Good morning, Camden Chatters. Welp. The dream of the Orioles having back-to-back Rookies of the Year is officially dead.
Colton Cowser came tantalizingly close to winning the award, which was announced yesterday, but fell just short to Yankees starter Luis Gil. The margin of defeat could hardly have been closer. Gil earned 15 first-place votes and 106 points, while Cowser got 13 and 101.
Cowser was listed on the most ballots — with 27 of 30 voters putting him in their top three, compared to 26 for Gil — but those first-place votes made the difference. Oakland’s Mason Miller and Cleveland’s Cade Smith each received one first-place vote as well. Had those two voters put Cowser atop their list instead, he would have won.
It was that close. As an admittedly biased Orioles fan, I thought Cowser deserved to win. While he wasn’t without his faults, he was a valuable contributor to the team both offensively and defensively (and also a heck of a lot of fun, for whatever that’s worth).
Gil was a great story at the beginning of the year, returning from a nearly two-year absence to dominate in the first half, but faded after the All-Star break, throwing only one quality start in the final two months. Ultimately, those great first couple of months for Gil stuck in the minds of voters. The fact that the Yankees finished ahead of the Orioles might have influenced the vote, too (and if you want to blame general Yankees bias as well, feel free).
Not only did Cowser miss out on bringing home some hardware, but the Orioles missed a chance to earn an extra draft pick. As a preseason top-100 prospect who was on the roster all season, Cowser would have earned the O’s a Prospect Promotion Incentive pick in the 2025 draft if he had won Rookie of the Year, just as Gunnar Henderson did last year. Alas, it’s not in the cards.
(The Yankees will not receive that pick, as Gil wasn’t a top-100 prospect. )Also falling just short was local product Jackson Merrill, the Baltimore-born Severna Park alum, who finished as the runner-up in the NL Rookie of the Year vote. The 21-year-old center fielder broke out with an outstanding rookie season for the Padres but had the misfortune of debuting in the same year as Pirates flamethrower Paul Skenes.
Oh well. Maybe next year the Orioles can get back on the Rookie of the Year train. Coby Mayo, you’re up.
LinksColton Cowser is a Rookie of the Year finalist, but he’s still the ‘same dude’ – The Baltimore BannerAndy Kostka details how Cowser developed from “a baby giraffe on roller skates,” as his former college recruiter called him, into one of the most promising rookies in the bigs. Wall Over but the Shoutin’: Camden Yards Gets New Dimensions | FanGraphs BaseballMichael Baumann (not that one) celebrates the repositioning of Walltimore and a return to an Oriole Park where moon shots to left field will actually clear the fence. Longtime Orioles’ standout Adam Jones is one of 28 players on Hall of Fame ballot – BaltimoreBaseball.
comCongrats to Adam Jones for making it onto the All-Star ballot, which is an accomplishment in itself. He doesn’t have any chance at induction, but I wouldn’t hate if someone tossed a vote his way in honor of an excellent MLB career. Potential O’s free-agent target: Lefty Blake Snell – Steve MelewskiI’ll be writing about Blake Snell tomorrow, but Melewski’s on the same wavelength about the lefty being a good fit for the Orioles.
Whether Mike Elias is of a similar mindset is a diferent story. Orioles birthdays and historyIs today your birthday? Happy birthday!
And happy 26th birthday to Cristian Pache, the only position player in history to bat 1. 000 in his Orioles career. The O’s acquired Pache as a throw-in in the Austin Hays/Seranthony Dominguez trade this July, and he singled in his only at-bat before the O’s waived him.
Other former Orioles born on Nov. 19 include catchers Bryan Holaday (37) and Larry Haney (82) and right-hander Dickie Noles (68). On this date in 1963, the Orioles hired Hank Bauer as their new manager, replacing Billy Hitchcock, who was let go after two seasons.
Bauer had posted just a 107-157 career record as a major league manager before the O’s brought him in, but he proved to be a shrewd hire, leading the Orioles to three consecutive 94+ win seasons and their first World Series championship in 1966. This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
