Today, Kevin Kouzmanoff was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento. He has not played well this year (.221 average, nine errors), but I am fairly disappointed.
Kevin Kouzmanoff is the only non-Yankee whose cards I chase. Several years ago, I learned 'The Crushin' Russian" was actually Macedonian. Being of Albanian heritage, I was thrilled to find this out because there are not many players from this region of the world in baseball.
That's when my Kouz collection started.
I have 285 original Kouzmanoff cards.
Here's the breakdown:
autos - 79
game-used -25
rookies - 4
1/1 - 4
As Chris Olds pointed out on Twitter, I could probably find some good deals on the guy now as people may look to unload his stuff cheap. It'd funny because in the last several hours, a 1/1 and a rare rookie parallel have both popped up on eBay. Perhaps, I'll chase a few more cards.
Unfortunately, this doesn't bode well for Kouz's future. He's 29 years old.
Even though Kouz struggled, I think this move caught a lot of people by surprise, including the man himself.
"Surprise, shock. I didn't see it coming," Kouzmanoff told MLB.com. "As everybody well knows, I started off slow on both sides of the ball. I was unsatisfied with my play so far this season. I got the news that I'm going down, and all I can do is just go down and get my reps in and keep working and try to work my way back."
Hopefully, he could turn it around and maybe get back with the club. Perhaps there is team out there willing to trade for him - preferably some place on the East Coast.
Another reason it stinks - the Oakland A's are scheduled to play Philadelphia in two weeks. I haven't seen Kouz play live in two years. :(
Think Topps will add Kouz to their minor-league sets?
Tough loss. He might pick back up.
ReplyDeleteI didn't really find that surprising at all. They just traded for Scott Sizemore specifically because they were having 2B/3B issues. I'm not saying Scott is the answer, but it seemed pretty likely that he'd get a chance quickly.
ReplyDeleteI'll miss going to the stadium and hearing the announcer say "Kevin Koooooooooooooooooooouzmanoff!" every time he comes to bat. I doubt Topps will bother with a MiLB card, since he's not a prospect or anything. Maybe he'll still be there next time I get out to Sacramento.
ReplyDeleteThere's always hope that eTopps might make a MiLB card of him during the All-Star Break.
ReplyDeleteIt's more disappointing than surprising. He wasn't playing well, but he is 29. Just thought they might give him a chance to turn it around.
ReplyDeleteI guess they did and it didn't happen quickly enough.
I'm not saying he is useless because he has clearly stuck around the last four or five years, but maybe he just isn't a good MLB player.
ReplyDeletePerhaps some time in Triple-A will give him a chance to have some success against lesser competition before he is likely back with the A's or is dumped onto another MLB team.
The Mets should trade for him since their major leagure roster consists of over the hill vets or AAA talent anyways. He would make a great fit. also they should grab Wade Redden from the NY Rangers as well :-)
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