Branden Cogswell Begins Professional Career

With his career at Virginia now over, Branden Cogswell officially started the next chapter of his baseball career on July 3rd ¬– as a prospect in the Oakland Athletics organization. After hitting .391 at the College World Series, Cogswell decided to forego his senior season at the University of Virginia to sign with the Athletics. The A’s made Cogswell their seventh-round pick in this year’s draft. The 2011 Shen graduate flew out to Oakland on July 3rd to take his physical and sign his contract, which is essentially a $200,000 signing bonus Cogswell will receive half of the $200,000 at the end of the month and the other half by the end of the year. Along with the signing bonus, the shortstop prospect will receive a monthly salary on the minor league level he is playing in.
After California, Cogswell headed to Arizona to play with the Athletics’ rookie league team, the AZL Athletics. After a couple of weeks with the AZL Athletics, Cogswell was to begin playing with one of the Athletic’s Single-A teams, the Single-A Beloit Snappers or the Short-Season A Vermont Lake Monsters. While playing with the Lake Monsters would provide the 2011 ABCA/Rawlings High School Third-Team All-American an opportunity to play a series in the Capital Region, against the Tri-City ValleyCats, it was not Cogswell’s first choice. “I’d prefer (Beloit,) Wisconsin,” Cogswell said. “I know nobody else would, but whenever you can play at a higher level in the minor league system you take full advantage of that.”
After finding out he was heading to Beloit on July 6th, Cogswell packed up his things and hopped on a plane to join the Snappers early the next day. “July 7th, Beloit had an off day, so that was nice,” the former University of Virginia second baseman said. “It was just kind of packing up and moving in a short amount of time. It’s something I’m starting to get used to.
Shenendehowa graduate Branden Cogswell began his professional baseball career, playing for the Beloit Snappers, the full season A-ball affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. July 8th, there was his name on the line-up card “No. 2, DH, Cogswell.” He opened his pro career as a designated hitter. He went 1-4 with a single and a stolen base in his first game as a minor leaguer.
He was 1-8 through two games, and hit at the top of the order on July 9th. After playing shortstop during his sophomore season, Cogswell moved to second base, where he earned first-team all-ACC honors, but the Snappers played him at shortstop Wednesday. The A’s want to give him a long look at shortstop, however, and that’s just fine with him.
The Beloit Snappers snapped a three-game winning streak as they fell to the Burlington Bees 6-2 July 9th. Branden Cogswell hit into a groundout double play and the Snappers stranded three runners on base. Cogswell had a hit and drew two walks out of the leadoff spot July 10th, a good sign after going 1-for-8 in his first two games.
Now, not only must Cogswell adjust to professional pitching, hitting with wood bats and the daily grind of a baseball season, he must also get used to playing his home games in a modest facility in front of small crowds.