09:54: The two teams are indeed in talks over the trade, although ML Tre.com’s Joe Trezza tweets that it is not yet near. Talks “still seem to be moving in the right direction” according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com.
09:20: The Angels and Orioles are working out a brand to send right-handers Alex Cobb from Baltimore to Anaheim, Dan Connolly and Ken Rosenthal from The Athletic Report (via Twitter). Details are still being finalized, Connolly adds. The Orioles will surely take in cash to repay part of the $ 15 million that Cobb owes in the last season of his four-year contract with the O’s, $ 57 million. The deal includes a 10-team trade terms, but the English are not on it, or Cobb is willing to give up on moving to a more competitive club.
Cobb signed late in the 2017-18 season, pushing into his surprising four-year deal with the Os on March 21, when spring training was almost complete. He didn’t even debut his team on April 14 that year, but even with a little extra time to adjust, it turned out that the lack of full spring training was difficult for Cobb, who was up for 17 runs on 30 strokes are marked. first three start.
From that point on, Cobb largely corrected the ship and hit a respectable ERA of 4.22 from May to the end of the season. However, Cobb’s elimination percentage was nowhere near what it was at its best in Tampa Bay, and it remains so today. A back injury torpedoed Cobb’s 2019 season, but he returned in 2020 to start ten times with a 4.30 ERA (4.65 SIERA), a 16.8 percent and an eight percent running percentage.
Cobb’s recent strike rate is far south of the league average, and last year’s eight percent rate was his highest since his rookie year in 2011. His Statcast profile does not paint a particularly favorable picture, as his hard-hitting and average opponents’ exit speed was one of the highest points of any pitcher in the league. However, Cobb’s 54.5 percent baseball score is encouraging – especially considering he would play in front of a strong field defense in Anaheim (Anthony Rendon, Jose Iglesias, David Fletcher).
Sure, Cobb is not the best starter most English people need, but the purchase cost here is likely to be relatively small, and he will give the Halos another arm to wipe up a few turns. Under normal circumstances, teams need far more than five starters to complete a season of 162 games, and the reality will increase exponentially in 2021 after last year’s shortened schedule cut off every Major League workload.
Cobb joins Dylan Bundy, Andrew Heaney, Griffin Cans, Jose Quintana, Shohei Ohtani, Jaime Barria and Patrick Sandoval as rotation options on the 40-man for the Angels. It’s likely that everyone out of the bunch will get started, and it’s worth wondering if the English will consider a six – man rotation, given their large approach to their rotation composition. This will be determined by new general manager Perry Minasian and manager Joe Maddon, the latter of whom is very familiar with Cobb after managing the first few seasons of his career at the Rays.
For the Orioles, Cobb draws from an already suspicious rotation the depth, and, more importantly, in the eyes of the ownership, it reduces the payroll. Even with Cobb in the books, the Orioles payroll was only $ 64 million, but this deal could bring it below $ 60 million, depending on how the financial details are sorted out.
If Cobb does leave, left-handed John means would be the only lock for the Baltimore rotation. Younger options like Keegan Akin and Dean Kremer it looks like they’ll have a chance to earn opening day spots, and the Orioles have different potential pieces in their 40s: Bruce Zimmerman, Jorge Lopez, Michael Baumann, Zac Lowther, Alexander Wells.
Mike Elias, general manager, recently spoke about the possibility of signing a veteran starting pitcher, and the need for depth is only further emphasized by trading the team’s most experienced starter. It is likely that whoever brings in the Orioles will pay less salary than the amount the Orioles save in the Cobb agreement.
Last year, Elias completed the rotation by signing Wade LeBlanc and Tommy Milone for non-guaranteed transactions that ended up paying less than $ 1 million apiece when they earned roster spots in Spring Training. If that is not likely, it is likely that the Orioles will follow a similar approach in the coming weeks.