O's Colton Cowser is finalist for BBWAA AL Rookie of the Year award

With one American League rookie award secured already, Orioles outfielder Colton Cowser tonight was named a finalist for the Baseball Writers’ Association of America's American League Rookie of the Year award for 2024.

The other finalists are both Yankees: pitcher Luis Gil and catcher Austin Wells. The award winner will be announced a week from tonight, on Nov. 18.

The O's had no other finalists for the four major awards. 

Should Cowser win the BBWAA award, the Orioles will get a bonus draft pick for next summer. The Orioles got a Prospect Promotion Incentive selection this past July after Gunnar Henderson won the 2023 AL Rookie of the Year. And with that pick, No. 32 overall, they selected University of Virginia infielder Griff O’Ferrall.

If Cowser wins next week, this will be the first time the Orioles have had back-to-back BBWAA Rookie of the Year winners.

On Oct. 26, Cowser got the Player’s Choice award from the MLB Players Association as the AL Outstanding Rookie. Cowser was also a Gold Glove finalist in the AL in left field. That award went to Cleveland’s Steven Kwan.

Cowser hit .242/.321/.447/.768 with 24 doubles, three triples, 24 homers, 77 runs, nine steals and 69 RBIs.

Cowser led AL rookies and ranked third among major league rookies with 4.0 fWAR. And he topped AL rookies and tied for the majors rookie lead in home runs with San Diego’s Jackson Merrill. He was also first among AL rookies in runs, total bases and extra-base hits.

The Orioles have produced seven BBWAA Rookies of the Year:

1960 – Ron Hansen
1965 – Curt Blefary
1973 – Al Bumbry
1977 – Eddie Murray
1982 – Cal Ripken Jr.
1989 – Gregg Olson
2023 – Gunnar Henderson

Tonight's finalists were announced during a live broadcast on MLB Network. Before the ROY finalists were announced, it was announced that the three finalists for AL Most Valuable Player are Aaron Judge and Juan Soto of the New York Yankees and Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals. Henderson could wind up a top 10 finisher for the AL MVP. 

The AL manager of the year finalists are Cleveland's Stephen Vogt, Detroit's A.J. Hinch and Kansas City's Matt Quatraro. The Orioles' Brandon Hyde won last year.

The finalists for the AL Cy Young Award are Detroit's Tarik Skubal, Kansas City's Seth Lugo and Cleveland reliever Emmanuel Clase. Skubal is the heavy favorite after leading the league in wins (18), ERA (2.39) and strikeouts (228).

In a mild surprise, 2021 NL Cy Young Winner Corbin Burnes was not a finalist. For the Orioles this year over 32 starts, Burnes went 15-9 with a 2.92 ERA over 194 1/3 innings. He recorded 22 quality starts with 1.096 WHIP while averaging 2.2 walks per nine innings and 8.4 strikeouts per nine.

Burnes this year became the second qualified O's pitcher with a sub-3.00 ERA since Mike Mussina posted a 2.54 ERA in 1992, joining Kyle Bradish (at 2.83) in 2023.

In the final AL stats, Burnes tied for first in quality starts, was third in innings, fourth in ERA, sixth in OPS (.622) and eighth in WHIP (1.10).

Burnes is now a free agent and can sign with any team. The Orioles made him a qualifying offer. If he, as expected, rejects it, the O’s will get a draft pick if he signs with another team.

New infielder added: The O’s are expected to sign infielder Vimael Machin to a minor league contract with a spring training invitation, according to ESPN. He spent the past two seasons in the Mexican League and has played in the majors for Oakland in parts of 2020-2022.

He's a lefty hitter whom the Athletics took in the Rule 5 Draft from the Chicago Cubs in 2019. Machin, 31, is a career .208/.290/.261/.551 hitter in the bigs in 361 plate appearances. He has played all four infield spots, but mostly at third base.