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

[Frobby]

19 minutes ago, Mooreisbetter27 said:

Tony actually really likes Stowers so he must not be a prospect anymore.

He’s not.  He has 77 days of service (cutoff is 45).   BA may consider him a prospect, as they judge strictly by at bats (130 is the limit).  Pretty much everyone else including Tony uses the alternate days of service/at bats criteria that determine who is eligible for Rookie of the Year.  If you pass either threshold, you’re no longer eligible for prospect lists.

Getting back to Stowers’ merits, I think he’ll see plenty of time this spring.   He has an outside chance to make the club, but with Cowser and Kjerstad both on the 40-man now, he no longer has an advantage over them in case of a close call.   

 

[CaptainRedbeard]

I think Stowers and Norby are trade pieces but they’re not so valuable that they really need to be moved, like Ortiz was. 

Stowers has 2 options and Norby isn’t even on the 40 man yet. As Santander, O’Hearn, Hays, Mullins, Mountcastle, Urias and Mateo are on their way out over the next couple years, there’s going to be bench opportunities opening up. They can be in AAA serving as optionable depth in the meantime.

If you have a team that will trade for them valuing them as potential starters then you do it, but if the league views them as bench players then there’s still a good fit for them to play that role here. 

Something like Norby, Stowers and Fabian (or a different RH defensive OF type if Fabian never gets his contact rates together) could be a good bench in 2025/2026+. 

[SilentJames]

Stowers, Cowser, and Kjerstad all have "something to prove," this spring none of them really set the world on fire with their ML at bats last year. Heston at least held his own at the plate for his 30 ABs, Cowser to me looked particularly lost at both the plate and in the field. 

I agree that Stowers is the guy most likely to be moved, because there just isn't a place for him, though I think he will need to have a good spring training to garner significant interest. 

[baltfan]

28 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

He has already done really good things.

He has looked bad in the OF when I have seen him in the majors.  I got the feeling that was what was holding him back.  Cowser looked bad but at least looked like he was relatively fast.  Stowers appeared to be running in quicksand.  Of course, we never even got to Kjerstad in the field basically.  

[Spy Fox]

If any of them are traded I expect it to be late in ST or early in the season once health is clear. With Burnes acquired, I bet Elias is inclined to hold onto the excess for now in case injury issues strike. 

I like that if an OF gets hurt in ST, we have all these guys to slot in and we are still playing a high potential player. 

If we're late in ST, the OF is healthy, but the bullpen has some injury issues? Time to trade from this depth for a reliever. 

[DirtyBird]

13 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Stowers needs to be traded.  Norby needs to learn to play the OF at AAA.

He only needs to be traded if he can bring something of value in return or if a spot on the 40 man needs to be opened.

[Bemorewins]

With an org this loaded in positional prospects/young talent, not everyone is going to make it here. I wish Stowers all the best. If we can trade him by placing him in a package, I'm sure that is what we will do. If not, hopefully we let him go and give him a chance to succeed elsewhere.

'22 and '23 were really his window with this org, that ship has now sailed given all of the other talent that we have. I know it's easy for us to focus on small sample sizes or guys not getting enough of an opportunity. But unless you are at the very upper crust of the prospect pie, you are not going to get a long leash here, given how many other options there are now and given that we cannot afford to run somebody out there everyday who is not performing regularly.

The games/results matter to a great degree now. And we simply cannot afford to have guys get regular playing time/ABs who are not contributing. IMO we're trying to win a pennant now more than we are in the exploratory mode of seeing what we have.

[Since1984]

https://youtu.be/RHlCglRjpWQ?si=cWlMvd3dDvAtF_QO

Was hoping we would have seen more Stowers on the mlb team at this point. I think of this HR every time we discuss his role. It’s a good problem to have and one of many interesting story lines for the O’s this season (prospects in waiting)

[Roll Tide]

47 minutes ago, Sanity Check said:

I hope Norby makes the team as well......that means that we likely traded away guys blocking him for either better MLB pitching options, or pitching reinforcements for Norfolk.  ......or, we dumped guys that were in the way, for basically nothing.  I'm hoping for the former.

Hopefully… I think they should trade one of these guys Hays? For a good reliever 

[Roll Tide]

1 hour ago, clapdiddy said:

Stowers has been up a couple of times.   They've seen him in AAA and know what he can do.   It's obvious to me, when I see them acquire other outfielders, how the front office views Stowers.    He's put up very nice numbers at Norfolk.   Some would say outstanding.  He's 26, gotten a few tastes of the bigs, but doesn't stick around. This tells me that the front office doesn't view him as a fit here.   

Honestly he’s likely a .225-.235 hitter with an OBP under .300 with a 25% Krate and 20-30 Homeruns. The Orioles just don’t view this type of player very highly and hes a product of the old regime. My guess is he’s either at AAA, dealt , or DFA’d sooner or later.

Edited February 6 by Roll Tide

[interloper]

Yeah I'm on the "please trade Stowers" camp for sure. I said it in another thread, but Norby is a guy who makes sense to keep around until the deadline to see if you can get a reliever for him. And he's only a middle infield injury away from getting a look on the ML team, unlike Stowers who would have to make it past like 3 outfielders. 

There are parts of Stowers' game that I like more than Cowser, to be honest. The guy should be playing somewhere, and it's weird that a club in need of cheap young controllabe LH power hasn't come knocking yet. We'll see. 

Edited February 6 by interloper

[Big Mac]

28 minutes ago, Roll Tide said:

Honestly he’s likely a .225-.235 hitter with an OBP under .300 with a 25% Krate and 20-30 Homeruns. The Orioles just don’t view this type of player very highly and hes a product of the old regime. My guess is he’s either at AAA, dealt , or DFA’d sooner or later.

He's not a product of the old regime, he was taken by Elias in the 2019 draft along with Adley, Gunnar and Ortiz. 

[Roll Tide]

22 minutes ago, Big Mac said:

He's not a product of the old regime, he was taken by Elias in the 2019 draft along with Adley, Gunnar and Ortiz. 

Ok …. Thanks

Let me modify my statement to be: one that didn’t work out.

[Fla_O'sfan]

While on the subject of (totally) forgotten players, what about Terrin Vavra? He was injured most of last season, but hit .333 at Norfolk and has a .306 MiLB average. Still only 26,  he has hit.254 for O’s in a couple short stints. I’m kind of surprised that some other team hasn’t acquired him. He seems better tan just a career minor leaguer. 

[Frobby]

54 minutes ago, Roll Tide said:

Honestly he’s likely a .225-.235 hitter with an OBP under .300 with a 25% Krate and 20-30 Homeruns. The Orioles just don’t view this type of player very highly and hes a product of the old regime. My guess is he’s either at AAA, dealt , or DFA’d sooner or later.

The guy has a .363 OBP in the minors, including .361 in AAA.  What makes you think he’d have a sub-.300 OBP in the majors?  ZiPS projects him at .311, Steamer at .312.