The Jays have claimed Ben Cowles off waivers from the Cubs. The Cubs DFAed him Sunday. The Jays put Bowden Francis on the 60-day IL to make room on the 40-man roster. Francis is going to be out all season.
Cowles has two options.
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He’s a right-handed-hitting infielder, 26 years old. He hasn’t played in the majors yet. Last year he hit .235/.300/.371 with 9 home runs in 128 games in Triple-A
Duane Pesice, at Bleed Cubbie Blue, has a profile on him here.
He’s a lifetime .268/.365/.426 in four seasons of Minor League ball, with 30 home runs and 158 RBI in 1,128 at-bats. Not great, but not too shabby. He could hit 1-15 dingers in The Show, hit .250 or so, walk enough to be .300+ OBP man. He’ll take a bag if he can. Cowles is a slightly-less-effective Nico Hoerner type. He’ll back up or start at short/second in Iowa.
His contact bat helps his cause, but Cowles just doesn’t bring enough to the table to beat out the people in front of him. But he’s a fine platoon partner with Triantos and backup at second and short, and can play third in a pinch.
He was #14 on Baseball America’s top Cubs prospect list last year
Baseball Prospects says:
Prospects TLDR: Cowles’ Double-A stats are a bit of a mirage, but he’s a capable shortstop defender who provides enough offense to consider him a low-impact bench infielder.
It looks like he will be battling Leo Jimenez for the utility infielder role this spring.
