Former Phillies/Rays farmhand and current Brewers minor leaguer Dylan Cozens announced on Twitter today that he plans step away from baseball in order to pursue a career in professional football. Cozens thanked the three organizations in which he’s played for all of the opportunities afforded to him since being selected by Philadelphia in the second round of the 2012 draft but says he’ll now opt to chase another dream: playing in the National Football League.
Cozens, 27, was a defensive end and two-sport star in high school. His father, Randy, was drafted by the Denver Broncos back in 1976. Listed at a hulking 6’6″ and 245 pounds presently, it should come as little surprise that a player with Cozens’ size and athleticism had a scholarship offer to play football at the University of Arizona before opting to sign with the Phillies back in 2012.
For several years after that second-round selection, Cozens ranked as one of the Phillies’ highest-ceiling prospects — but one with a good bit of risk. He garnered praise for his immense power, which he displayed with a 40-homer showing in 134 games of Double-A ball in 2016, but Cozens also came to pro ball with somewhat limited baseball experience and a notable penchant for swinging and missing. Cozens struck out in 31.7 percent of his plate appearances in Double-A that year and saw that rate spike to 35.7 percent over the next two seasons in Triple-A.
Cozens received a pair of brief calls to the Majors in 2018-19 but only tallied 45 plate appearances. His 2019 campaign was ultimately cut short when he required surgery to remove bone spurs and repair cartilage in his left foot. The Phillies released Cozens after that surgery — injured players cannot be outrighted, and the team needed a roster spot — and he opted to sign a two-year minor league deal with the Rays in Aug. 2019 rather than return to the Phils. The idea was that he’d finish up his rehab with the Rays in ’19 and play in their system in 2020, though last year’s minor league season obviously didn’t take place.
Cozens inked a minor league deal with the Brewers back in December and has appeared in 31 games this year, batting .177/.343/.329 with two homers, four doubles, a triple and four stolen bases in 100 plate appearances. The steals may surprise some, but despite his size, Cozens has swiped 110 bags in 145 tries as a minor leaguer — a testament to his athleticism.
Cozens will have a long road to walk if he ultimately realizes his dream of reaching the top level in a second major sports league, but he’s young enough that it’s certainly not implausible. Despite having played in parts of nine minor league seasons, Cozens only celebrated his 27th birthday on May 31. Best of luck to him in the next phase of his career.
The original Aaron Judge, or the Aaron Judge that never was. Best of luck to him!
No way. Judge has a lot more natural athletic ability than Cozens.
Oh calm down, I’m talkin plus-size OFs here, Dickie. Not a comp of the two. Cozens was enough of a prospect to have a similar ceiling as Judge, but he never reached it – that’s the only difference we need to talk about here, Dick.
Cozens is Judge and Judge is Cozens. Have you ever seen the two together? Just like Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montana.
No we wasn’t. Cozens had a surprise break out year in Reading in 2016.
Cozens wasn’t even on some Phils’ Top 10 org prospects at the time. Judge was a consensus Top 100 MLB prospect and made some Top 10 lists.
Cozens was a classic athlete with limited baseball skills that Amaro and Wolever loved to gamble on because they loved prospects with tools.
fwiw, Cozens did steal 20 bases three years in a row in the Minors with a high SB%
If Tim Tebow can play baseball, then by golly, Dylan Cozens can play football!!!
But Tebow couldnt play baseball….just check his numbers.
I hear once he fails as a tight end his next move is picking up badminton
Tebow was a minor league All Star and 100% better athlete than any of us. BtW, Tebow will be on the Jaguars roster this year. He is making the team.
You are aware that all-star appearance was not performance-related? Oh, you clearly do not think this. Oh dear. Someone thinks college sports matters a bit too much.
Cut bigj some slack. He probably thinks Derek Jeter is an excellent defender because he was voted some Gold Gloves.
‘Fast’ badminton is a heckuva lotta fun. Good workout, too.
Or maybe he could cheat, then being such a gutless coward, instead of taking responsibility, he could blame some innocent stranger.
I am not a Tebow fan, but he did much better than anyone expected. He may not have made the majors, but he did better than 99.9% of guys his age would have done in the minors.
Great, now everyone thinks that they can play Tight End!!
As a Phillies fan I wish him well. He just never put it together completely at the highest level
Tebow was a minor league All Star and 100% better athlete than any of us. BtW, Tebow will be on the Jaguars roster this year. He is making the team.
Tim Tebow needs to grow the hell up and get a real job like the rest of us.
The dude had a bigger impact on the world and made more money by the time he was 24 than you ever will.
Lloyd,
Thank you.
Lloyd, he has an NFL contract. Please explain to me why he “needs to grow up and get a job like the rest of us”? He’ll make more than many of us.
I hope you’re neither a career counselor or financial advisor.
Outlaw, the answer for why likely is “jealousy.”
Tebow is a useless rich kid who bought his entire career while never actually being athletically talented at any particular sport.
bigj? More like bigc for big clown lol
Did he buy two Heisman trophies as well?
or a playoff win?
I don’t think Tebow is a particularly great QB, and the baseball experiment was a failure.
But the hatred he receives as a person is pathetic. Imagine being this triggered by someone who has, from the public eye, been a good, kind and giving person.
Tebow represents everything people wish they were. Rich, athletic, honest, incredibly driven, a strong leader, charismatic, good looking, etc. With most athletes there is always something about the person that allows them to rationalize why they aren’t objectively better than them. But not Tebow. Seeing him makes them realize how inferior they are and there is nothing they can do about it.
@A’sfan – Tebow won a Heisman Trophy, played three years in the NFL, and did not completely embarrass himself in the minor leagues, yet you describe him as “never actually being athletically talented at any particular sport.”
I don’t know what your bar for “talented” is, but based on your comment, something like 95% of all professional athletes would fall short of your standard.
Tebow’s parents are missionaries.
He set an SEC record for touchdowns.
Screw football…….
Now we need Buffalo’s Cozens to try basketball and we’ll have had a Dylan Cozens in all four majors.
Wow you’d think Tim Tebow was Tom Brady judging by these salty comments on an article completely unrelated to him lol
For the record, my initial comment was purely a joke. It had nothing to do with Tebow’s personality or his faith, just about the fact that he tried baseball.
I feel kinda bad for opening up that box.
He should play hockey. He’s already a Buffalo Sabre.
At 27 and zero college football experience his chances are very slim.
I hope he makes a roster.