15
2013
Collin Cowgill “Nails” It?
An article by 
Newest Mets outfielder Collin Cowgill has been getting raves for his gritty play, and has even been compared to another Mets outfielder, Lenny Dykstra, for his intensity on the field and his all-out style of play.
In an article by Mike Puma in the NY Post, Cowgill’s former manager and one-time Mets Rico Brogna had this to say:
“He reminds me of the way Dude played,” Brogna said, referring to Dykstra, who was nicknamed Nails. “He’s got the run-through-the wall mentality to make a play 24/7. He just does whatever it takes to get the job done. The entire game matters to him, all aspects, from the moment he arrives at the ballpark.”
Cowgill told Puma that it’s all about proving he belonged and knowing he had to play a little harder than everybody else.
Mets outfield coach Tom Goodwin said that he received rave reviews about Cowgill from Oakland’s hitting coach, Chili Davis, shortly after the trade was made.
“Those are the type of guys you are looking for,” Goodwin said. “But you’ve got to have some talent behind that, and I’m sure there’s going to come a point where he’s like, ‘I’m more than just a gritty guy, I can play, too.’ That’s going to be the bottom line and I think he’s that guy.”
The article points out that Cowgill embraces the comparison to Dykstra:
“I would like to think I have that a little bit,” Cowgill said. “That guy is up there with Pete Rose as a guy that played the game the hardest. I would like to think I have a little bit and try as much as I can to play as hard as a guy like him. I would love to model myself after the way he played the game.”
Cowgill is likely to platoon with Kirk Nieuwenhuis in centerfield this season. He’ll turn 27 in May and last he batted .269/.336/.317 for Oakland with one home run and nine RBI in 116 plate appearances.
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 43 | 30 | .589 | - |
| Nationals | 35 | 36 | .493 | 7.0 |
| Phillies | 35 | 38 | .479 | 8.0 |
| Mets | 27 | 41 | .397 | 13.5 |
| Marlins | 22 | 49 | .310 | 20.0 |
Last updated: 06/20/2013
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if he can put up #s like Lenny’s better years (or at least the un-roided ones), that would be even better.
And if he can put up Pujols-like #s, I won’t care if he sleeps on the bench during the game, or flirts with all the babes in the stands like A Rod.
Seriously though, I liked this pickup, just based on his skillset, MiL success, makeup, etc. Hoping he gets a real chance to play, and breaks out big time.
.269/.336/.317 for Oakland with one home run and nine RBI in 116 plate appearances”
Ummmmmmmm……. should i even say anything?
If you don’t I will. Amazin Avenue isn’t killing him for his career Francoeur-esque .630 OPS, that’s odd? LOL
Maniac, he’s not making million of dollars, therefore even if he sucks he gets a pass, no matter if him sucking big time hurts the team and make us lose games… Isn’t that right donal?
That’s bullshit Alex. They killed Omir Santos and Alex Cora just as much and I can send you 5 posts in last three months just to kill Justin Turner.
Truth is if Omar signed him, bash away. If Sandy signed him, say Brad Emaus is the #3 ranked Mets prospect, D.J. Carrasco was steal, and Kelly Shoppach was a great pickup. That’s how it is on Alderson Avenue.
Simply because for the the dividing line for you is Minaya/Alderson, doesn’t mean that it’s that way for everyone else. The rest of us tend to kill players who suck regardless of who aquired them. Carrasco got killed as did Torres, Francisco gets killed, Harvey is loved, Dickey is worshiped, don’t project your own bias onto others.
Lmao… Shame on you to go there!!!
maybe because it was 116 PAs in his first taste of the majors? There is such a thing as keeping stats in persepctive. And most people don’t make a decision about a guy based on what amounts to about 25 games worth of PAs, spread across part-time work.
Now, for a guy with 2,000+ PAs and 5+ years in MLB, then you can pretty much say what you got.
.213 .305 .282 .588 Ruben Tejada after his first 255 PA.
Cowgill may stink but I am not going to determine that based on 115 PA.
Ooooo, I really like you. :-*
.258 .330 .316 .645 Emilio Bonifacio last season. Wouldn’t you like to have him in CF right now?
Delmon Young appears ticketed for DL to start season, I guess you would have been happy if we signed him
Collin goes boom.
http://mlbnetwork.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=21628847&c_id=mlb
Is there any video around of George Theodore hitting any HRs? I feel like making him look good for a day.
I have one of Marvelous Marv in case you’re interested or are you insistent it has to be The Stork?
BTW, since when do you bring up the oldtimers? lol
Hey Boomer we should get together and drink craft beer tonight. I can show you my Sandy Alderson scrapbook if you are nice to me.
Of all the scrap heap guys we picked up this winter, Cowgill has gotten the most publicity. If he can play, great, but so far it has all sounded like Jeff Torborg telling me how much I was going to love Bill Pecota.
I didn’t.
Cowgill looks like he has the qualities of being a good bench player. As a starter or even a platoon player we will just have to see.
Great, but how about a trade for another outfielder? Trades can happen during spring training, right?
can and do. And at the end of ST when the roster squeeze comes for many teams, there will be players available off the waiver wire too. So might pick up one that way, but better chance there is a July trade to bring one in.
• Dykstra Coghill
• Backman Murphy
• Hernandez Wright
• Strawberry Ike
• Carter TAD
• HO JO Duda
• Mookie Kirk
• Rafel Santana Tejeda
What is this?????
That’s him saying the 2013 Mets are the 1986 Mets. 108 wins season. Cant you add one plus one? LOL
I hope this guy gets tested for some type of drug in his body…. The utterly disrespect continues……
Loosen Up I never said the Mets would be the 1986 Mets . I think someone compared Coghill to Dykstra and I could have named all the prisoners in his prison but did not know their names. You guys are a tough crowd , I hate to get in a political conversation with you
Sorry Hotstreak, bad day on the job.
Thanks my friend.
Might want to work on that Duda/HoJo one. I can’t really think of 2 wildly different players there. Maybe try Mitchell instead?
oh, wait, you were just comparing batting orders? That might make more sense!
Yes indeed.
I guess we’ve run out of great Whitestone Mike stories and Beam Me Up Captain Kirk stories. What about lat year’s Terry Collins says Duda will be another Joey Votto stories? I heard the other day that story has been edited and that only Giancarlo Stanton will have more homers than Duda this year. We have a very storied outfield it seems. Just like our front office.
This sounds very familiar to the Andres Torres stories we heard about last off season.
Thats hilarious…
I’m curious to see him play once ST games start. He’s one guy I’m gonna keep my eye on and not reserve judgment based off just 38 games last season. For what it’s worth, he was actually doing well hitting .302 before he got hurt, but I’ll throw that one under the rug.
Grit has no value, if you bat 220 you can have the grit on earth and you are killing the team. You win by scoring runs, not by trying hard.
I was wondering what happened to you when I read the word “grit”. You really disappeared from here after Francoeur left.
You guys are funny,the kid has not even played yet and we have guys killing him, I do not think anyone is saying he us gonna be a superstar here they are just optimistic that he can be a good player, as am I.
As a pro Alderdon guy I also can easily say he has made some a small handful of bad trades and signings, but they are so low risk it doesn’t really matter, Francisco was obviously his worst move,but if we signed say any outfielder available for Francisco’s price they still end up with 70 donething wins last year, and Aldersons first year thepayroll was close to 150 mill so obviously he was not adding much.
So on Alderson Ave at least I can also point out what moves are bad or good, but the season has not started yet to judge Cowgill, I will say aside from the stolen bases I beleive cowgill and kirk will put up better numbers than bourn while playing not as good defense (since bourn is one of the best), but very good defense.
Also lets really think about this, Aldersons only real major moves where trading Dickey and Beltran, and signing Wright. As of now none of them have reeped benifits yet, but professional scouts and baseball people in general love the Dickey and Beltran Trade. The Wright signing is to be determined. The fact is the organization is in better shape than it has been in many years as far as upside and high ceiling talent mostly because of Alderson. He has brought in most of the Mets top ten( or top 20 for that matter) prospects, went through the lowering payroll phase why taking criticism, I give him props for not deviating from his plan. That said next year is a new start and I expect some of those prospects to be traded and one or two higher ceiling free agents signed to fill some if the holes, but I do not expect him to sign anyone 30 or higher to a bad long term deal. If he does not then I will be somewhat spectacle of being pro Alderson, but since I kind of seen the team going this route when Alderson took over in the first place it does not bother me, in fact I am thrilled because I am positive next year will be a year the Mets will be a wild card or at least fighting for one, or possible division champs. The house is no longer built on stilts if you know what I mean, there is a strong foundation and when you build anything that lasts you build it from the ground up properly, of course this is my opinion, they still have to play the games and the prospects and team need to perform and stay as healthy as possible.
and inheriting a nice foundation for a roster sure helps, thanks to his predecessor. Without that foundation Alderson can’t get Wheeler, & can’t get d’Arnaud and the rebuilding process is not as long. The team is ready now to add parts and should be in better shape if not for Alderson’s uneven attempt to rebuild.
There wasn’t much to rebuild. There was more off the field chaos then on the field chaos and that’s what I think you’re confused about.
That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard, bottom line is Minaya did not make the trade for Wheeler or Drnaud, Syndergaurd, he did not sign Mateo, or Montero, or draft Fullmer, Cecchini, plawecki, and Mazzoni. There was no foundation on the roster just aging veterans that Alderson turned into the future. Minaya gets props for Ike, and Harvey because they have superstar type potential in my opinion. Otherwise his players are flawed. Mejia probably gets traded and will never be a starter for the Mers, Why? Minaya rushed him and he got hurt derailing his career big time. I like Famillia but for the pen.
D’arnaud and Wheeler are not just top prospects, they are top 10 prospects in all of baseball, Syndergaurd right behind them. You say they are ready now and that is your opinion, you are entitled to it, reality D’arnaud and Wheeler have not played an inning at the MLB level, so they are not yet, they will get half a season in and be ready next year. They will add next year which is the proper time, they will lock up who they want to build around, if not then I am on your guys side, until then I see a team fighting with Braves and Nats for first starting next year for a long time depending on their additions.
No, Minaya didn’t make those trades, but the moves he made while he was GM, allowed those trades to happen.
The Mets wouldn’t have Wheeler if Minaya doesn’t sign Beltran. The Mets wouldn’t have D’Araund or Syndergaard if Minaya doesn’t sign R.A Dickey. The Mets couldn’t have drafted Fulmer if Minaya doesn’t sign Feliciano.
I know fans don’t like to think that way, but those are all true statements. Now, that doesn’t mean Sandy Alderson doesn’t deserve credit if those prospect develop into stars(He would deserve a ton of credit), but it would be unfair not to recognized the work of the previous GM that made those trades possible.
You also say that the roster was just aging veterans, yet in your next sentence, you correctly point out that he left Harvey and Davis who have superstar potential. So, how could he only leave behind aging veterans, when the roster included two young potential superstars? You even mention yourself that Familia is a good future bullpen option. And what about Niese? Or Tejada? Or Murphy and Gee? Or even Flores? They may have their flaws, but they are nice players that can contribute and help the Mets win now and in the future.
I still think there is some hope for a halfway decent OF because all of the candidates we have were productive last season against pitchers who are on the opposite side of the rubber.
Kirk vs. RHP : 271/.324/.416/.740 (241 PA)
Baxter vs. RHP: .288/.386/.450/.836 (189 PA)
Valdespin vs. RHP (244/.292/.444/.736 (174 PA)
Cowgill vs. LHP .318/.412/.432/.844 (51 PA)
Brown vs. LHP .275/.375/.400/.775 (48 PA)
Byrd vs. LHP .327/.353/.408/.761 (51 PA)
Hoffmann vs. LHP .279/.382/.481/.863 (104 MILB AB)
Obviously there are some caveats such as sample size and how bad they are against pitchers from the same side of the rubber, but if Terry can stick to a strict platoon then there is a possibility our OF is not as bad as it seems.
Now this certainly doesn’t absolve Sandy for his almost complete neglect of the OF even though he tried to feign interest in trading for Upton, but there is a small chance this could work…