Photo Credit: Twitter
They have gone and done it again. The triple-a affiliate for the Houston Astros has changed their name from the Sugar Land Skeeters to the……..Sugar Land Space Cowboys. Last time we graded a new team name the results were good, not great just good. The Beloit Sky Carp came in with an overall of 55. Which would put them in the top 20 of all the 30 team prospect lists. It is a good place to be. Let's take a look at what the Space Cowboys have to offer and where they stand on the prospect list or if they even make it.
The only way to start this is to start with the name. Now let's break this down, Space- literally the most terrifying thing to me other than sharks. I can't wrap my head around what space is. How big it is, What it consists of, How it works. I mean planets float for gosh sakes. I will say it is beautiful to look at on a starry night so that helps their case on the Space front. Now Cowboys- Couldn’t think of a better job other than playing baseball. Everytime I hear that word, all I think about is “Should Have Been A Cowboy” and “The Joker''. If you watch the show Yellowstone your whole life goal is to be a Cowboy. I mean if they would have just changed their name to the Sugar Land Cowboys it would be 80 grade, but we can’t ignore Space here and the nightmares it gives me.
Name: 70
Let’s look into the color scheme now. Obviously you need the natural colors. The whites, blacks, and grays, but let’s take a deeper look at the navy, light blue, and orange. For those of you who don’t know me, I am the biggest University of Illinois fan, so navy and orange are speaking to me real nice! They just go together so well. I think light blue is a great color, but I also think it is a little much for the color scheme. It isn’t a grade killer, just a personal preference. It is all part of it.
Color: 70
Those colors come together to make the logo. They have a primary logo of a Cowboy wearing a bandana with a galaxy face. Then their alternate logo is a rocketship with a star on it. Don’t want to get into the alternate…but let's just say they should stick to the primary. This Primary logo is top 5 in my book and maybe even top 3. This looks like the next Avenger. Someone call Marvel and pitch the idea for me. I just want 1% of the profit when the Space Cowboy trilogy pops off. Actually I want to play the part of Space Cowboy.
Logo:70
Now this is where the Space Cowboys can solidify themselves as one of the top prospects in baseball if they can capitalize here with some badass uniforms. I mean at this point they can’t do wrong, right? Wrong. I’m not sitting here saying the uniforms are bad, but I am here saying the uniforms aren’t great. A couple of the uni’s are just too much. Too much color everywhere. Now they do have 1 jersey that has “Space Cowboy” on them with a sweet font, and those are sweet. The other 2 jerseys are like a pitcher who has 6 average pitches with nothing that can beat you, instead of sticking with three and making those 3 great. The “Space Cowboys” jersey is saving this grade big time, or it could have been detrimental.
Uniforms: 55
This new name venture for Sugar Land has marketing expertise written all over it. I don’t think you can score much better than that. There are a lot of good minor league names, but the Space Cowboys have inserted their name in the conversation for a 1 seed in the minor league march madness bracket challenge, which is coming up quickly. There is one stipulation I have to get out there that could bump the score 5 points or deduct their score 5 points. It is simple, they have to take the field to one of two songs “Should Have Been A Cowboy” by Toby Keith or “The Joker” by Steve Miller Band. If they can’t meet these demands it is an automatic 5 point deduction, that's just protocol. So lastly the Space Cowboys come in with an absolute killer overall score. #1 overall prospect type grades.
Overall: 65