The Indians have acquired outfielder Collin Cowgill from the Angels in exchange for cash considerations and designated left-hander Nick Hagadone for assignment, per a club announcement. MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez reported (via Twitter) that Cowgill was headed to Cleveland just before the trade was announced.
Cowgill, 30 next May, gives the Indians a strong defensive option in the outfield corners, though he comes with a light bat. The right-handed hitter comes to Cleveland with a .236/.299/.334 batting line in 745 trips to the plate as a Major Leaguer and a .188/.233/.290 line in just 74 PAs last season in Anaheim. However, Cowgill is a standout left/right fielder in the eyes of defensive metrics such as Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved and also has the ability to play center field. Cowgill has saved 28 runs in 1336 innings of corner defense, per DRS. UZR agrees, pegging him at +25 runs in that time. He’s average to below-average in center, per those same metrics, but he’s played just 370 innings there in his career.
Hagadone’s removal from the 40-man roster isn’t entirely unexpected, as the lefty reliever underwent elbow surgery in late July that was projected to sideline him for six to nine months. He was projected to receive just $700K in arbitration, but the Indians probably didn’t want to commit the dollars nor the roster spot to Hagadone without knowing when he could return to the mound. He also has a fairly spotty track record as a Major Leaguer; while he worked to a sound 3.55 ERA with a 55-to-18 K/BB ratio in 50 2/3 innings from 2014-15, his big league work prior to that point amounted to a 5.59 ERA in 67 2/3 innings.
Per MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian, Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said that he has interest in keeping Hagadone in the organization despite removing him from the 40-man roster (Twitter link).
420 total AB’s with Angels.
8-31-.235 / .302
Seriously – what would they be missing ?
What’s his attraction ?
They only got cash for him, and he has more upside than a lot of bench players out there. He just had a bad year for the Angels riddled with injuries, but was good off the bench for them in 2013-2014. Especially in ’14.
more cowgill!
Wow what a surprise! What a pick up for the Indians for only cash am I missing something….. Cowgill is a stud right fielder and very good left handed bat!
Actually he bats right.
don’t worry, he’s not a stud right fielder, either.
What? You must be thinking of someone else. Cowgill doesn’t even bat left handed.
Umm … he’s barely a major leaguer.
Are you perhaps thinking of Kole Calhoun?
Yes yes sorry guys I was thinking Kole Calhoun. Ya Cowgill far from stud!
No more garbage Green. No more Cowgill. No more Joyce. Now trade Cron and Wilson to some dumb team and then all the garage is taken out.
Lol ur so right
Wow, Anthony recker, joba, possibly victorino and now this dude. My tribe is having a tribe offseason. Spending as little money as possible and pissing as most fans off as possible.
That’s what happens when the real team go shopping while the Tribe goes searching in the scratch and debt section. Every once in awhile they get lucky like with Kazmir, but most often they get stuck with the scrap parts that offer little. The two times they spent a little they got burned, like on Swisher and Bourne.
Actually I don’t mind Cowgill for nothing to be honest. Stats wise he is a plus defensive corner outfield and is actually a solid bat against lefties career wise. He will probably be the platoon partner in RF with Chisenhall. He can actually earn some playing time in LF with Brantley going to start the season on the DL. Now he is just a depth guy, so Cleveland needs to do way more than this.