42. Shawn Bowman – 3B – AAA – 25/yrs.
Bowman was selected by the Mets in the 12th Round (357th overall) of the 2002 draft. He signed (out of Charles Best high school in Coquitlam, British Columbia) late so he did not play for any Mets organization in 2002. He split 2003 between Kingsport (.121) and Brooklyn (.203), and, in 2004, Bowman was kicked up to Capital City (A) where he hit .259, with 19HRs and 69 RBIs.
Scout.com listed Bowman that year as the #3 Mets prospect. 2005 brought a promotion to St. Lucie (A+) where be hit .223, with 17 HRs. He was sidelined due to a fractured L-5 vertebrate in his lower back, which he fractured again in 2006. In 32 games for St. Lucie, Bowman batted .252 with three home runs and 19 RBI. He briefly considered having surgery to repair the back but eventually settled upon a rehabilitation program, which was carried out at the Mets' Tradition Field training complex.
Baseball America ranked him as the #7 prospect that year (and the best defensive infielder) and InsidePitch had him #8. This year, OnDeck ranks him this year as the Mets #16 prospect and John Sickles gives him a C rating and ranks him as the 17th Mets prospect. InsidePitch listed Bowman (in Nov 2001) the 7th top Mets prospect. Scout.com gave Bowman ‘2 stars’ (and the 17th top 3B prospect in baseball) as one of the Mets top 10 prospects (issued in December ’06). Bowman has begun his road back to professional baseball by playing winter ball in Nicaragua, where he has powered the offense for Tigres de Chinandega as the cleanup hitter. John Sickles’ 2007 prospect list has him at #15, with the comments “back injury 2 years in a row). He is expected to begin the 2007 season in Binghamton, or St. Lucie.
Scout.com ranks Bowman as the 6th Mets prospect on their revised list that came out prior to the 2007 spring training.
In 2007, he once again started the season with back problems and was placed on the minor league injured reserve list prior to opening day. He did play a short time for St. Lucie as a DH (.150/.182/.300 in 20 at bats), and he is now attempting to come back in 2008 as a pitcher.
In 2008, Bowman was a Disney movie rolled into a Spielberg direction.
In September 2008, Bowman was assigned to the Peoria Saguaros team in the Arizona Winter League.
In 2008, Bowman rebounded with a wonderful season in St. Lucie (.340). He was promoted to Binghamton and his combined stats were: .290/.312/.491 in 210 at bats. More important, he was not injured all season long.
In 2009, Bowman strung his 2nd great season together (uninjured too) for Binghamton, hitting .294/.346/.458/.804, 9-HR, 44-RBI in 347-AB
Forecast:
You have to think of Bowman as a 23 year old playing AAA rather than his real age of 25. He simply has lost a minimum of two years due to injuries, and who knows what would have happened with him if that never happened. This was a real prospect guys. That being said, he no longer is projected to be playing fulltime third base some day in Queens, and I’m sure he won’t be part of any package deal because other clubs are wary whether his body will hold up. For now, a full year at AAA. After that, who the heck knows.
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