Jackson Kowar, RHP
Jackson Kowar is a former first-round pick from the University of Florida. Once a top 100 prospect, Kowar has fallen off quite a bit. He was drafted as a starting pitcher by the Kansas City Royals, who traded Kowar to the Braves earlier this offseason. When it comes to his Major League career, there is no way to sugarcoat this: He has been terrible. Like, really, really bad.
in 74 Major League innings, he has given up 75 earned runs. 75! His career ERA is 9.12, and his career WHIP is 2.09. Those numbers are really hard to get, because most pitchers do not get that many opportunities to be that bad. He boasts a 9.1 K/9, and a lousy 6.2 BB/9 in his ML career. Even Baseball Savant is not his friend. The only positive thing on his Savant page is his fastball velocity, which is in the 91st percentile.
What upsets me is the casual fan who sees the Mariners official Twitter account put up a "Welcome to Seattle" post for him, then they Google him and see his stats. If the Mariners just plain traded for Kowar, most people would be fine with it. We all know the Mariners pitching lab has fixed even the worst pitchers, but trading a guy who was supposed to be the face of your franchise for a relief pitcher as bad as Kowar has been? That leaves a very sour taste in my mouth.