Slowey, Escobar, Sonnastine make first splash

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In this week's installment of Who's He, a couple of struggling teams shake up their pitching staffs turning to top prospects, more dice are thrown in Chicago's outfield, an organization with a strong history of player development unveils yet another gem, and the overlooked end of a highly publicized trade are examined.

Kevin Slowey, P, Twins: "Crafty" is the best word used to describe Slowey, the Twins latest pitching phenom who made his major league debut last week by allowing a run and five hits in a six inning no-decision in Oakland. A righthander who features the normal repertoire of fastball, curve, slider, changeup, Slowey has the ability to set up hitters using all four pitches to any batter in any count. That approach has made him one of the best pitchers in the minors over the last three seasons, posting an ERA less than 2.00 throughout his pro career. Barring complete collapse, he's locked into the Twins rotation for the remainder of the season and like Brad Radke, with whom he's often compared, for a long time after that.

Yunel Escobar, 3B, Braves: The Braves farm system keeps churning out major league talent. The latest is Escobar, an infielder who was recalled when Chipper Jones landed on the DL. A former member of the Cuban Junior National Team, Escobar defected to the U.S. in 2005 and was drafted a month after being rescued by the Coast Guard near Miami. A line-drive hitter with decent power potential, Escobar was the batting champion in the Arizona Fall League this past offseason with a .407 average (to go along with 22 RBIs) in 86 at-bats and was hitting .333 with two home runs and 29 RBIs in 180 at-bats at Richmond when summoned to the majors. Monday night was Escobar's coming out party as he collected four hits and his first major league home run in a loss to the Marlins. With Chipper out indefinitely, Escobar is an excellent short-term pickup for the next few weeks. While it appears that there is no space for Escobar in a healthy Atlanta infield, there's long been speculation of a Jones switch to first base, and should Escobar prove ready, that could come sooner rather than later.

Randy Messenger, P, Giants: So what did the Giants really receive when they jettisoned Armando Benitez, back to Florida? How about Messenger, a 25-year-old righthanded reliever with a 3-8 career record, no career saves and ERA just under five runs per game. The 6-foot-6 Messenger was a high school basketball standout in Nevada who reportedly received scholarship offers to play hoops at Arizona, Stanford and Oregon, but instead chose baseball. He has closing experience in the minors, collecting 21 saves for Double-A Carolina in 2004 and seven more for Triple-A Albuquerque in 2005. Not a strikeout pitcher, Messenger hardly fits the mold of a closer, averaging just 6.34 Ks per nine innings in his career. He's currently behind Brad Hennessey, Kevin Correia and Vinny Chulk in line for San Francisco's saves and can be left on your waiver wire.

Andrew Sonnastine, P, Devil Rays: The Devil Rays took another step towards the future this week when it designated Jae Seo for assignment and sent Casey Fossum to the bullpen, replacing them in the rotation with veteran J.P. Howell, who was 1-3 in eight starts last season for Tampa Bay, and Sonnastine, the club's 2006 Minor League Pitcher of the Year. Since he doesn't have a power arm, changing speeds is Sonnastine's strategy, using a fine changeup taught to him in the minors by fellow rotation-mate James Shields. In 71 innings at Durham, Sonnastine struck out 66 while walking only 13, continuing a trend noticed last year when Southern League managers voted him as that league's best righthanded pitcher after issuing only 34 free passes in 186 frames and winning a Double-A-high 15 games. He's the kind of pitcher who gives power-laden lineups (like the Red Sox, Yankees and Blue Jays) fits, making him a good fit for the division. Rookie pitchers will have their ups and downs and Sonnastine won't be any different. In any case he's extremely likely to help your WHIP, even if he isn't a big winner immediately. He's worth a spot.

Jerry Owens, OF, White Sox: A few weeks ago Ryan Sweeney was featured here and we said that he's a player who's on-the-field skills don't necessarily show up on the stats sheet. With his biggest asset being speed, Owens is the opposite since runs scored and stolen bases are very quantifiable. The Sox were hoping that the speedy centerfielder has brought to the White Sox what has been missing since April when Scott Podsednik went on the DL, and while he has a pair of stolen bases and three runs scored in four games, Owens has had trouble getting on base, reaching only three times in 17 plate appearances (.176 OBP). The White Sox have been in a tailspin and while Ozzie Guillen and Kenny Williams pledge that there won't be a mass sell-off of players should they fall hopelessly out of playoff contention, trades of veterans are always a possibility. That seems to be the only scenario that keeps Owens in the lineup once Podsednik and Darin Erstad return from the DL. Pick him up only if you're completely out of your keeper league race or are in a dogfight for steals and can absorb a bad batting average.