Billy Rowell Apprecia- ... ah, who cares

[oriole]

I'm sure he did. But weed can get expensive from what I hear.

Unless he's hanging out with Snoop Dog and Willie Nelson its not 2+ million expensive...

Just speculation, you know.

[Gurgi]

Unless he's hanging out with Snoop Dog and Willie Nelson its not 2+ million expensive...

Just speculation, you know.

I know its just speculation but I always have wondered if Rowell had some special wheaties in high school. Because his best season was his first in Delmarva and then................nothing.

[orioles119]

I know its just speculation but I always have wondered if Rowell had some special wheaties in high school. Because his best season was his first in Delmarva and then................nothing.

Even in that season, he barely cracked a .750 OPS (.273/.335/.426/.761).

[Snutchy]

With Rowell gone, poor Matt Hobgood will now be the sole target for posters picking on underperforming former top picks. I hope he ends up with a better fate than Rowell, though I'm not optimistic.

You know my thoughts on this Frobs. He's a great kid who will find his way.

[sangar]

Well, I know we all like to dump on the guy, but I wish him the best. For some reason, I kinda feel sorry for him.

[murrayfan420]

Hobgood was never projected as having the ceiling that Rowell had. The black eye for Jordan will be/is Hobgood and not Rowell, in my opinion.

Spot on.

[Danielos38]

Remember when there was all that talk of him hitting a 500 foot homerun? LOL

[TGO]

Remember when there was all that talk of him hitting a 500 foot homerun? LOL

Remember that story about him sleeping in his car in the ballpark parking lot after being told he couldn't sleep in the clubhouse anymore?

[Spoonless]

Rowell may be the biggest bust we have had, but with Lincecum sucking this year, it makes his bust not look as awful.

I don't really know about that. Even if Lincecum were to vanish off of the face of the Earth today, he had three excellent seasons with a sub 3.00 ERA (including two Cy Young Awards) and another very good season. I'd take that out of any draft pick, any day of the week. Just because Lincecum probably won't give you a 20-year career doesn't really close the gap at all between what he has done and Rowell.

[DrShorebird]

Of course that headline is tongue-in-cheek.

The Sun is confirming what we always thought would be the case.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bal-orioles-to-officially-cut-ties-with-billy-rowell-20121024,0,140568.story

[DrungoHazewood]

The O's gave Rowell a $2.1M signing bonus in 2006. Not sure what the minor league minimum salary is for 6 years, but if you add all that up I'm sure he had more money in his early 20s than most guys I know.

Yea, but while a lot of guys were making something of themselves, getting a degree, getting some work experience, he was spending all that cash and adding "bad minor league baseball player" to his resume. I'd pretty well guarantee he's not going to be hanging out on the beach the next 20 years living off his bonus.

[bOhs01]

Remember that story about him sleeping in his car in the ballpark parking lot after being told he couldn't sleep in the clubhouse anymore?

I have it on a very good source that for more then a season in Frederick he was also using an illegal bat that his cousin made him. This is 100% fact. His bonus and the money he made is gone as well. That was part of the reason he was trying to sleep in the clubhouse on numerous occasions. He had quite a few screws loose upstairs.

[Can_of_corn]

At least he didn't embarrass the team off the field.

[TGO]

I have it on a very good source that for more then a season in Frederick he was also using an illegal bat that his cousin made him. This is 100% fact. His bonus and the money he made is gone as well. That was part of the reason he was trying to sleep in the clubhouse on numerous occasions. He had quite a few screws loose upstairs.

Don't a lot of minor leaguers typically stay with host families during the year? Was he just not interested in that?

[bOhs01]

Don't a lot of minor leaguers typically stay with host families during the year? Was he just not interested in that?

Nope, as far as i've been told for a while he stayed at hotels nearby. He paid by the night at the nicer places, never got a place in the area even though he was there for quite a while. The money dried up and he started trying to stay in the club house and his car more frequently. This was definitely not just a money thing though. Even when he had money he would still do strange stuff like this. The kid was not all there. It's pretty sad actually because he definitely did not have the family support system to help him out so he was kinda thrown to the wolves and didn't do well on his own.