The Tigers announced the signing of veteran right-hander to a one-year, $15MM deal. Hed unlock $1MM bonuses at each of 140 and 150 innings. Detroit outfielder for a signment 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 Nate Archibald Jersey has tended towards short-term deals for starting pitchers. Detroits first offseason under Harris resulted in one-year deals for and . Last winter, it was a one-year deal for and a two-year pact for . Going into 2025, it would have been fair to expect more aggre sion. 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 in recent days that the Tigers preferred to stick to chasing upside on shorter pacts. Cobb, 37, is certainly a buy-low move since hes 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 hadnt 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 i sues that got in his way and sent him back to the injured list twice down the stretch. Cleveland made the postseason regardle s 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 hes done before. He was a rotation regular for the Rays over the 2012-14 seasons but then mi sed 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 wasnt 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 to sed 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 and 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 cant keep coming back from injuries forever, but hes 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 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 in another. Guys like Maeda, , and 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 shouldnt be standing in the way. Before factoring in Cobb, projects the Tigers for a payroll of just $80MM next year. As mentioned, theres almost nothing on the long-term books. had Detroit at $98MM on Opening Day this past year and theyve been far higher than that in the past. Though if the recent past in any indication, theyll be looking to chase upside on fairly modest deals. Theyve been connected to arms like , and 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. first reported the Tigers and Cobb had agreed to a one-year deal. had the financials. Yogi Ferrell Jersey