Colton Cowser 2021

[Sports Guy]

I don’t think we know what Elias will do.

He can be slow and deliberate right now because he can do it under the disguise of the team not trying to win.

But what happens when that changes and you need this guys?  At that point, he may be more aggressive.

Again, we are only talking about a few guys when we talk about this.

[ChuckS]

12 minutes ago, LTO's said:

Adley 

Adley lost a year to COVID.  I think it's likely he had started in Aberdeen if we had a minor league season in 2020 and I would expect Stowers and Watson to have started in Delmarva. 

Aberdeen is the best bet for Cowser, Norby, and possibly some others like Mayo, Teter, and Rhodes who are putting up very good numbers in Delmarva.  I expect quick promotions though if they dominate that level early in the season. 

We are going to be flooded with OF prospects ready to break into the bigs in 2023. 

[RZNJ]

12 minutes ago, LTO's said:

Adley 

You could say he skipped High A but we had no mil season last year and he played at the alternate site.  Technically, he skipped a level.

[sportsfan8703]

2 minutes ago, ChuckS said:

Adley lost a year to COVID.  I think it's likely he had started in Aberdeen if we had a minor league season in 2020 and I would expect Stowers and Watson to have started in Delmarva. 

Aberdeen is the best bet for Cowser, Norby, and possibly some others like Mayo, Teter, and Rhodes who are putting up very good numbers in Delmarva.  I expect quick promotions though if they dominate that level early in the season. 

We are going to be flooded with OF prospects ready to break into the bigs in 2023. 

Add in if we get Kjerstad playing and if we take Greene with the #1 pick. The OF is loaded. 

[Aglets]

16 minutes ago, LTO's said:

Adley 

Heh.  Fair point.  One can say that Adley both went to Aberdeen and also skipped Aberdeen and you would be completely truthful.   Funny.

I think if there was a 2020 season he would have started at high A Frederick, but we will never know obviously.   So there has been one exception so far.

[DirtyBird]

34 minutes ago, Aglets said:

Just going by what he has said in the past is enough for me.  And seeing how he has handled every prospect so far without exception.   If there is other evidence I'm not aware of that goes against his stated development plans I am open to seeing it.

Not every prospect is a top 5 pick out of college. Adley's first full season, there was no minor league baseball and Kjerstad has had health issues.

There are a ton of OF's on the current Delmarva roster, three of them besides Cowser were early draft picks, who will likely move up to begin next season.

My guess is that Aberdeen's core OF to begin the year will be Kjerstad, Rhodes, Trimble & Williams, and/or possibly Haskin.

[Aglets]

Putting on my magic prediction glasses and assuming everyone is fully healthy in Spring 2022 (including Kjerstad).....

I would predict Cowser starts at Aberdeen on Opening Day and Kjerstad at Delmarva.   I know that may seem crazy (Kjerstad will be 23) but I think in his case they will want to give him every chance to ease into it....after not playing competitive baseball in like 2 years at that point.

I would imagine if all goes according to plan neither Cowser nor Kjerstad will be at those levels for very long.

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

I don’t think we know what Elias will do.

He can be slow and deliberate right now because he can do it under the disguise of the team not trying to win.

But what happens when that changes and you need this guys?  At that point, he may be more aggressive.

Again, we are only talking about a few guys when we talk about this.

 I agree with most of this.   I think we are about done with phase one of filling up the minor league pipeline.   The competition among position players is pretty fierce at almost every spot now.   This was a good year for Elias to sort through the talent and see what’s what.   From here on out I think you’ll see Elias get more aggressive when a player warrants it.   Nobody will be handed a job, because there’s competition everywhere.

I’m still waiting to see what Elias is going to do to acquire some pitching depth, which is desperately needed.   

[wildcard]

49 minutes ago, Frobby said:

 I agree with most of this.   I think we are about done with phase one of filling up the minor league pipeline.   The competition among position players is pretty fierce at almost every spot now.   This was a good year for Elias to sort through the talent and see what’s what.   From here on out I think you’ll see Elias get more aggressive when a player warrants it.   Nobody will be handed a job, because there’s competition everywhere.

I’m still waiting to see what Elias is going to do to acquire some pitching depth, which is desperately needed.   

I think Elias will continue to fill up the minor league pipeline.   He will be adding international players and promoting them up the levels.  He will trade major leaguers and minor leaguers for  younger prospects.  I don't see that stopping or even decreasing as long as Elias is here.

[Sports Guy]

1 minute ago, wildcard said:

I think Elias will continue to fill up the minor league pipeline.   He will be adding international players and promoting them up the levels.  He will trade major leaguers and minor leaguers for  younger prospects.  I don't see that stopping or even decreasing as long as Elias is here.

Thus why he said phase 1.  You obviously never stop filling your minor leagues.

[Frobby]

Just now, wildcard said:

I think Elias will continue to fill up the minor league pipeline.   He will be adding international players and promoting them up the levels.  He will trade major leaguers and minor leaguers for  younger prospects.  I don't see that stopping or even decreasing as long as Elias is here.

I said phase I, didn’t I?    Of course he’s not done.   But the pipeline before he arrived was half-empty.   Now it’s more replacing the guys who graduate, rather than filling gaping holes (on the position player side).    

[sportsfan8703]

4 hours ago, Aglets said:

Putting on my magic prediction glasses and assuming everyone is fully healthy in Spring 2022 (including Kjerstad).....

I would predict Cowser starts at Aberdeen on Opening Day and Kjerstad at Delmarva.   I know that may seem crazy (Kjerstad will be 23) but I think in his case they will want to give him every chance to ease into it....after not playing competitive baseball in like 2 years at that point.

I would imagine if all goes according to plan neither Cowser nor Kjerstad will be at those levels for very long.

I still see Cowser getting to Aberdeen this year. Especially with the Deson promotion. I also think Cowser gets 75 ABs in the AFL and starts next year at Bowie. I’m hoping Kjerstad just DHs at Delmarva on OD. 

[NCRaven]

I think that the entire Covid situation, the impact it had on high school, college, minor league, and major league baseball last year makes it impossible to make assumptions on how Elias will draft and promote players in the future compared to how he has so far.  I'm still very much in wait and see mode about how he'll operate in the future.  I agree that it's time to think about adding pieces that will help us win sooner rather than later.  After Stroman's support of Trey (okay, and the fact that he's legitimately good) i'd be good with a multi-year deal for him.  And, I wouldn't mind a two-year deal for someone like Josh Harrison to play 3B.

[Big Mac]

15 minutes ago, NCRaven said:

I think that the entire Covid situation, the impact it had on high school, college, minor league, and major league baseball last year makes it impossible to make assumptions on how Elias will draft and promote players in the future compared to how he has so far.  I'm still very much in wait and see mode about how he'll operate in the future.  I agree that it's time to think about adding pieces that will help us win sooner rather than later.  After Stroman's support of Trey (okay, and the fact that he's legitimately good) i'd be good with a multi-year deal for him.  And, I wouldn't mind a two-year deal for someone like Josh Harrison to play 3B.

We should not be giving two-year deals to 34 year old players who were terrible for a recent two year stretch. 

[NCRaven]

1 minute ago, Big Mac said:

We should not be giving two-year deals to 34 year old players who were terrible for a recent two year stretch. 

By "someone like" I mean't a veteran 3Bman better than the one-year rentals we've been signing, i.e. Franco.