Noah Lowry?

[RU Rah Rah]

His name came up in another thread, and I thought he might be worth discussing separately. As I wrote there:

 

Lowry is intriguing, if his arm is OK. I read that Bochy hasn't yet settled on a #5 starter, so they could be looking to move him.

 

Per MLB.com: "People throughout baseball are beginning to believe that the Giants will, or should, hold onto Sanchez and trade Noah Lowry instead if the latter proves during Cactus League exhibitions that he has overcome the forearm trouble that sidelined him last year."

 

This could be an interesting possibility (although his '07 numbers were a little wacky -- good ERA, horrible WHIP and K/BB).

[trwi7]

Injuries + bad peripherals = no thanks

[JohnBriggs12]

Lowry is an interesting case. As trwi7 points out he has plenty of risks but I still think the Brewers will be scouting him this spring. If the Giants were to somehow snag Manny, it would make for a fire sale on their movable salaries. Lowry would certainly be one. In October his $4.5 million price was very modest, but no so much in this market. That could make his price (despite his Doug Davis type peripherals) attractive to the Brewers for an out of option player like Gwynn, Nelson or Iribarren and a low minor league arm. Another match if the Giants aren't looking to cut salary would be to deal one overpaid player (Hall) for another. Giants might go for that it their salaries were evened out.

[RU Rah Rah]

The injury was "exertion compartmental syndrome in his forearm. In layman's terms, the southpaw [was] suffering from pain in his throwing wrist from a compressed nerve."

 

How weird of an injury is that? "The Giants have not been able to find another pitcher who has had the same surgery, and their prognosis is more of a guess. . . Whenever a pitcher throws, blood flows to the arm, expanding the muscles. Those muscles are surrounded by a capsule called a fascia, akin to a sausage casing. In a case such as Lowry's, the capsule is too tight. When the muscles expand, they have nowhere to go and place pressure on a nerve, resulting in weakness, cramping and loss of feeling."

 

So the good news is that it's apparently not an elbow or shoulder. (I agree about the peripherals, though. They would make me think twice.)

[DHonks]

The problem was that Lowry would feel numbness when he threw. He's someone I'd love to have for depth.

[recte44]

Lowry = Chris Capuano

[SeriesFinale]

I've been a little curious too as to why there hadn't been too much heat on Lowry league-wide, despite the injury, but recte44 is right, we've got our own injury-comeback project who could well contribute in '09 already and as such it makes no sense for the Brew Crew to send anyone SF's way for him.

[RU Rah Rah]

Lowry = Chris Capuano

I see your point, but Capuano has torn the same elbow ligament twice, and he underwent Tommy John last year. Lowry's injury (whatever the heck it is) was bad, but I'd roll the dice on him before I would on Cappy.

[foamboy1]

There are a bunch of guys on the FA market that can be had for short term deals with this depressed condition, but Melvin seems pretty set on not adding anyone else. It's disappointing, as I think we'll have 30 starts over the course of the season by guys who shouldn't be starting or guys who shouldn't be in the majors. They just aren't going into the season with enough starting arms. A single injury and they have a big problem. The fans deserve better in my opinion.

[endaround]

The thing about it is only last year did the Brewers lose one pitcher before the season and got all of 4 starts from Gallardo. And its not like Parra has been a virtue of health.

[rpmeehan]

There are only so many spots on the 40-man. The only way you find space for some of these folks is if you waive a younger player. Now, the best option would be to get a few guys on non-guaranteed deals, but even with the depressed market, there are probably teams that will either sign these reclamation projects to an incentive-laden major league deal, or teams that offer the minor league deal but have open rotation spots that create more opportunity. In other words, if I'm a pitcher getting a minor league deal, I'd much rather be in Seattle, Pittsburgh, or KC than some place like Milwaukee, San Francisco, or Florida, where the rotations are mostly full. Really, what we need is either a difference maker, or Triple-A depth (guys that can hang out all season in the minors and not get mad about it).