Marlins Star Kyle Stowers Shares Similarities With Another Baseball Legend
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The Miami Marlins are facing many decisions this winter. They have their full attention for the Winter Meetings, which is set in Orlando, Florida, and they also have to focus on who they want to keep in their franchise.
Making business decisions is always hard. Not every player will be happy in the business of baseball. Fans love seeing homegrown players stay with one team, or players who come from other teams and make a bigger difference with their new team.
There’s one player on the Marlins roster who first embodies what the Marlins should be and could be, and we can’t help but think that reminds us of this former Marlins player.
Is Kyle Stowers the Modern Version of Jeff Conine?
Conine is known as “Mr. Marlin.” He was a key integral part in helping the Marlins win the World Series in 1997 and 2003. He was a true professional and played the game the right way.
The comparison may be ludicrous, but we should consider some things about both players.
Stowers reminds us of Conine early on in his career. He’s young, plays hard, and gives you the impression that he’s all about winning and business. Stowers and Conine share an interesting similarity: both made their first All-Star appearance at age 27. Both players blossomed at the right time, during the early prime of their careers.
In addition, Stowers and Conine have played the same position (left field) and for the same organization (the Baltimore Orioles).
Although there are concerns among Marlins fans that the front office might not go “all in” to keep Stowers for the long haul. If there’s the first player in this current Marlins roster that should be considered to stay for years to come, it's Stowers.
He brought a lot of excitement to Marlins Park this season. We are seeing the best yet to come. Stowers needs to be the next player to have his jersey retired as a Marlin if he continues to produce this way and if the organization keeps him around.
Marlins general manager Gabe Kapler and owner Bruce Sherman have to rethink it time and time again before trading away Stowers or letting him walk in the future.
The opportunity to win a World Series has been more compelling compared to the years when Conine won with the Marlins. There was only one National League team that could win the wild card. Today, three teams can enter the playoffs as wild-card teams. To win the World Series is about getting hot at the right time.
If ownership and management are looking for motivation, they should see how the Toronto Blue Jays worked it out with Vladimir Guerrero Jr when it almost looked like he was about to leave.
Stowers is no Vlad Jr., but he's the most crucial offensive hitter for the Marlins right now, just like Vlad is to the Blue Jays.
Conine is the first and only Marlins player to be inducted into the Marlins Legends Hall of Fame. We hope that Stowers can join him in that fraternity someday.
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After graduating from City College of New York in 2014, Miguel created his own blog. Since 2021, he has written for FanSided, where he covered the Toronto Blue Jays, College Football and Utah Mammoth hockey team. He also wrote for Miami Heat on SI and Cleveland Sports Talk. Miguel is the creator and host of his podcast, Baseball Heat Podcast with Mike.