is featured today for John Sickels' continuing series Career Profile.

Worth a full read, but here is a quick excerpt from his first two years in the minors:

Rowand spent all of 1999 with Winston-Salem in the Carolina League, hitting .279/.336/.504 with 24 homers, 15 steals, 33 walks, and 94 strikeouts in 512 at-bats. His production was safely above average in most respects, though the BB/K ratio reflected concerns about his eye. I gave him another Grade B in the 2000 book, writing that his performance in Double-A would tell us "if he will develop into a slugging star or merely a good hitter."

Moved up to Birmingham for 2000, Rowand hit .258/.321/.438 with 20 homers, 22 steals, 38 walks, and 117 strikeouts in 532 at-bats. He still showed power and a good glove, but the plate discipline issue was getting worse, and his overall production was only slightly better than league context. The MLE on his OBP was about .290. I gave him a Grade C+ in the '01 book, noting that I hadn't given up on the idea that he could improve.

Sickles had concerns about his eye and that has definitely been the case in his career walk rate of 5.6% and a strikeout rate of 20.8%. He has had good years, but not worth what the Giants shelled out to get him after his career year.

Anyway, read the whole thing.

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