Colton Cowser 2021

[Ruzious]

8 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

What makes me feel the best is the three level comment. He could’ve gushed and not said that. The question is are those three levels Aberdeen, Bowie, and Norfolk?  He could be on the Stowers trajectory. 

Well, he better not start next season below Aberdeen.  That would be disturbing.  Frankly, I'd hope they'd start him in Bowie next season.  Remember, if you believe Blood, the O's had him ranked as the top prospect in the country, so they should move him up very quickly.  

[sportsfan8703]

I think with Covid we see these players make big jumps after missing an entire season. Who could’ve thought that AR was going to be Co POY?  What was the odds on that. Next year it looks like you have a 4 way race between Gunnar, Westburg, Cowser, and Mayo. 

[Tony-OH]

On 10/12/2021 at 9:05 AM, Frobby said:

I look at it this way: I would not expect a farm director to say negative things about his players in public.   Obviously you don’t want him to go so far in the other direction that it’s unrealistic, but if Blood is genuinely enthusiastic about a player, let’s hear it.    I do think these comments were a bit over the top, but I also believe they are genuinely very excited about Cowser.   

One, I think Blood is overly enthusiastic about all of his players he talks about. Two, when it comes to evaluating players, he's more of a mouthpiece than a true evaluator.

I was told the Texas player development people and scouts threw a party when he was hired away by the Orioles. Take from that what you want.

I'm not saying everything he says is wrong, and I honestly like Cowser as well, but if it makes you happy to hear the Pollyanna version of every player, then who am I to tell you not to enjoy his stuff?

Me, I've always respected the guys who told things straight and who communicated directly. It reminded me of Gary Rajsich. Now I think Rajsich was actually a pretty good Scouting Director overall, but the first time I talked with him about his draft picks was the last time because I knew it was going to be wasted time. Every pitcher had four pitches with multiple plus offerings even when they were drafted in the 7th round or later. 

To his credit, he did talk with me and did not send me to the PR department like this is current player development staff.

I've been doing this since 1996. I've seen regimes come and go and I'll still be here when this one is gone as well. In the meantime, I have no interest in listening to fluff.

 

[Il BuonO]

8 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

I'm not saying everything he says is wrong, and I honestly like Cowser as well, but if it makes you happy to hear the Pollyanna version of every player, then who am I to tell you not to enjoy his stuff?

Me, I've always respected the guys who told things straight and who communicated directly. 

So, just wondering, but if you agree about Cowser, where is it exactly you disagree?

[Tony-OH]

14 hours ago, Il BuonO said:

So, just wondering, but if you agree about Cowser, where is it exactly you disagree?

I never said I agreed or disagreed with him, I'm saying anything that comes out of his mouth about a player is going to be roses, unicorns, and sunshine. Some people enjoy that kind of stuff. 

[Sports Guy]

11 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

I never said I agreed of disagree with him, I'm saying anything that comes out of his mouth about a player is going to be roses, unicorns and sunshine.

He must be a Twitterverse Os blogger too!

[interloper]

I don't think we need Matt Blood to tell us that Cowser is a good young player in our system. 

[interloper]

On 10/12/2021 at 10:47 AM, Tony-OH said:

One, I think Blood is overly enthusiastic about all of his players he talks about. Two, when it comes to evaluating players, he's more of a mouthpiece than a true evaluator.

I was told the Texas player development people and scouts threw a party when he was hired away by the Orioles. Take from that what you want.

I'm not saying everything he says is wrong, and I honestly like Cowser as well, but if it makes you happy to hear the Pollyanna version of every player, then who am I to tell you not to enjoy his stuff?

Me, I've always respected the guys who told things straight and who communicated directly. It reminded me of Gary Rajsich. Now I think Rajsich was actually a pretty good Scouting Director overall, but the first time I talked with him about his draft picks was the last time because I knew it was going to be wasted time. Every pitcher had four pitches with multiple plus offerings even when they were drafted in the 7th round or later. 

To his credit, he did talk with me and did not send me to the PR department like this is current player development staff.

I've been doing this since 1996. I've seen regimes come and go and I'll still be here when this one is gone as well. In the meantime, I have no interest in listening to fluff.

 

Here's an interview with him where he discusses his role: (this is not directed towards you Tony, just using your post as a jumping off in case people were curious what he actually is in charge of) 

“I think that role has changed a little bit over, I don’t know how many years. It’s a combo-type job where you’ve got, for example with us, Kent Qualls, who is director of minor league operations and myself who’s director of development. You can consider us both farm directors.

“They both fit under that same umbrella, but the roles are just a little different where Kent is more handling logistics, budgets, administrative-type stuff, some player movement and whatnot during the season, and I’m more focused on the hiring of coaches and the setting of curriculum, the actual setting up of on-field instruction. He and I work very closely on everything together. We kind of lean on each other for ideas and support. We work very well together on everything.”

https://www.baltimorebaseball.com/2020/01/09/orioles-minor-league-director-matt-blood-talks-role/

 

[sportsfan8703]

I think we all forget how important the fall instructional league is. Maybe now more than ever with missed season(s) because of Covid. I doubt we tinkered with too much of the recent draftees. Also, the recent draftees get to now have a full offseason or professional instruction and weight training. Plus they mashed in the FCL and then in Delmarva. It’s not too crazy to see some guys take some big leaps next year. 
 

Cowser seems like he has all the intangibles. Now he gets the training and nutrition. He seems like a fast riser to me. 

[Tony-OH]

20 hours ago, interloper said:

Here's an interview with him where he discusses his role: (this is not directed towards you Tony, just using your post as a jumping off in case people were curious what he actually is in charge of) 

“I think that role has changed a little bit over, I don’t know how many years. It’s a combo-type job where you’ve got, for example with us, Kent Qualls, who is director of minor league operations and myself who’s director of development. You can consider us both farm directors.

“They both fit under that same umbrella, but the roles are just a little different where Kent is more handling logistics, budgets, administrative-type stuff, some player movement and whatnot during the season, and I’m more focused on the hiring of coaches and the setting of curriculum, the actual setting up of on-field instruction. He and I work very closely on everything together. We kind of lean on each other for ideas and support. We work very well together on everything.”

https://www.baltimorebaseball.com/2020/01/09/orioles-minor-league-director-matt-blood-talks-role/

 

Yep, I'm very clear what there roles are. 

[sportsfan8703]

I know it’s wayyy early but you look at this list and you could why Cowser made a lot of since,

https://www.mlb.com/draft/tracker
 

We’re we really going to draft another C with AR in the system, and it’s obvious we were targeting Creed Willems. Rocker didn’t sign. We weren’t going to take any HS pitchers. Lawler tore his labrum, not good for a SS. Then the other names we were connected to… House, McClain, Frelick, and Watson, all signed for overslot.

Rhodes and Willems were signed because of the Cowser savings. So it seems like we still got the NCAA bat we coveted, and we’re able to sign a guy in Rhodes that barely snuck into being eligible for the draft and was probably looking at being a 1st rounder next year. Willems had a big time commitment to TCU. Willems signed for only 300k less than what we gave Mayo. 

[RZNJ]

5 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

I know it’s wayyy early but you look at this list and you could why Cowser made a lot of since,

https://www.mlb.com/draft/tracker
 

We’re we really going to draft another C with AR in the system, and it’s obvious we were targeting Creed Willems. Rocker didn’t sign. We weren’t going to take any HS pitchers. Lawler tore his labrum, not good for a SS. Then the other names we were connected to… House, McClain, Frelick, and Watson, all signed for overslot.

Rhodes and Willems were signed because of the Cowser savings. So it seems like we still got the NCAA bat we coveted, and we’re able to sign a guy in Rhodes that barely snuck into being eligible for the draft and was probably looking at being a 1st rounder next year. Willems had a big time commitment to TCU. Willems signed for only 300k less than what we gave Mayo. 

They wouldn't have been overslot if they had been taken at #5, would they?   Unless those guys signed for more than Cowser, you could argue that they could have signed one of them and done the same exact thing they did.   Just saying.   Also, Lawler tore his labrum after being drafted, not before so, unless they had some crystal ball or medicals, it's hard to fathom how that could have been a factor.

[Can_of_corn]

11 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

I know it’s wayyy early but you look at this list and you could why Cowser made a lot of since,

https://www.mlb.com/draft/tracker
 

We’re we really going to draft another C with AR in the system, and it’s obvious we were targeting Creed Willems. Rocker didn’t sign. We weren’t going to take any HS pitchers. Lawler tore his labrum, not good for a SS. Then the other names we were connected to… House, McClain, Frelick, and Watson, all signed for overslot.

Rhodes and Willems were signed because of the Cowser savings. So it seems like we still got the NCAA bat we coveted, and we’re able to sign a guy in Rhodes that barely snuck into being eligible for the draft and was probably looking at being a 1st rounder next year. Willems had a big time commitment to TCU. Willems signed for only 300k less than what we gave Mayo. 

That's the type of thinking that makes a team pass on Buster Posey.

[LookinUp]

1 hour ago, Can_of_corn said:

That's the type of thinking that makes a team pass on Buster Posey.

Not to rehash, because I agree with your point, but Posey was also thought to be an over slot guy, right?

Also, while I'm sure the grades on him were great, isn't it fair to assume that the grades on other guys were at least close? I doubt we thought we were taking such a step back in talent acquired when we made the picks.

Just saying, this stuff doesn't happen in a vacuum.

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, LookinUp said:

Not to rehash, because I agree with your point, but Posey was also thought to be an over slot guy, right?

Also, while I'm sure the grades on him were great, isn't it fair to assume that the grades on other guys were at least close? I doubt we thought we were taking such a step back in talent acquired when we made the picks.

Just saying, this stuff doesn't happen in a vacuum.

He was expected to be pricey, slots weren't really a thing, not like they are now.

I don't know how close the rankings were but rumor has it the Rays (first pick in the draft) had him at the top of their board.

Having a catcher would not stop me from taking a catcher if I thought he was the BPA. 

I do think the O's were looking at college arms that could be ready quickly at that time.