The Tigers announced the signing of veteran right-hander Alex Cobb to a one-year, $15MM deal. He’d unlock $1MM bonuses at each of 140 and 150 innings. Detroit designated outfielder Akil Baddoo for assignment in a corresponding move. Cobb is represented by Beverly Hills Sports Council.
The move fits with the Tigers’ recent modus operandi when it comes to rotation building. Since Scott Harris was hired as president of baseball operations in September of 2022, the club has tended towards short-term deals for starting pitchers. Detroit’s first offseason under Harris resulted in one-year deals for Matthew Boyd and Michael Lorenzen. Last winter, it was a one-year deal for Jack Flaherty and a two-year pact for Kenta Maeda.
Going into 2025, it would have been fair to expect more aggression. The Tigers surged in the second half of 2024, making the playoffs or the first time in a decade. They have an exciting core of young players and almost no money on the long-term payroll. Moving to the top tiers or even just to the middle of the rotation market could have been viable, but it was reported in recent days that the Tigers preferred to stick to chasing upside on shorter pacts.
Cobb, 37, is certainly a buy-low move since he’s coming off a mostly lost season. He was with the Giants at the start of the year, recovering from offseason hip surgery. It was initially hoped that he would be recovered from that procedure fairly early in the year but he ended up battling through some shoulder discomfort. He still hadn’t made his season debut when he was traded to the Guardians ahead of the deadline.
With the Guards down the stretch, he was able to get on the mound but also dealt with some fingernail/blister issues that got in his way and sent him back to the injured list twice down the stretch. Cleveland made the postseason regardless and Cobb was activated for the American League Division Series but he was later bumped from the Championship Series roster due to an acute left low back strain.
Around all those injury setbacks, Cobb only made five starts on the year, three in the regular season and two in the playoffs. He only threw 22 innings overall between those five outings, a tiny sample that would be tough to draw meaningful conclusions from.
The Tigers are surely hoping Cobb can bounce back from that tough season, something he’s done before. He was a rotation regular for the Rays over the 2012-14 seasons but then missed all of 2015 and most of 2016 due to Tommy John surgery. He was back on the mound and made at least 28 starts in both 2017 and 2018, but then various ailments limited him to just three starts in 2019.
He wasn’t terribly effective in the shortened 2020 season but went on to have a strong three-year run after that, his most recent stretch of being both healthy and effective. From 2021 to 2023, he made 74 starts and tossed 394 1/3 innings with a 3.79 earned run average. He struck out 22.8% of batters faced in that time, limited walks to a 6.8% clip and and kept 58.1% of balls in play on the ground. Among pitchers with at least 350 innings in that stretch, only Framber Valdez and Logan Webb had better ground ball rates.
The Tigers are obviously hoping that the injuries are behind him and Cobb can get back into that 2021-23 form. There is some risk there, as Cobb is now 37 years old and can’t keep coming back from injuries forever, but he’s done it before and has a long track record. He has 233 starts under his belt overall with a 3.84 ERA.
As Detroit engineered its fairytale finish to the 2024 season, manager A.J. Hinch used the term “pitching chaos” to describe the approach. Thanks to some trades and some injuries, the Tigers were effectively down to just Tarik Skubal as the only regular starting pitcher, otherwise cobbling games together via openers, bulk guys, bullpen games and whatever Hinch could make work.
That did the trick for a while but could be difficult to maintain over an entire 162-game schedule, so bolstering the rotation was a natural target for the Tigers this winter. Skubal and Cobb should have two rotation jobs with Reese Olson in another.
Guys like Maeda, Casey Mize, Jackson Jobe and Matt Manning could be in the mix for roles as well, but there are question marks with each of those. Maeda struggled badly this year and got bumped to the bullpen, finishing the year with a 6.09 ERA. Mize and Manning are former top prospects but with middling results thus far in their careers. Jobe is one of the most exciting young pitchers in the league but only just made his major league debut late in the year and only has two Triple-A starts under his belt.
Perhaps the Tigers will make further additions to that group. Finances shouldn’t be standing in the way. Before factoring in Cobb, RosterResource projects the Tigers for a payroll of just $80MM next year. As mentioned, there’s almost nothing on the long-term books. Cot’s Baseball Contracts had Detroit at $98MM on Opening Day this past year and they’ve been far higher than that in the past.
Though if the recent past in any indication, they’ll be looking to chase upside on fairly modest deals. They’ve been connected to arms like Kyle Gibson, Walker Buehler and Andrew Heaney in recent days, with each of those guys expected to land a one- or two-year deal. For now, the Tigers have added some stability to an area of the roster that was fairly lacking in it.
Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic first reported the Tigers and Cobb had agreed to a one-year deal. Jon Heyman of the New York Post had the financials.
Genuinely hope this isn’t the only DET move, they have to stop dumpster diving.
Dumpster diving is a career 3.8 ERA?
Yes. You think signing an injury prone 37 year soft tossing pitcher is a good move? LOL
Badmojo
That’s not what I said “LOL”. I said a 3.8 career ERA is very damned good and is not dumpster diving “LOL”.
PS why’d you throw “soft tossing” in there as some additional negative, is a 3.8 ERA from a flamethrower somehow better than a 3.8 ERA from a soft tosser, “LOL”?
He was injured last season, but in the 2 previous seasons he averaged 151 IP. I wouldn’t call that injury-prone. And when he came back last season he gave the Guards some quality work.
Maybe baseball isn’t your sport? You are clearly out of your element. LOL LOL clown
Badmojo
One of us is definitely clueless about how this works. Maybe it’s the guy who very quickly goes to name-calling and cannot provide statistical or anecdotal evidence to support what they say or maybe it’s me. I dk LOL
You sound an awful lot like Colavito/Senor Smoke. Except your insults are less creative and you post absolutely nothing about baseball. That would make you a plain old troll.
BadMojo, abbreviated BM, enough said.
He can’t hear us. His nurse gave him his meds, took his phone and put him to bed.
If you have a career 3.80 ERA, teams are gonna want you, no matter how you got that 3.80, flamethrowing or not.
Cobber is one of my favorite players in baseball. He invited me to sit with him and his wife for dinner when he was in AA Montgomery for the Rays. One of my friends pitched in the minors and stayed with Cobb and his parents while in Vero Beach. Cobb was a bat boy for the team at the time. Anyway we both joked and had a great time. I thought that was really cool of him. He’s battled through so many injuries but he’s a bull dog on the mound with inferior weapons. I’ll root for this guy wherever he goes.
When healthy, Alex Cobb is a damn good player, and his injuries are not about his arm.
He’s great when healthy. Was hoping the Giants would bring him back.
I wish the headline was Tigers sign Lance Lynn. Cobb is not veteran arm I wanted. Hopefully they sign one more old guy, but this time make it Paul Goldshmidt. We need to platoon 1B and DH because Carp is not consistently healthy and Tork might not be an elite MLB slugger.
There’s not a lot of difference between the 2. Lynn has slightly better career numbers, but Cobb is a year younger. I really enjoyed having him on the Giants, His teammates loved him, and they were sad to see him traded, especially Logan Webb. Blake Snell even said Cobb being on the team was a pro in the pros and cons of signing with SF.
I really hope Cobb delivers, but I just don’t see him giving us more than 45 innings next season because i think he already had his last year of productive MLB work. However, I love the idea of exposing the young guys to a high character, professional like him. He has always maximized his potential. Mize and Manning could really learn a lot from him. Along the same lines, I hope they sign Goldsmidt next.
Ha! And you all said Illitch wouldn’t spend money this offseason. Get a towel to wipe that egg off your face!
Illitch Jr will sign players to one year deals that are coming off a bad or injured season. It’s the new Tigers way (different than Illitch Sr).
And then trade them at the deadline for prospects so they can make a playoff push.
Cobb couldn’t fetch a decent return at the trade deadline even in his prime. Jr. is dumpster diving when he should be trying to sign prime starters like Snell, Burnes, and Fried in order to supplement Skubal so this club can get further in the playoffs, and while we are at it, he should be locking up Skubal and Greene to long term deals.
As long as the Ill-itch family remains…the Tigers will never compete with the LA/NY teams. Their pattern is to buy cheap and keep their fingers crossed that they can get some of the money, they spend in the winter, back at the trade deadline. (This ”method” will eventually drive off any young talent they do have.)
I’m a Rays fan as well as Tigers, so I’m used to the buy low and trade method. I miss how their Dad would actually spend. When he signed Prince Fielder after Victor Martinez went down, I didn’t realize how lucky Detroit was.
Why would you think or want them to compete with the LA/NY teams? The spending by LA alone the last two years is not sustainable. Sooner or later those contracts will catch up to them.
What is not brought up during that time frame is Mike I didn’t care about the farm. He never wanted to wait until they developed and contributed to the big league team. He would rather they slowly emptied the farm while driving up payroll sky high. When they signed Fielder you could see the rebuild coming.
Skubal is not only represented by Boras, he is now on the negotiating committee of the MLBPA. Unfortunately, he won’t be signing. That means he will likely be traded next off season. No need to sign help for more than one year.
The Tigers, and many other teams, can’t compete for free agents with the LA/NY teams. It has nothing to do with ownership. Its market size and revenue. They have to find players who fit their team so the sum of the parts is greater than the individuals. It would be nice to see Chris I. open the purse some, but spending won’t be like it was with Dad.
At least they tried. Tampa gets blessed with good talent, then doesn’t supplement it in the trade deadline, loses in the first round of the playoffs, lets the talent walk, and repeats. The Late Illich almost got them a title with the signings of Percival, White, Young, Rodriguez, Vina, Guillen, and again later with trades for Miggy, Scherzer, Jackson, and signings of Martinez and Fielder.
Signing Prince was the stupidest thing Illitch ever did. Knee jerk reaction and a major overpay.
No. Firing Dave Dombrowski tops that.
of this tier, he could be at or near the top
That’s not Jack Flaherty…or Buehler…or Verlander….
That’s Alex Cobb! Way better option than those three guys you mentioned! / sarcasm
Verlander=Howdy Doody !
I always wanted to say this.
WOW
You did it.
He’s been really solid for 3 years, albeit without a full workload last year by any stretch. Detroit probably isn’t an attractive place to play. They might need to scour the trade market for improvement.
He looks like another Lorenzen or Flaherty. It would be nice to see them chase a #2 now though and spend some cash on the offence.
Lorenzen and Flaherty were younger. He looks like another Maeda.
I guess we will find out soon enough.
Oh.
Decent acquisition on a one-year flyer. The Tigers would be very happy with Cobb’s 2022-23 level
And very disappointed in his 2024 level.
That is the exact attitude the Ilitch family operates under…One year contracts for mediocre free agents. Flip them at deadline. Skubel will be gone soon…..then it will be keeping their fingers crossed that they have a new “hot topic” to promote to replace him.
Can’t sign a bunch of long term contracts if you want to have any chance of signing Skubal.
How uninspiring.
I thought that when he signed with the Giants. I wound up loving the guy.
At least the Tigers are doing something.
Reds got Nick Martinez back, that’s a lot for Krall and Reds ownership…
Unfortunately yes. Probably another 100 million payroll and deals to get below that at end of July.
I’m always hopeful and worried at the same time, candy is ok but his money could be an outfielder but that player could end up being a moustakas… the front office won’t spend enough for there to be room for error, like the dodgers do.
Unfortunately, they spent money on Candelario and Pagan after they were one trick ponies. There is smart money on a guy with a track record and there is just throwing money and just hoping they can do it again.
I like the idea of O’Neil but that probably wouldn’t have worked out.
In that ballpark, assuming he stayed healthy, it just might have.
Bush did something by going in iraq and starting the no child left behind
He pitched 16 innings last year… will he be ready for spring training?
Those innings were at the end of the season. He had hip surgery in the 2023-24 offseason. The same procedure that Posey had. It took 2 seasons for Posey to be completely healthy, which was 2021, and was awesome that year. I’m betting Tiger fans are going to be pleasantly surprised. And, he’ll definitely be a major help with the young pitchers.
An hour ago it was Buehler, Heaney and maybe Flaherty. Now we sign Cobb? Get used to this Tigers fans, this is the level of spending Chris Illitch will bring us. Said wait till we start competing, we do, and now……..
Cobb doesn’t prevent the Tigers from signing any of those guys. Look at the Tigers over the past several offseasons and you will see they strangely sign starting pitchers in two’s…
Agreed, wonder what other dumpsters he’s looking through
i wish we could trade fans like you.
Huh….. Oook….
That’s it, I’m done buying Little Caesars! Cheap Ilitch doesn’t deserve my pizza money.
And your digestive system doesn’t deserve that pizza…
Agreed!
Great news! At least the Orioles won’t be signing him again!
Unfortunately Cobb got a blister signing the contract
Tigers have had some success with Cobbs in the past.
Anyone besides the HOF’er who flew around the basepaths of Navin Field 100+ years ago?
I mean, they didn’t say recent success..
Good signing. Veteran sinker baller that can still get outs while mentoring the young guys. These are the type of signings that help teams on the rise continue to build
An injured innings eater? A building block? I’d say it is a sign of cheap ownership.
I said neither of those things. I said able to get outs and mentor. Cheap signings that pay dividends are what good teams do. Not every free agent signing is meant to be a cornerstone.
Kenny Rogers 2.0
I agree. I remember what Kenny Rogers did for the club in 2006. Need the wily old veterans!
Rogers got them past the ALCS, but petered out in the Series. I would’ve rather signed Mulder, Zito, or Hudson.
A positive. Very well said. The mentoring can not be understated. Lund will help him prevent further injuries.
*yawn*
Oh, I thought they signed Sasaki.
Overpay.
Cobb pitches til hurt, then Jobe comes up
Skub,Olson, Cobb, montero/fa, mize Turns into
Skub, Olson, montero/fa, mize, Jobe.
Eh. Not great.
Manning. He got the short stick last year. Lets see what he’s got.
I don’t often agree with you, but this time is an exception. I think Manning is due for a comeback season.
Very hard to get excited about this signing….and the Illitchs want me to renew my season tickets based on what again????
Puke
great grandson of ty
I wonder if Harris did not learn from the Maeda disaster.
WHat does one have to do with the other? I’m pretty sure a few mid 30’s SP question marks had solid seasons last year
Not exactly exciting, but not terrible either I guess….
Go get another pitcher and for crying out loud, do something with 1st or 3rd! Preferably both.
I’m underwhelmed.
There’s so much negativity about this signing. What would you naysayers have said back in 2006 when they signed Kenny Rogers? Probably the same things.
I felt the same way about that one. Rogers was old. Cobb is old. Rogers actually had a great year. Cobb could go either way. Rogers got them to the ALCS, and then they caught him doctoring the ball, and then he petered out in the World Series when he couldn’t doctor the ball anymore. If the Tigers make the playoffs, I figure Cobb will crap out as well against a good hitting lineup.
I’m 2006, a signing of a younger guy like Mulder, Zito, Hudson, or AJ Burnett would’ve been a less risky move than signing Rogers, and in 2025, a signing of Burnes, Fried, or Sasaki would be a better choice than Cobb. I’m waiting for Harris to announce the signing of Flaherty to be the #2 starter being Cobb and then we’ll have 2 bums keeping us from winning games and getting in the playoffs. Mize and Manning need to finally step up even more than they needed to before the offseason.
Flaherty is unlikely. Harris won that signing and trade. As one of the MLBTR staffers said, optics are in play with re-signings. Just as they said Baltimore wouldn’t trade with the Tigers for Flaherty, it’s almost just as unlikely he would try to parlay his wins with a roll of the dice again by re-signing him. Why not book the win and move on to the next Jack Flaherty-like experiment.
What a dumb post. Not gonna go through everything,but you would have signed Zito and Mulder(The less risky ones) and have 2 horrible contracts. Stick to the SHow
Yeah it would’ve turned into a horrible contract, but could’ve got the Tigers 2-3 wins in the ‘06 World Series, and maybe gave them the ring. Maybe they invest more money into the team after getting Miggy in ‘07 and get another one. A bad contract or two is worth a ring. Your ‘great signing’ of The Gambler gave them 0 wins in his ‘06 World Series starts. Plus he flamed out pretty soon after ‘06. I respect you as a fan of the Tigers, but not as a GM. Stick with going to games and supporting the team.
I’ve always liked Cobb but if the Giants were done with him, and they always loved him, then it means something. I’m willing to be proven wrong but this trade doesn’t excite me at all.
It’s not that the Giants were done with him. They had Webb, Snell, and Harrison, and Ray had finally joined the rotation. Tristan Beck was back off a long DL stint. And, they wanted to see what they had in guys like Landon Roupp, and Mason Black. They were out of the running for the PS, and they did Cobb a favor trading him to a contender.
Im still hoping they sign flaherty, or at least buehler, but they seem like long shots now. Screw it, what does seattle want for luis castillo?
I like all three of those ideas!
People on this site bitched when the Tigers signed Lorenzon, Boyd and Flaherty… Two of the three worked out just fine. Oddly, most of you guys loved the the Maeda acquisition at the time.
I was just going to post the same thing and agree with your take.
Glad to see I’m not the only one who remembers those signings, and the corresponding reactions on this forum.
Maybe the writer, McDonald, could have mentioned Cobb making the 2023 all star team. I mean as long as you’re writing he had 3 good years, 21-23, maybe the ultimate compliment could have been included.
It’s not even mid December, Winter Meetings just started yesterday, and we have people mad at our offseason already? Give Harris a chance. He is the same guy who put together last years roster who, if you remember, played well in the 2nd half and made the playoffs! Wouldn’t it be wise to see what that group can do this year, adding some complimentary pieces? I saw the knee jerk reactions all last offseason, during the season, and even during the playoffs when Tigers ‘fans’ were so quick to give up or throw in the towel. Let things develop. Spending just to spend is never a wise idea!
Right?! The off season has barely gotten started. If this is the only move, or even if this is the biggest move come spring training, then yes complain away. But come on.
1.) The vast majority of the roster was put together by Avila.
2.) The streak occurred after Harris punted on the season, by trading away at the deadline.
3.) The streak occurred in spite of having only one starting pitcher. If you think Harris did that knowing it would spark the team, then give him credit.
Personally, I think the credit should go to Hinch and Fetters. They accomplished the streak in spite of what Harris did.
1.) The same Avila that everyone complained about year in and year out? Hard to say that Avila was better than Harris.
2.) Why does everyone assume Harris punted? He traded a pitcher they signed to do exactly what they did, flip him at the deadline. They also filled in a position of need by getting Sweeney, which coincided with the calling up of the young guys.
3.) I think the trading of Flaherty made it possible to have the ‘pitching chaos’ we saw to finish the season. Not a strategy I’d employ every year, but it worked last season. The Cobb signing for the back end isnt a bad move to me, however, I do think the price tag was high!
I agree that Hinch and Fetters deserve a lot of credit for how it was all managed. The bigger factor to me was the winning attitude and energy the young guys brought to the table. They have won all throughout their minor league journey and brought that same mentality to the MLB club.
Harris did the right thing at the deadline but you are right that the credit goes to Hinch and Fetter.
15 Milli? Good lord
Yeah, looks like a massive overpay. But, it’s just a one-year deal.
He was a stud for my giants back in 23. Body sure seeming to catch up to him quick tho. Rootin for him
What a yo yo career and as others have said, the premium value on pitching keeps ticking up every year in a way that doesn’t comport with any kind of logic.
At this rate I expect Andrew Heaney to receive 3 years/$75M….
Could be a steal, could be a disaster. $15 million seems a little high for that level of risk, but maybe it isn’t.
Hopefully he stays healthy and helps the team.
Good thing the Tigers got him before the big money teams who lost out on Snell, Fried, Burns and Flaherty fell back to Cobb! /sarc off
$15mil – with bonuses? Harris got taken. (Do they really have to massively overpay to get someone to play in Detroit?)
Didn’t learn anything from the Maeda signing.
Have you not noticed the cost for pitchers this year? People whined about Lorenzen and Flaherty, too. There’s a better than 50% chance that this contract works out just fine for Detroit. And if it doesn’t, it’s just a one year contract.
By MLB’s all-new 2024/25 FA standards, a veteran SP like Cobb is a very reasonable get at $15M.
Buy low move? This signing will probably be as bad as Maeda last year
Interestingly, most people on the forum thought the the Maeda deal was a great idea at the time. Also, Cobb is just a one year deal. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, it’s not that big of a deal.
I think a lot of Tiger fans were hoping that management would land someone like Flaherty, Fried, or even a Manaea.. Oh well….we can still keep our fingers crossed that Bregman ends up a Tiger. (not likely)
Flaherty is going to get a multi year contract for big money. There’s almost no chance of that happening. I don’t expect them to go after Bregman, either. I’m guessing Scott Harris is working with of a budget of less than 120M. I hope I’m wrong, but it could be even less. With the Cobb signing, they’re already projected to hit a 95M payroll.
It’s not all doom and gloom. One or two more modest free agent signings, and a couple of smart trades could go a long way.
Or as good as Flaherty. I guess we will see.
These contracts are thru the roof !
$15 Million!? Ugh…
Mr. I was one of the best owners in all of sports. His son will be one of the worst in all of sports.
Tigers will bid on Sasaki.
Like that they plan to spend big – but smart.
The Tigers should not wait to sign Paul Goldshmid. He will provide a legitimate righthanded bat and way better “D’ at first—just my humble opinion.