Bowden a Top 100 prospect...and other spring tidbits

Back on topic, Waubonsie Valley product Mike Bowden was named the 94th-best pro prospect by the publication Baseball America. With the prospects spread about the 30 big league teams, that's quite an honor for Bowden, who BA rates as the No. 7 prospect in the Boston organization. Cincinnati phenom Jay Bruce earns the honor as the top overall prospect, and joins Colby Rasmus (No. 5, Cardinals), Cameron Maybin (No. 6, Marlins), Clayton Kershaw (No. 7, Dodgers) and Travis Snider (No. 11, Blue Jays) as prospects who played in the Midwest League over the course of the last two seasons.

While the White Sox were not represented in the rankings, new Cubs' outfielder Kosuke Fukodome -- technically a rookie despite his experience in Japan and the fact he is 30 years old -- found his way to the No. 30 spot.

Parsing through the list I didn't find any former Kane County Cougars, but the parent Oakland Athletics are well-represented as the result of the trade of pitcher Dan Haren to Arizona. However, pitchers Trevor Cahill and Henry Rodriguez, who played for the Cougars last year, are sixth and eighth, respectively, in BA's list of the A's top prospects.

West Aurora grad Preston Larrison, trying to make the Detroit Tigers' roster, tossed a scoreless inning against the New York Mets today and was credit with the victory as the Tigers opened spring play with a 4-2 win.