The Baltimore Orioles are moving closer to making yet another addition to their starting rotation.
According to reports from Yahoo Sports and The Athletic, the O's are close to a contract agreement with free agent right-hander Alex Cobb. It is possibly a four-year deal worth upwards of $60 million. The team has not yet confirmed the news.
Cobb, 30, is far and away the best starting pitcher remaining on the free-agent market. Fellow right-hander Lance Lynn settled for a one-year deal worth $12 million with the Minnesota Twins, so if Cobb did indeed receive four years and around $60 million, he did quite well for himself considering this winter's free agent environment.
Last season Cobb, in his first full year back from Tommy John surgery, threw a career high 179 1/3 innings with a 3.66 ERA (113 ERA+) for the Tampa Bay Rays. That isn't as good as his pre-elbow reconstruction years, though it is promising. It's unclear how long Cobb will need to get ready for the regular season, and when he'll actually join the rotation.
The Orioles, as they tend to do, laid low until late in the offseason to address their pitching concerns. In recent weeks they signed Andrew Cashner (two years, $16 million) and re-signed Chris Tillman (one year, $3 million). Those two plus Cobb turn Baltimore's projected rotation from this ...
- Kevin Gausman
- Dylan Bundy
- Mike Wright
- Gabriel Ynoa
- Miguel Castro
... into this ...
- Kevin Gausman
- Dylan Bundy
- Alex Cobb
- Andrew Cashner
- Chris Tillman
... and that is obviously an enormous upgrade. The Orioles received an MLB-worst 5.70 ERA from their rotation last season. They cut ties with Ubaldo Jimenez, Wade Miley, and Jeremy Hellickson this winter -- those three combined for a 6.30 ERA in 351 2/3 innings for the O's last year -- and it's not crazy to consider that addition by subtraction.
Early in the offseason Cobb rejected the one-year, $17.4 million qualifying offer. Unlike Lynn and Mike Moustakas (one year, $6.5 million), Cobb was able to secure a larger guarantee on a multi-year deal. The O's will have to surrender a draft pick to sign him and the Rays will receive a draft pick as compensation.