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2008 He's a trav'lin' man, and he's made a lot of stops all over the world, but we're not sure if he's owns the heart of a lovely girl in every port. Bowen went from San Diego to Oakland in 2007, with a brief layover in the north side of Chicago. He's a strikeout machine (101 in 341 career plate appearances), but he makes up for it with some walks, occasional power, and good defense, or at least enough of each to make him a solid backup. The A's seem pretty comfortable with him backing up Kurt Suzuki this year in what will be the latter's first full major league season. 2007 Once seen as a top catching prospect in the Twins` system, Bowen`s managed to outlive the disappointment of not panning out. Given a third catcher with ability last year, former backstop Bruce Bochy couldn`t resist carving out a role for Bowen, even after the club lifted Bard from Boston. Bowen wound up getting a lot of work caddying for Make Piazza late in games so that Bard didn`t have to catch when Piazza came out, but with both Bochy and Piazza gone, he should settle into a more typical backup role this year. 2005 Often labeled a prospect, but another season like that, and Bowen will drop behind Jose Morales faster than you can say 'Brandon Marsters.' OK, so Marsters never really was that much of a prospect, despite falling before Bowen's erratic ascent up the chain. It's a dog-eat-dog world, but after flopping two out of the last three years, Bowen is more likely to wind up among the eaten.
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