Midnight last night was the deadline to offer contracts to all arbitration eligible players and as usual, the Indians waited until the last second. The Indians had seven players eligible for arbitration this year, six of whom they offered deals to today. These were Josh Tomlin, Bryan Shaw, Lonnie Chisenhall, Zach McAllister, Cody Allen and Jeff Manship. Not offered a contract was Nick Hagadone, left handed reliever.
Hagadone was drafted in the first round in 2007 by the Red Sox and came to Cleveland in the Victor Martinez trade of 2009. Since making his debut in 2011, Hagadone has been both a dominant left handed reliever and a total disappointment. He has had multiple set backs both because of ability and injury, once after he punched a locker room door and more recently when he broke his hamate bone in his left elbow during the 2015 season. This injury is likely to last into the next season and with Hagadone only under team control through 2018 so considering that he is not yet the pitcher the Indians would like him to be at the Major League level, that he is out of minor league option and entering arbitration, it is not surprising that the Indians made this decision.
They didn’t wait long to fill his roster spot, however, as Collin Cowgill was picked up from Los Angeles at the same time for cash. Cowgill was a fifth round pick by the Diamondbacks in 2008 and went to Oakland in the Jarrod Parker/Trevor Cahill five man trade. In consecutive years, he was then traded to the Mets for Jefry Marte and the Angels for Kyle Johnson where he has remained until yesterday.
Cowgill made his debut in 2011, but didn’t play in more than 100 games until 2014 and still has never played a full season as starter. That 2014 season was his best so far at the age of 28. He batted .250/.330/.354 with five home runs and four steals without being caught. These are not numbers to blow anyone away, but the Indians will not be looking at Cowgill to start anymore than the Angels were.
Instead, he is likely to be a fourth outfielder if he makes the team at all. If he does, MLB Trade Rumors projects him only to make $1M in his first year of arbitration, so he is about the cheapest option the Indians could ever find for the spot. What makes him particularly interesting despite his poor offensive numbers is the fact that he has played significant time at all three outfield positions and is extremely adept at both corners with a UZR/150 above 20 in both right (25.9) and left (21.4). His range in particular is impressive as he has made 99.4% of routine plays (should be made 90-100% of the time), 92.9% of likely plays (60-90%), 61.5% of even plays (40-60%) and 70% of unlikely plays (10-40%). Cowgill doesn’t do much, but what he does he does incredibly well.
It is also unfair to say he isn’t a fair hitter. Against left handed pitchers, he averaged .271/.327/.406 with twice the doubles (15), twice the home runs (8) and all his triples (4) in a nearly equal amount of at bats (11 more plate appearances against LHP). This particular ability could make him a valuable counterpart to Lonnie Chisenhall in right field where both are plus defenders and neither can hit pitchers of the same hand.
In order to get that job, Cowgill will have to compete against some players of a similar level. Jerry Sands is still on the 40 man roster and while Michael Choice was removed from the 40 man roster, he was recently extended an invitation to Spring Training as was Shane Robinson while Tyler Naquin and James Ramsey of the 2015 Columbus Clippers are about as ready for the Major Leagues as they will ever be. Abraham Almonte is another solid defender who finished 2015 as the Indians starting center fielder, but was considered likely to move to the fourth outfielder spot if a new outfielder was obtained. He likely still outranks Cowgill, but if another player is added, there could be quite a few players fighting for a single roster spot come Spring Training.
Not much changed for the Tribe yesterday, but at least they are making the slightest improvements in the club and keeping the right players around. Hopefully, this will just be a minor move in advance of some bigger news during the Winter Meetings.
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