Rudy Owens

Coming over as a key piece in the Wandy Rodriguez trade, Owens excelled in his second attempt at Triple-A. He finished with a combined 10-8 record and 3.48 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. He does not strike out a ton of batters with his 88-91 mph fastball and mediocre slurve and changeup, but with good control, he could be successful spotting his pitches in the majors. Owens' ceiling is relatively low, but it is not crazy to think he could step in and claim one of the openings in the Astros' rotation at some point in 2013.

Owens gets unfairly singled out sometimes for not having a "blowaway" pitch that knocks the socks off of scouts. The 23-year-old lefty uses a low-90s fastball and a decent curve to keep batters guessing, but it's his uncanny control that sets him apart from other pitchers. Owens put up a 132:23 K:BB ratio for Double-A Altoona in 150 innings, allowing only 124 hits en route to a 2.46 ERA. Whether it's right out of spring training or sometime during the season, Owen will undoubtedly find his way to Triple-A. There's an outside chance he could make it all the way to Pittsburgh in September, but he'll most likely compete for a rotation spot in 2012 as he's one of the Pirates' brighter prospects.