This former Orioles top prospect's struggles have reached a breaking point for the Marlins

The seasons that Kyle Stowers and Trevor Rogers had last year made the trade between the Baltimore Orioles and the Miami Marlins, where those two players were exchanged, an interesting topic of debate. Fans of both teams, as well as impartial media members, often went back and forth about who won that trade. Stowers making the All-Star team and finishing the season with a .912 OPS made it easy to think about the trade as "The Kyle Stowers trade"; however, at the time of the trade, it was Stowers' teammate Connor Norby who was the more well-regarded prospect.

When the trade was made, Stowers was in his third partial season with the Orioles, and over those three seasons, he'd been worth -0.3 WAR while slashing .229/.274/.369. He'd had an amazing moment in 2022 when he hit a game-tying home run with two outs against Liam Hicks to help the 2022 Orioles push towards the playoffs, but outside of that moment, his career in Baltimore had been mostly frustrating for both him and the Orioles.

Norby, by contrast, at the time of the trade was the Orioles ' fifth-ranked prospect and had only just been promoted to the big leagues, and in his first nine games he'd already hit two homers, including one against the Marlins, and looked as though he was going to force his way into the Orioles infield.

It was a surprise when the Orioles swapped both of them for Trevor Rogers, and pretty much everything that has happened since has been surprising too. It was surprising that Kyle Stowers was one of the best hitters in the National League, and it was just as surprising that Trevor Rogers was one of the best pitchers in the American League.

It's also surprising what has happened with Norby. Coming up through the minors, Norby didn't have any superstar abilities or tools, but he was a very well-rounded player with a solid hit tool who demonstrated excellent bat control to get the barrel on the ball despite not having an elite swing. He was also a good athlete who could play the infield and the outfield as needed. With that kind of profile, he seemed like a high-floor prospect who was destined to carve out a role on a big league team, even if that role was to be a utility player or a bottom-of-the-order regular.

Connor Norby has not caught on since the Orioles traded him

Instead, Norby has steadily played himself off the Marlins. He has slid down the defensive spectrum from second base to third base to first base, and the whole time has struggled at the plate. Interestingly enough, Norby has been a good defensive first baseman since moving there early this season, but a light-hitting defense-first first baseman is not really something any team is ever looking for.

The Marlins outfield has gotten sufficiently talented defensively to push Kyle Stowers, who was playing centerfield sometimes last year, to first base. Unlike Norby, Stowers can actually hit well enough to be a value add at first.

If, as a player, you can't defend well enough to stay on the field and you can't hit well enough to be a 1B/DH type, then that really doesn't leave much room for you on the roster, which is why this week the Marlins optioned Norby back to triple-A.

This doesn't mean that Norby's MLB career is over, but it does mean that if he ever wants to play on a team that isn't actively tanking, he needs to improve either defensively or offensively enough so that he can be useful on at least one side of the ball. Whether that's dedicating himself to becoming a good outfielder, where his plus speed could be helpful, or getting on a bat speed program so that he can do more damage when he makes contact with that ball, something has to change.

For the Orioles, this is another good reminder that not every top-five prospect becomes a star, and the team should be more willing to part with these players to bring in the kind of MLB talent they need.

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