Regarding Hays & Cowser, would you rather...

[drjohnnyfever1]

6 minutes ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

Are a lot of fans really down on Cowser and I don’t mean the loudmouths on Facebook and Twitter. Cal, Gunnar and Adley would have been written off early going by small sample sizes. 

Cowser needs to get an extended look with consistent playing time if he’s going to be on the MLB roster. There’s not too much of a point of Cowser starting the season with the Orioles if he’s only going to  play one day a week. 

I don't know about down, but I've been surprised here even by the number of posters I see who place him in every trade package.  But I feel like you, he needs some more look.

[MarCakes21]

Let's remember who Cowser really needs to beat out for playing time.  It's Ryan McKenna, not Hays.  So from that perspective, if he proves better than Ryan, you let it play out.

He was a CF in the minors, he can be a serviceable CF in the majors, and unless Ced is out, he can make spot starts there and against tough righties in LF.  It'll all play itself out.  He should be able to find 3-4 games a week.

[Sports Guy]

2 minutes ago, MarCakes21 said:

Let's remember who Cowser really needs to beat out for playing time.  It's Ryan McKenna, not Hays.  So from that perspective, if he proves better than Ryan, you let it play out.

He was a CF in the minors, he can be a serviceable CF in the majors, and unless Ced is out, he can make spot starts there and against tough righties in LF.  It'll all play itself out.  He should be able to find 3-4 games a week.

Ryan McKenna isn’t getting playing time..at least playing time that matters.

Edited February 6 by Sports Guy

[Bemorewins]

11 hours ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

Are a lot of fans really down on Cowser and I don’t mean the loudmouths on Facebook and Twitter. Cal, Gunnar and Adley would have been written off early going by small sample sizes. 

Cowser needs to get an extended look with consistent playing time if he’s going to be on the MLB roster. There’s not too much of a point of Cowser starting the season with the Orioles if he’s only going to  play one day a week. 

I’m not down on Cowser but I have to be honest in saying there was nothing in his brief stint with the club that I saw in terms of tools that I thought were special/elite. So I’m kind of confused by the Adley/Cal/Gunnar comparison. Cowser is simply not nearly the talent of any of those guys.

Also, to those who want to upgrade from Hays I understand that. But to replace him with Cowser (given we haven’t seen anything from Cowser at this level) seems way to risky for a team with legit World Series aspirations. 

What if Cowser is a bust? Then what? At least you know that Hays is adequate just very injury prone.

[wildcard]

4 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

I’m not down on Cowser but I have to be honest in saying there was nothing in his brief stint with the club that I saw in terms of tools that I thought were special/elite. So I’m kind of confused by the Adley/Cal/Gunnar comparison. Cowser is simply not nearly the talent of any of those guys.

Also, to those who want to upgrade from Hays I understand that. But to replace him with Cowser (given we haven’t seen anything from Cowser at this level) seems way to risky for a team with legit World Series aspirations. 

What if Cowser is a bust? Then what? At least you know that Hays is adequate just very injury prone.

Cowser has a 420 OBP in the minors including a 399 OBP in AAA.   If he gets anywhere close to that in the majors he will be special.

[Greg Pappas]

Here's something I've posted in another thread that may be of interest:
"I've now seen Markakis remarked upon as a decent offensive comp, and I can see that. Here are Nick's average stats per 162 games during his nine-year career in Baltimore: .290 BA / .358 OBP / .435 SLG / .793 OPS, with 16 HR, 35 2B, 73 RBI, and 7/10 SB."  

Edited February 6 by Greg Pappas

[Bemorewins]

28 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Cowser has a 420 OBP in the minors including a 399 OBP in AAA.   If he gets anywhere close to that in the majors he will be special.

Yes that will indeed be special and he did appear to have a very discerning eye. But what I didn’t see was any ability to turn on pitches. It was startling how little hard contact that he made when he was in the Big Leagues. I can only remember like maybe 1 or 2 times that he even hit balls hard in play.

I also am skeptical regarding the translation of our guys AAA numbers into Big League correlation. Varva had/has great numbers at AAA (not saying Cowser is not much more talented just using Varva as an example) but he struggles to square up Major League pitching and make any kind of hard contact that reaches the outfield.

[MarCakes21]

52 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Ryan McKenna isn’t getting playing time..at least playing time that matters.

That's my point.  If Ryan is on the team, Cowser/Hays are not.

[btdart20]

42 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

I’m not down on Cowser but I have to be honest in saying there was nothing in his brief stint with the club that I saw in terms of tools that I thought were special/elite. So I’m kind of confused by the Adley/Cal/Gunnar comparison. Cowser is simply not nearly the talent of any of those guys.

Also, to those who want to upgrade from Hays I understand that. But to replace him with Cowser (given we haven’t seen anything from Cowser at this level) seems way to risky for a team with legit World Series aspirations. 

What if Cowser is a bust? Then what? At least you know that Hays is adequate just very injury prone.

Mental shift to the long game…. Rookies need an adjustment period of some sort.  We carried a bad Gunnar for a couple of months.  We can do it again.  With the AAA profile, Cowser needs a chance to prove it one way or the other.

If Cowser proves he can contribute with/better than Hays, then he’s an asset for the playoffs.  If the end goal is a WS ring, then don’t you want to know who has the higher ceiling by the playoffs?  And up to speed?

[Bemorewins]

5 minutes ago, btdart20 said:

Mental shift to the long game…. Rookies need an adjustment period of some sort.  We carried a bad Gunnar for a couple of months.  We can do it again.  With the AAA profile, Cowser needs a chance to prove it one way or the other.

If Cowser proves he can contribute with/better than Hays, then he’s an asset for the playoffs.  If the end goal is a WS ring, then don’t you want to know who has the higher ceiling by the playoffs?  And up to speed?

To answer your question, I think the priority for me is to get Holliday up and acclimated first. Then my priority would be either Kjerstad or Mayo since I believe that they have more upside than Cowser. By the time we do that (during the season), I’m not sure what time there will be to work Cowser in this year.

[btdart20]

15 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

To answer your question, I think the priority for me is to get Holliday up and acclimated first. Then my priority would be either Kjerstad or Mayo since I believe that they have more upside than Cowser. By the time we do that (during the season), I’m not sure what time there will be to work Cowser in this year.

Fine.  Yet not part of the OP.  What did you vote for?

[Bemorewins]

9 minutes ago, btdart20 said:

Fine.  Yet not part of the OP.  What did you vote for?

I voted for the last option. 

[btdart20]

31 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

I voted for the last option. 

Sounds like “let it play out but not planning on/no expectations for Cowser contributing to 2024 beyond AAA depth because of other priorities.”  And honestly, that’s fair when you expand the scope of the OP.

What are your expectations for Cowser’s role beyond 2024?  When does he get a shot?  Or do we wait until we don’t have Hays and role the dice then (as you rightfully asked in another thread)?

Are you higher on Cowser or Beavers long term?  Or neither because Daddy Morebucks is signing Soto or another FA while trading unknowns?

Are you as concerned about how Cowser will be blocked as many were with Ortiz?  Cowser will be 24 in 2024.  Another year at AAA puts him 25…

All of those are rhetorical because I don’t think it’s as simple as you seem to imply when you expand the scope.

[Bemorewins]

35 minutes ago, btdart20 said:

Sounds like “let it play out but not planning on/no expectations for Cowser contributing to 2024 beyond AAA depth because of other priorities.”  And honestly, that’s fair when you expand the scope of the OP.

What are your expectations for Cowser’s role beyond 2024?  When does he get a shot?  Or do we wait until we don’t have Hays and role the dice then (as you rightfully asked in another thread)?

Are you higher on Cowser or Beavers long term?  Or neither because Daddy Morebucks is signing Soto or another FA while trading unknowns?

Are you as concerned about how Cowser will be blocked as many were with Ortiz?  Cowser will be 24 in 2024.  Another year at AAA puts him 25…

All of those are rhetorical because I don’t think it’s as simple as you seem to imply when you expand the scope.

You have a lot of questions...lol

For this season, I am okay with going with Hays (the more stable/known quantity) until he suffers his predictable in-season injury. At which time, you can bring Cowser up from AAA and give him a looksie until/if Hays returns (given Hays' performance is his usual level). If not, that is Cowser's opportunity for this year (if he performs better than last year while here).

This season's priorities for acclimating rookies should be Holliday (who is much more talented IMO and probably has a better shot to make more meaningful contributions to our World Series run for '24) and Kjerstad (who is older than Cowser, is about to turn 25 next week, and could develop into the power middle of the order bat that we need). 

I have no concerns with guys being blocked and was never concerned with that being the case with Ortiz. IMO you trade the "blocked guys" like we did with Ortiz for pieces that can help complete the championship contention puzzle picture.

After this season, I think the priorities shift to placing Cowser and Mayo at the top of '25's pecking order in terms of acclimating them in (unless Basallo proves that he is ready as he is more talented than them and would slot in first). If all goes well with this season's acclimations/rookies and we see that Kjerstad can help anchor the lineup, then I would be okay with allowing Santander to walk. Also, depending on how it goes with Cowser, I would be okay with moving on from Hays for Cowser , especially if the rest of the lineup is stable.

I am higher on Cowser than Beavers, though I think that might be a good comparison to keep an eye on.

No, I don't want the O's to make a run at Soto. I would prefer using that money to extend Holliday, Henderson, Adley, and either re-signing Burnes or singing another top flight starting pitcher that we will need to replace him.

The real issue that you are getting at is that we are overstocked with position players in our org. But if the acquisition of Burnes is proof of anything, it may be that this is how Elias plans to staff our pitching staff with the necessary championship ingredients?