Casey Rogowski
The Pirates are not going to sign an A player in Pittsburgh to fill our lefty McThump need. Even most B players would prefer signing somewhere else. So the only way we’ll fill our need is with a trade.
Casey Rogowski is one player who might be able to fill that need.
He is 25-years old, 6′ 3", and somewhere between 230 and 260 depending on who you listen to. Like Eldred, he is quick on his feet for such a big man but unlike Eldred, his defensive game is pretty good.
As a true 1B, Rogowski is buried in the White Sox organization behind Paul Konerko who is signed thru 2010. Knowing they had a future need for a corner outfielder developing, the Sox tried Rogowski in the OF in 2005 and it was a disaster. He’s a 1B, will always be a 1B or DH, and that is all she wrote.
While Rogowski repeated high-A from 2002 – 2004, the reason for that was because he had labrum surgery and really wasn’t healthy until 2004.
In 2005 he was in AA and raked up an impressive .293/.374/.444 line with 20 steals, 58 walks, and one out of three hits went for extra bases.
In 2006 at home run hitting friendly Charlotte, he hit .272/.351/.436 with 76 rbi’s in 459 AB’s, walked 53 times, and stole an incredible 26 bases. But what is interesting about his numbers there was the fact he hit 32 doubles in a park that is notoriously hard to hit doubles in (.86 park factor last 4 years for doubles).
But that’s not even the best part about Rogowski.
He’s a pure clutch hitter who raked a .970 OPS with runners in scoring position last year and a .386 batting average on balls in play in RISP opportunities. And he does this every year.
Rogowski hits to the gaps with authority, had a .665 batting average on all balls hit to RF last year, and he had 38% of all his hits go for extra bases last year.
Rogowski fits PNC Park like a glove, especially against right-hand pitching. He won’t hit 30 home runs but he will drive in runs. His power will continue to develop as he gets older.
And with him buried behind Konerko, his trade value shouldn’t be too high. I don’t see where we match up on the big league roster other than perhaps a Grabow package, but they might be talked into a Stansberry/Davis deal or some pitching prospects in the farm.
The key here is that he is young, he fits PNC Park, he fits the Pirates needs, and he won’t cost us any of our starters. More importantly, he puts the ball in play when men are on base, which is something we desperately need.
Here is some more information for you to look at:
A video of him at bat hitting a HR in the SAL ASG
An audio interview of him about his game in 2005
His player card at Minor League Baseball
His player card at Baseball Prospectus (only updated thru 2005 right now)
twofus
DL treasures every one of his RPs. This kid is a find, though, with much more upside than Eldred. Don’t see DL moving till late (to get another reliever of course!) But his toes are to the fire now, aren’t they?