just another token Canadian with a wide batting stance.

The evidence is there--he was an easy pickup, as nobody had claimed him after the Mets designated him for assignment, another day and they'd have been able to outright him to a minor league team or (more likely) release him.

He's never made even AAA before, and at age 25, is running out of time in which he'll likely improve his game.

But despite all that, something about this pickup just feels good. Like it's more than this decade's version of Howie Clark getting his first shot.

Bowman was born in New Westminster, BC, and was a 12th-round draft pick by the Mets in 2002. The third baseman struggled mightily in both low-A and rookie ball. Somehow, he cracked the roster of A-level Capital City (no word on if Dancing Homer was in attendance), and displayed some strong power in 2004, hitting 18 homers.

Back problems came into the picture in 2005, and Bowman managed only 38 games between 2006 and 2007 between spells on the injured list. He came back late in 2008, and started tearing up the high-A Florida State League--hitting .340 over 26 games and earning a promotion to AA, where he homered in his first game.

2009 was Bowman's first full year in AA, and he responded with decent numbers: .294 with a .346 on-base percentage, his highest ever as he had learned how to take a walk. The drawback was that his power seemed to be gone, he hit only nine homers in nearly 400 at bats.

Despite a 3-for-10 spring, the Mets gave up on Shawn Bowman, which is where are story loops back to the beginning as the Jays took a chance on him. He's not going to be a superstar, but for an emergency name in case of an injury to Toronto starter Edwin Encarnacion, Bowman is worth a look.

In Las Vegas, Bowman will likely be the starting third baseman--provided his bat is up to the task--displacing Christian Colonel, in his first year with the Jays organization.

Know Your Jays #2: Scott Downs

A good ol' boy from Kentucky, Downs was drafted by Atlanta in 1994, but opted to play college ball in his home state instead. In 1997, the Cubs took a chance on him - and this time he turned pro.

In two months of single-A ball after being drafted, Downs impressed mightily - a 1.83 ERA in ten starts. Good enough to earn a promotion to high-A Daytona for 1998, where his numbers were a little closer to average. At the end of 1998, the Cubs sent him to Minnesota for Mike Morgan.

Minnesota tried Downs at AA, and he bombed spectacularly - an 8.69 ERA in six appearances, three starts. Moved down to Fort Myers, he didn't allow an earned run - but still managed an 0-1 record. Sent back to the Cubs in late May with Rick Aguilera.

Did much, much better on familiar turf - 5-0 with a 1.88 ERA in Daytona, 8-1 with an amazing 1.35 ERA in his second kick at AA ball.

Impressed the Cubs enough that he was part of their major league rotation to start 2000, where he went 4-3 with a 5.17 ERA - not great numbers, but good enough by the standards of that year's last-place Cubbies.

At the deadline, the cash-strapped Montreal Expos unloaded outfielder Rondell White's contract on the Cubs, and Downs was headed north of the border. After one start in Montreal - three innings, three earned runs, no control whatsoever - Downs went on the DL.

Downs returned to professional baseball in mid-2002, but was limited to mostly AAA action - thirteen starts for Montreal between 2002 and 2004, with stats that weren't too pretty.

After the 2004 season, the Jays - under the regime of J.P. Ricciardi, well-known for taking a chance on any pitcher who had any level of success at any time - gave Downs a call.

He started the year in Syracuse, where a line of 2-3, 4.81 was enough to get him called up to Toronto to help a badly hurting bullpen. Here, Downs showed flashes of what he would become, but he was also maddeningly inconsistent - over three innings hitless on May 28, two innings hitless on June 25, compare to five earned runs in two innings on June 5, three hits and two runs in four batters faced on June 21.

By late July, the Jays' lack of pitching depth forced Downs into the rotation, where a couple of shaky outings were followed by a very strong run through August and early September - in one five-start run, he complied an ERA of 2.20 - the rest of September was much harsher; Downs never made it past the sixth inning.

Downs started 2006 in the Jays' rotation, but after only two starts, he was moved to the bullpen - where, aside from a few emergency starts now and then, he would remain. In the grand tradition of Kelvim Escobar, Paul Quantrill, Billy Koch, and Kelvim Escobar again, the Jays turned a below-average starter into an above-average reliever - Downs compiled a 2.17 ERA in 2007, 1.78 in 2008, and 3.09 in an injury-marred 2009.

Used primarily against left-handed batters, Scott Downs has become one of the best short relievers in baseball - and if he's not named the Jays' closer early in the season, there's a strong chance he'll be dealt to another team to be their top bullpen dog. At which point we will promptly rename this blog "Blue Jays After Downs".

Know Your Jays #1: Randy Ruiz

Even if you haven't really followed the Jays for a few years, you might already know a bit about Vernon Wells, Aaron Hill, and Dustin McGowan simply through osmosis if nothing else.

That's where Know Your Jays comes in - to save you from embarrassment by introducing to the second-stringers, the lesser known members of your favourite ballclub. First up, Randy Ruiz.

An impressive spring looks to have earned Ruiz a slot on the Jays' Opening Day bench. Rumour has it he'll get the bulk of starts at first base against left-handed pitchers, and perhaps a few DH starts here and there. Judging by the rest of the bench, he'll be the first guy Cito calls on for pinch-hitting, and he can also play in left field if absolutely necessary.

The story of Randy Ruiz begins in 1999, when then-21-year-old Randy is signed out of college by Cincinnati. After four years, he had displayed a great ability to get on base, and some power, making it as high as the Reds' top single-A affiliate. But for some reason - maybe because he was 24 and still in single-A - Randy was let go.

A game of musical chairs followed, as Randy played in the minors for eight different organizations over the next five years - working his way up to AA, mastering AA, and struggling in AAA. He signed on with Minnesota for the 2008 season, and tore up AAA pitching with their Rochester affiliate - hitting .320 with 17 home runs and a 24-game hitting streak. Despite those numbers - and a respectable .274 average in a brief major league stint, his first taste of the bigs - Minnesota didn't renew Randy's contract.

Enter Toronto. Before the 2009 season, the Jays signed him to a contract to help a depleted AAA squad in Las Vegas. Ruiz posted his best numbers yet - again hitting .320, but taking far more walks (his OBP was a very strong .392), striking out less, and hitting for more power. He got the call to Toronto in August, and became a regular DH at the end of the season - hitting .313 with ten homers.

Sounds like a perfect storybook, right? Guy plows through minors, never gets a chance to make the big time. Toronto gives him a shot, he turns out to be a great hitter.

And maybe that's the case. I don't know. But there are some red flags.

In 2005, Randy was suspended twice for violations of baseball's drug policy. He claims he was not actually taking steroids and the results were false positives caused by an erectile dysfunction medication.

His bouncing from franchise to franchise also sends a tingle down my spine - generally, somebody with stats this good isn't constantly finding himself losing his job. Not unless there's something else going on. Upon his exit from the Reading Phillies, the Reading Eagle noted that Randy "never seemed to comprehend the magnitude of his mistakes", and there was also a reference to him being part of a "toxic trio" of players.

On the field, there's only one area for concern - strikeouts. Randy struck out once every 4.67 at bats in Vegas last year (once every 3.29 AB in Toronto) - and that's actually an improvement over his 2008 (once per 3.59 AB) and 2007 (4.09). For comparison's sake, only J.P. Arencibia and Travis Snider had worse ratios in Vegas (minimum 100 AB). Snider and Jose Bautista were the only Jays to have worse ratios than Randy's Vegas result, to say nothing of his Toronto numbers (again, minimum 100 AB).

Of course, there's the chance that none of this matters. Maybe Ruiz will strike out less as he adapts to big-league pitching. Maybe he's just been genuinely unlucky in finding employment. Maybe he really did have erectile dysfunction.

No matter what, he's good for some high-excitement offense. And in this season, 1 A.D., maybe that's what we're looking for.