Mets Demote Collin Cowgill, Promote Andrew Brown

Collin Cowgill’s reign of terror in Flushing is over, for now anyway — the Mets demoted the struggling center fielder and promoted Andrew Brown.

I was wondering lately how long the Mets would stay with Cowgill (and Marlon Byrd), and meant to write a post about it, but I got sidetracked by my usual nonsense. The thrust of it was going to be that Cowgill and Byrd made the team because of strong performances in March, but after flopping in April when the games counted, how much more time would they be given?

Well, we found out about Collin Cowgill. After exciting everyone with an Opening Day grand slam, Cowgill hit the skids, batting just .157 with two home runs and eight RBIs. Half of his homer and RBI totals came with that one swing. He was all right defensively, but not stellar as advertised. His misplay on Monday led to the Marlins tying the game in the ninth, a game the Mets would eventually lose in 15 innings. He deserves to go just for subjecting us to those brutal six extra innings.

Brown could have won a job out of Spring Training but he hit terribly down in Port St. Lucie. Instead he was sent to Las Vegas where he thrived; .367 in 98 at bats, two home runs, 27 RBIs and a league leading 13 doubles. We’ll soon find out how much of that is a result of the thin air in the Pacific Coast League.

As for Marlon Byrd, his time with the Mets also has to be numbered. He is hitting .243 with a home run and 11 RBIs. Most alarmingly, he has struck out a whopping 25 times in 74 at bats.

The only thing keeping Byrd around is that he is right handed in a sea of Mets lefty-hitting outfielders. If Brown can establish himself as a reliable righty bat, the Mets will let Byrd fly away. Sorry about that.