Aaron Rowand is featured today for John Sickels' continuing series Career Profile.
Worth a full read but here is 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...
Original Story:
