Jack Cust was acquired from the Colorado Rockies prior to the start of the 2003 season in a trade for Chris Richard--March 11 to be exact.  Cust's profile has always been intriguing--tons of walks and big-time power potential.  But Cust has swung and missed so frequently during his professional career (pushing 1/3 of his plate appearances) that there have always been doubts about his ability to convert his minor league production and potential into big league results.  That doubt has also been coupled with the recognition that Cust has no defensive position.

Can Jack Cust justify the Orioles' decision to hand the designated hitter's spot to him and get out of the way...should the Orioles actually make that decision?  It's unclear.

Cust started the season with AAA Ottawa and, frankly, his performance there left something to be desired.  While the walks were present in large numbers and Cust hit a surprisingly robust .285 in a difficult league for hitters (the International League), the power simply wasn't there.  In 97 games and 333 ABs at Ottawa, Cust managed just 28 extra base hits and only nine of those were home runs.

Cust spent a few days on the big league roster in late May without getting into a game, and then was returned to Ottawa.  Roster juggling brought him back to the big club for 10-odd days in July, but didn't see action that time either.  He finally returned to the bigs in early August and spent the rest of the season with the Orioles, and finally made his American League debut, but his playing time was spotty, leading to some fans to question why Cust was on the roster at all.

When Cust did play, he actually performed pretty well (baserunning pratfalls notwithstanding), posting an Offensive Winning Percentage approaching .700 in 84 plate appearances.  The totality of the performance was just enough that...we really don't know any more about Cust's long-term prospects than we did when the Orioles acquired him.  What he did with the Orioles in 2003 was just enough to be tantalizing, which is somewhat of a microcosm of Cust's entire pro career.

It's unclear, as of this writing, whether the Orioles are prepared to roll the dice with Cust--or even give him a chance to play himself into or out of the lineup in spring training.  If the club acquires a veteran in the Rafael Palmeiro mold, Cust will be out of luck.  On the other hand, if they don't go that route, the team has no obvious DH alternative and Cust may get an extended look.

Only 25 years old (his birthday is in January), Cust remains perhaps the most enigmatic player currently on the Orioles' roster.

TO SUCCESSFULLY CONTRIBUTE NEXT SEASON HE MUST:

1. Be given a chance, somewhere.
2. Walk and hit for power at a level commensurate with a major league designated hitter.  It's pretty much that simple.  If Cust draws 100+ walks and hits 30+ home runs, no one's going to care very much what else he does or doesn't do.  Not that they shouldn't...they just...won't.
3. It wouldn't hurt if Cust showed some minimal proficiency at some defensive position, that seems highly unlikely.

NOTES: In 38 ABs in August was .158/.304/.447; in 35 September ABs was .371/.421/.600...in 31 ABs hit two of his four homers and four of his seven doubles against the Red Sox....414/.485/.793 in 28 ABs with runners on base...five extra base hits (two homers) in 15 ABs with runners in scoring position (1.067 SLG).

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