Collin

Cowgill

The 33-year-old journeyman spent all of last season with the Nationals’ Triple-A affiliate and did not hit well, slashing .228/.330/.440 with 12 home runs, 34 RBI and eight stolen bases. He hasn’t appeared in a major league game since 2016. He broke into the majors with the Diamondbacks in 2011 and has also played briefly for the Athletics, Mets, Angels and Indians. He will serve as minor league depth for the Mariners this year and could get a few at-bats in the majors.

It’s been quite some time since we’ve had reason to mention Cowgill’s name; he was last seen in the majors in 2016 and that was just for 12 at-bats with the Indians. Overall, the 32-year-old has 689 major league at-bats in six seasons. He wasn’t supposed to be a candidate to make the Nationals this spring, but Michael Taylor’s injury has opened up a spot and Cowgill is getting a brief chance to make an impression. He had just five at-bats this spring coming into today.

The three-bagger was Cowgill’s second of the spring, while he’s now hitting .436. Cowgill will begin the year on the A’s bench, but he’s worth keeping an eye on in AL-only leagues.

A sorely needed afternoon for Cowgill, who had just one extra-base hit through his first 22 Cactus League at-bats. An intriguing prospect after bludgeoning the ball to the tune of .354/.430/.554 in the hitter-friendly Pacific League last season, Cowgill was much less fierce in the bigs, hitting just .239/.300/.304 across 100 plate appearances for the Diamondbacks. Not guaranteed regular playing time in Oakland’s crowded outfield, Cowgill isn’t worth consideration in even exceptionally deep mixed leagues.

Cespedes still isn’t over the strained muscle in the back of his left hand, and has now missed five consecutive games. Collin Cowgill will again man center field for the A’s as they take on Detroit on Saturday night.

He’ll take Michael Taylor’s spot on the roster and should get some playing time with Coco Crisp on the disabled list and Yoenis Cespedes sidelined. Cowgill was hitting .282/.349/.423 with two homers, two stolen bases and a .772 OPS over 86 plate appearances with the River Cats.

We haven’t heard anything about an injury, so he’s likely just getting the day off. Collin Cowgill will make the start in left field and bat ninth against left-hander Bruce Chen.

Cowgill saw just four at-bats with the A’s. The 25-year-old is better off playing every day in the minors.

Oakland will receive prospect right-hander Jarrod Parker, outfielder Collin Cowgill and a third player in return. That third player better be pretty good, because this is somewhat of a disappointing haul for someone who is locked up at a very reasonable rate through 2017. Cahill, who turns 24 in March, has a 3.91 ERA over his first 96 big-league starts. He should fit quite nicely behind Daniel Hudson and Ian Kennedy in Arizona’s rotation.

Oakland will receive Cook, Jarrod Parker and Collin Cowgill in exchange for Cahill and Craig Breslow. Cook, 24, had an ugly 7.04 ERA in 12 appearances with Arizona this season, but profiles as a pretty nice relief prospect. Still, we figured Oakland would aim higher with the third piece, perhaps asking for either left-hander David Holmberg or left-hander Patrick Corbin. They obviously did well to get Parker and Cowgill should start in their outfield right away, but this is a disappointing return.