Will Cobb pitch well enough to be traded in July 2020?

[tntoriole]

If he pitches well, he will be traded no matter what the return looks like. 

 

[atomic]

On 1/17/2020 at 11:10 PM, NCRaven said:

Two more years of Cobb.  Three more years of Davis.  

I’m so excited. I just can’t fight it.  I’m about to lose control and I don’t like it.  I don’t like it.

The nice thing about Cobb is he will spend most of the season on the disabled list.  Something for Davis to think about.

[atomic]

14 hours ago, tntoriole said:

If he pitches well, he will be traded no matter what the return looks like. 

 

He could pitch all star level and not get traded as he has as next years salary plus $20 million in deferred salary on his contract and is very injury prone.  I don’t know why anyone would trade for him unless the Orioles picked up his $20 million of deferred salary plus part of next seasons salary. He isn’t going anywhere.

[wildcard]

12 minutes ago, atomic said:

He could pitch all star level and not get traded as he has as next years salary plus $20 million in deferred salary on his contract and is very injury prone.  I don’t know why anyone would trade for him unless the Orioles picked up his $20 million of deferred salary plus part of next seasons salary. He isn’t going anywhere.

The Cashner trade shows that that Elias is willing to pay for deferred money and part of salary in order to make a trade.  

[tntoriole]

2 hours ago, atomic said:

He could pitch all star level and not get traded as he has as next years salary plus $20 million in deferred salary on his contract and is very injury prone.  I don’t know why anyone would trade for him unless the Orioles picked up his $20 million of deferred salary plus part of next seasons salary. He isn’t going anywhere.

Cobb at his best would be pretty useful to a contending team.  He will have to pitch at his best, show he is healthy and we will pay some or all of the dollars left depending on what comes back, but I think clearing old contracts is part of the plan.  We shall see, lot of ifs that have to pan out. 

[Mr. Chewbacca Jr.]

2 hours ago, wildcard said:

The Cashner trade shows that that Elias is willing to pay for deferred money and part of salary in order to make a trade.  

For comparison, Verlander had two years and $56 million left on his contract, with an additional $22 million vesting option. That made the entire remaining contract $78 million.

The Tigers sent $16 million to the Astros in the deal.

So, it isn't unprecedented that a team would take over a big contract. But, Verlander is Verlander, and Cobb is Cobb. If Cobb looks elite in July, I could see teams being interested if the O's eat some money. But, I am very skeptical that Cobb will perform anywhere near that level.

[Aristotelian]

The crystal ball is cloudy. He has the potential to, but he has done nothing since he signed with the O's. The heart says yes, the brain says no.

[SteveA]

I'm not going to let myself get sucked into this vortex of hoping Cobb gets good enough to give us anything of value.  If it happens, great.  But he's a long way removed from being a good pitcher and until I see him actually taking the mound in Florida it's all just complete speculation.

[atomic]

2 hours ago, Mr. Chewbacca Jr. said:

For comparison, Verlander had two years and $56 million left on his contract, with an additional $22 million vesting option. That made the entire remaining contract $78 million.

The Tigers sent $16 million to the Astros in the deal.

So, it isn't unprecedented that a team would take over a big contract. But, Verlander is Verlander, and Cobb is Cobb. If Cobb looks elite in July, I could see teams being interested if the O's eat some money. But, I am very skeptical that Cobb will perform anywhere near that level.

Even not considering their talents a pitchers, I would say they aren't comparable.  

In his 14 seasons Verlander never started less than 20 games in a season. In 3 of Cobb's last 5 seasons he failed to start more than 5 games.  I don't see why anyone would spend any significant money on him.  Sure maybe in 2021 at the deadline if he pitches well the next two seasons and the Orioles are willing to pick up his deferred salary someone will take him and give the Orioles maybe $4 million dollar in savings but most likely he pitches a few games for the Orioles the next two seasons and then retires. 

[Mr. Chewbacca Jr.]

4 minutes ago, atomic said:

Even not considering their talents a pitchers, I would say they aren't comparable.  

In his 14 seasons Verlander never started less than 20 games in a season. In 3 of Cobb's last 5 seasons he failed to start more than 5 games.  I don't see why anyone would spend any significant money on him.  Sure maybe in 2021 at the deadline if he pitches well the next two seasons and the Orioles are willing to pick up his deferred salary someone will take him and give the Orioles maybe $4 million dollar in savings but most likely he pitches a few games for the Orioles the next two seasons and then retires. 

I agree, injury history will definitely be a consideration. But, let's say the Twins need pitching at the deadline - Cobb has looked fantastic all year... I could totally see them trading for Cobb if the O's throw in $8M a year, for instance.

[Frobby]

Manager Brandon Hyde watched Cobb’s side session earlier this month at minicamp and provided an update last night on the “Orioles Hot Stove Show” on 105.7 The Fan.

“He looked great, he felt great,” Hyde said, “so that’s huge news for us.”

https://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2020/01/a-leblanc-check.html

Good to know.

 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

I was half expecting to see an update that Cobb has tightness in his elbow. I hope Cobb is healthy, but I'm going to wait until he makes a couple starts in April before buying into a clean bill of health. 

[wildcard]

I seem to remember that Cobb has reoccurring blister problems on his pitching hand that he goes through most years.  Does anyone else remember that?

[tntoriole]

45 minutes ago, wildcard said:

I seem to remember that Cobb has reoccurring blister problems on his pitching hand that he goes through most years.  Does anyone else remember that?

Yes.  Even when he was with the Rays. 

https://www.foxsports.com/florida/story/rays-alex-cobb-leaves-rehab-start-early-with-blister-072313

[Yardball85]

On 1/17/2020 at 5:35 PM, Yardball85 said:

One thing we have to get out of Cobb is innings.  This team is incredibly short on guys that can come in and eat innings, especially after losing guys like Bundy, Ynoa, Brooks, Yack etc. If Cobb cannot give them at least 150 IP, they will be digging into that AA rotation much sooner than they would like.

Um... who in the world downvoted this post?  I am beyond confused why this warranted a down vote.