The transfer suits with the Tigers’ current modus operandi in terms of rotation constructing. Since Scott Harris was employed as president of baseball operations in September of 2022, the membership has tended in the direction of short-term offers for beginning pitchers. Detroit’s first offseason beneath Harris resulted in one-year offers for Matthew Boyd and Michael Lorenzen. Final winter, it was a one-year deal for Jack Flaherty and a two-year pact for Kenta Maeda.
Going into 2025, it will have been honest to count on extra aggression. The Tigers surged within the second half of 2024, making the playoffs or the primary time in a decade. They’ve an thrilling core of younger gamers and virtually no cash on the long-term payroll. Shifting to the highest tiers and even simply to the center of the rotation market may have been viable, but it surely was reported in current days that the Tigers most well-liked to stay to chasing upside on shorter pacts.
Cobb, 37, is definitely a buy-low transfer since he’s coming off a principally misplaced season. He was with the Giants at the beginning of the yr, recovering from offseason hip surgical procedure. It was initially hoped that he can be recovered from that process pretty early within the yr however he ended up battling via some shoulder discomfort. He nonetheless hadn’t made his season debut when he was traded to the Guardians forward of the deadline.
With the Guards down the stretch, he was in a position to get on the mound but additionally handled some fingernail/blister points that acquired in his method and despatched him again to the injured listing twice down the stretch. Cleveland made the postseason regardless and Cobb was activated for the American League Division Sequence however he was later bumped from the Championship Sequence roster because of an acute left low again pressure.
Round all these damage setbacks, Cobb solely made 5 begins on the yr, three within the common season and two within the playoffs. He solely threw 22 innings total between these 5 outings, a tiny pattern that may be robust to attract significant conclusions from.
The Tigers are absolutely hoping Cobb can bounce again from that robust season, one thing he’s executed earlier than. He was a rotation common for the Rays over the 2012-14 seasons however then missed all of 2015 and most of 2016 because of Tommy John surgical procedure. He was again on the mound and made at the least 28 begins in each 2017 and 2018, however then numerous illnesses restricted him to simply three begins in 2019.
He wasn’t terribly efficient within the shortened 2020 season however went on to have a powerful three-year run after that, his most up-to-date stretch of being each wholesome and efficient. From 2021 to 2023, he made 74 begins and tossed 394 1/3 innings with a 3.79 earned run common. He struck out 22.8% of batters confronted in that point, restricted walks to a 6.8% clip and and saved 58.1% of balls in play on the bottom. Amongst pitchers with at the least 350 innings in that stretch, solely Framber Valdez and Logan Webb had higher floor ball charges.
The Tigers are clearly hoping that the accidents are behind him and Cobb can get again into that 2021-23 type. There may be some danger there, as Cobb is now 37 years previous and might’t hold getting back from accidents perpetually, however he’s executed it earlier than and has a protracted observe file. He has 233 begins beneath his belt total with a 3.84 ERA.
As Detroit engineered its fairytale end to the 2024 season, supervisor A.J. Hinch used the time period “pitching chaos” to explain the method. Due to some trades and a few accidents, the Tigers had been successfully down to simply Tarik Skubal as the one common beginning pitcher, in any other case cobbling video games collectively by way of openers, bulk guys, bullpen video games and no matter Hinch may make work.
That did the trick for some time however may very well be troublesome to take care of over a whole 162-game schedule, so bolstering the rotation was a pure goal for the Tigers this winter. Skubal and Cobb ought to have two rotation jobs with Reese Olson in one other.
Guys like Maeda, Casey Mize, Jackson Jobe and Matt Manning may very well be within the combine for roles as effectively, however there are query marks with every of these. Maeda struggled badly this yr and acquired bumped to the bullpen, ending the yr with a 6.09 ERA. Mize and Manning are former high prospects however with middling outcomes to this point of their careers. Jobe is among the most enjoyable younger pitchers within the league however solely simply made his main league debut late within the yr and solely has two Triple-A begins beneath his belt.
Maybe the Tigers will make additional additions to that group. Funds shouldn’t be standing in the way in which. Earlier than factoring in Cobb, RosterResource tasks the Tigers for a payroll of simply $80M subsequent yr. As talked about, there’s virtually nothing on the long-term books. Cot’s Baseball Contracts had Detroit at $98M on Opening Day this previous yr and so they’ve been far increased than that previously.
Although if the current previous in any indication, they’ll be trying to chase upside on pretty modest offers. They’ve been related to arms like Kyle Gibson, Walker Buehler and Andrew Heaney in current days, with every of these guys anticipated to land a one- or two-year deal. For now, the Tigers have added some stability to an space of the roster that was pretty missing in it.
