All the talk about Cowser and Kjerstad…but what about Stowers?

[sportsfan8703]

Stowers is deep depth. We still have offseason decisions to make about our entire MLB OF and DH. That’s 4 spots. No need to give up depth now. Especially when he has zippy trade value. 

[Greg Pappas]

Edited February 7 by Greg Pappas

[wildbillhiccup]

48 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Stowers is deep depth. We still have offseason decisions to make about our entire MLB OF and DH. That’s 4 spots. No need to give up depth now. Especially when he has zippy trade value. 

Deep depth? Does that just mean you need an air tank and not a snorkel to get to him?

[RZNJ]

2 hours ago, Roll Tide said:

You could be right …. I just don’t think it’s right to judge him until he gets an opportunity. A 30% K rate is too high but most players struggle in those early ABs. It’s impossible to judge a player with the ABs he and Ortiz got in 2023. 
 

I never played professional baseball but did play competitive sports. When I played baseball and softball the more I played the better I performed. A couple times where I played sparingly on travels teams I struggled. 

Sure, but I don’t like what I see.  I could be wrong.   Cowser looked terrible too but I think he’s got a good swing and he seems to play defense well in Norfolk.  For him, I think it’s a matter of getting AB’s.   

[Tony-OH]

I've been a Stowers guy for awhile, but he has some very big issues in making the team because Kjerstad and Cowser are ahead of him and they both are left-handed hitting outfielders. 

Stowers is a streaky hitter who has always produced eventually when he's played everyday. He's a guy who can look totally lost in three PAs, then hit a three run homer in his last PA. I've always liked him because he hits lefties actually better than righties, but the Orioles never used him aganist lefties at the major league level. 

I felt they misused him at the beginning of last year when he could have rotated between RF and DH and would have been able to play 4-5 times a week, but they buried him, he slumped awfully, then got hurt when he went to AAA. Honestly, I wonder if he was not right when he with the Orioles either because of his slow sprint speed that was well below where he was the year before and what I've see in the minors frim him.

I still think Stowers is going to end up a starting major league outfielder for someone, but it's probably not going to be the Orioles. 

I would like to see Elias try and package him with maybe Norby, and maybe a prospects like Armbruester for a legitimate high impact bullpen arm. the problem is just don't know what team is willing to do that at this point of the offseason.

Stowers is going to strike out, but he's also going to draw more walks when he plays everyday and he's going to provide good power. I think he can give avearge RF defense as well if he's healthy and playing everyday. 

If I was a rebuilding team, Stowers is a guy I would target because he has upside and is blocked here with the Orioles. Stowers and Norby have a lot of upside offensively for a rebuilding team willing to live with the defense.

[TopGunnar]

Simple. Trade Stowers for a nice bullpen piece

[sportsfan8703]

Could they all be on the OD 2025 roster?

DH - Kjerstad

LF - Hays

RF - Cowser

CF - Mullins

4th OF - Stowers

It's a pretty simple outcome.  No extenstions.  No trades.  Just who is available.  

[Hank Scorpio]

9 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Could they all be on the OD 2025 roster?

DH - Kjerstad

LF - Hays

RF - Cowser

CF - Mullins

4th OF - Stowers

It's a pretty simple outcome.  No extenstions.  No trades.  Just who is available.  

Where's Santander?

My bad, 2025 not 2024.

Edited February 7 by Hank Scorpio

[Guest]

He’s in a weird spot because he didn’t perform in limited mlb time, lost his prospect status, and is getting older. He’s not gonna be viewed as much by other teams, and we don’t have much way to build his value back with mlb playing time. wish he got a bigger chance in 2022, and the head injury is unfortunate.
 

I think he ends up being a throw in to a bigger deal or gets lost to rule 5, through no fault of his own or the org’s.

[Matt Bennett]

43 minutes ago, brooooksy said:

I think he ends up being a throw in to a bigger deal or gets lost to rule 5

He's not eligible for the Rule V as he is on our 40-man roster. 

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, Matt Bennett said:

He's not eligible for the Rule V as he is on our 40-man roster. 

Right, for now.

[Matt Bennett]

10 minutes ago, brooooksy said:

Right, for now.

Wouldn't he be claimed when he is removed from the 40-man rather than going unclaimed and then drafted in the Rule V, constraining the drafting team to the Rule V roster limitation? 

I suppose I didn't even know players like that were eligible for the Rule V. 

[CaptainRedbeard]

Now that we are in discussion season about who makes the Opening Day roster, who gets traded for space, and whether guys like Stowers and Norby need to be traded, I thought this part of the ZIPS record projections that just came out was really relevant.

Basically, ZIPS handles injuries in a more sophisticated manner than most projection systems and because of the Orioles’ depth, particularly position player depth, they project to be 1st in the AL East at 90 wins ahead of the Yankees at 88, unlike the PECOTA and Fangraphs Depth Chart projections that also just came out.

I’m guessing that Elias agrees with this mentality, with his fascination with deep depth and even signing guys like Frazier, and (thus far) holding onto Mateo, Urias and O’Hearn, at the expense of keeping “blocked” prospects in AAA.  

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-2024-pre-spring-training-zips-projected-standings-american-league/

I’m from Baltimore, but I would hope last year’s projection miss would disavow anyone of the notion that I weight these team standings toward my personal preferences. The Orioles – and last year’s Orioles – do a bit better in my methodology than others, I suspect because of the weight I deal with depth. In those seasons in which they lose players, especially offensive ones, the team’s depth keeps the falloff from being too dire. Even in simulation no. 452,331, in which the O’s lose both Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschmann to season-ending injuries before the first game, the team still finished 84-78!

[CaptainRedbeard]

I’m of the opinion that if you have a guy like Ortiz who should be a MLB starter but has no place to play, you should be able to get more value out of them by trading them. But if you have guys like Stowers and Norby, who are a step or two below and are probably more likely solid bench players, there’s value in keeping them around in AAA while they have options which could be equivalent to their trade value.

If you can get more value for them by trading them then by all means, but there’s no need to force the issue. They are great trade chips if needed but they’re still worth their 40-man space (and Norby isn’t even on it yet) and providing depth value probably close to their trade value. 

[AnythingO's]

I still believe there is a trade to be made with MIA using some combo of O'Hearn, Urias, Norby, Stowers. They have the need for 1B & DH and SS and COF. None of their OF hits much except Chisolm (CF, 761 OPS) and Sanchez (RF, 777 OPS). For SP they have Cabrera, Luzardo, Meyer (probable for start of season), Perez, and Garrett who went for 159 Inn /3.66 ERA last year. Then they have Weathers (57 inn) and Rookie Muoz on their 40-man. Alcantara back next year. They don't need Trevor Rogers who lost last year to a torn Lat on his non-pitching side. We could send 1 of Povich/Rogers/Armbrewster along with position players. We could expand to include 1 of our RPs that can't be optioned for T. Scott in a bigger package. It seems like both sides would win.

Edited February 8 by AnythingO's
typo