Regarding Hays & Cowser, would you rather...

[Greg Pappas]

How would you choose, and why?
 

Edited February 5 by Greg Pappas

[interloper]

Let it play out. It's tempting to just say, eh trade Hays, we have all these young outfielders. But despite his flaws, he is a decent ML player and I think a good veteran guy in the clubhouse. There's no real urgent need to trade him right now. Cowser seems like he needs some veteran support to me, and he has a lot to prove before he can be counted on as a ML option. Hays plays a nice LF and won't kill you in CF in a pinch. Plays a tough brand of baseball and can get hot for stretches. One of the few right-handed bats. 

Edited February 5 by interloper

[ThisIsBirdland]

I voted for Option #3 but it's dependent on a few things:

1. What kind of improvements, if any, has Cowser made that give confidence he's ready to play LF every day?

2. What kind of return could we expect for two years of Hays?

3. Do we have any other RH outfielders inside or worth pursuing outside the organization that we could count on against LHP?

[Frobby]

It depends what we got in exchange for either player.  I wouldn’t trade either one just to clear a logjam.  You need to get someone useful in exchange.   In a vacuum, I’d rather keep Cowser for 6 years than Hays for 2,  but it just depends.   So, I voted to trade neither for now.  

[interloper]

I voted 3 but I would also be down with #1 depending on the return for Cowser. I like our OF depth options with Kjerstad, Beavers, and EBJ. So I view Cowser as a tradeable piece in the right package. 

Edited February 5 by interloper

[deward]

I voted to trade Hays; he isn't likely to have much more value than whatever he has right now, and I just have a hunch that he isn't going to age well. If he can get you a solid reliever, or some lower level pitching prospects, then that seems optimal to me. It's all variable though, if there's a trade out there for Cowser that's just too good to pass up, then of course you do whatever makes the most sense in the big picture.

[DirtyBird]

Trade Santander. 

He probably has more value in a trade than Hays and opens up innings in RF for both Cowser and Kjerstad, and potentially Mayo.

[wildbillhiccup]

I like Hays (he's a gamer), but banking on Cowser to match his moderate offensive numbers seems like a pretty reasonable risk to take. The problem is that I don't think Hays has much trade value. So even though I voted to trade him now, if there isn't a market for him I can  understand the team wanting to keep him until they were 100% certain Cowser was ready. And, let's be honest. It's not a question of if Hays gets injured this season it's a question of when. So either way there should be an opportunity at some point for Cowser to make his case for regular ABs. 

 

[Orioles West]

I need to see more of Cowser until knowing whether to move him. And Hays is a keeper for the last two years of control, regardless. So, yeah keep them both and let it play out a bit.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

10 minutes ago, wildbillhiccup said:

I like Hays (he's a gamer), but banking on Cowser to match his moderate offensive numbers seems like a pretty reasonable risk to take. The problem is that I don't think Hays has much trade value. So even though I voted to trade him now, if there isn't a market for him I can  understand the team wanting to keep him until they were 100% certain Cowser was ready. And, let's be honest. It's not a question of if Hays gets injured this season it's a question of when. So either way there should be an opportunity at some point for Cowser to make his case for regular ABs. 

 

This is why I voted to keep both because I don’t see Hays returning enough in trade value to make it worth dealing him right now. I might be open to trading Cowser to land an established veteran pitcher, but it would have to be a really good trade after picking up Burnes. 

Hays has been healthy the last two seasons, but there’s a chance he gets injured early in the year and that would immediately open up playing time for Cowser. 

Right now I think the best bet is start the season with both leaving open room for an in-season trade involving one of them. 

[wildbillhiccup]

1 hour ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

Hays has been healthy the last two seasons, but there’s a chance he gets injured early in the year and that would immediately open up playing time for Cowser. 

To his credit, your right (he has been). Although I kind of remember him playing through a injury last season where he was particularly unproductive (i.e., he probably should have missed time in hindsight). 

The more I look at Hays numbers, the more I think they should just give Cowser and extended look to see what he can do. Over the last two seasons Hays has averaged .263 AVG, 16 HRs, 64 RBI, 71 RBI,  3 SBs, 71 R, .315 OBP, and .429 OPS. Those are pretty damn underwhelming stats for 28 year old OF with little or no upside. 

[52520Andrew]

I think this can be revisited at the deadline depending on how they both play. If Cowser is playing well and looks ready to take over LF, then you have an argument to move Hays. It may be worth waiting until the offseason though just because then Beavers is closer to ready and Bradfield is making progress as well. I don't want to be counting on McKenna or Hilliard getting playoff at bats because someone got injured at a bad time.

[Orange]

I mean it's a lefty and a righty and they both play good defense. One's a vet and one's a prospect... It'll sort itself out.

[Sports Guy]

It does depend on the returns.

If Seattle called us and offered Munoz for Cowser, I would do that in a heartbeat.

If Hays landed us a very good reliever, I’m trading him. 

If neither is bringing us back what we need, you keep them.

For me, Cowser would be starting over Hays And Hays would be the “4th OFer” but get a similar number of at bats as many regulars.

[CallMeBrooksie]

4 hours ago, wildbillhiccup said:

 Over the last two seasons Hays has averaged .263 AVG, 16 HRs, 64 RBI, 71 RBI,  3 SBs, 71 R, .315 OBP, and .429 OPS. Those are pretty damn underwhelming stats for 28 year old OF with little or no upside. 

Yeah we're going to need you to stop slandering Austin until you can correctly pull up his OPS (I think you swapped it for his slugging %) and stop quoting useless stats like average steals and RBIs. This is beyond silly.