Detroit Tigers Are Likely Done Adding Starting Pitching After Cobb Deal, GM Says
The Detroit Tigers were always seen as a team that was going to look to add starting pitching this offseason, but the quantity and quality was always the question.
Naturally, everyone wanted to add another ace to the top of the rotation to join Tarik Skubal, but it was probably never going to happen. Seeing the way the pitching market has played out with massive mega deals being thrown around affirmed that reality. But Detroit did make a significant move to add to the unit this week as the Winter Meetings got underway by signing veteran Alex Cobb to a one-year deal for $15 million and worth up to $17 million with incentives.
While bringing in the oft-injured Cobb as the big-time addition to the rotation was a bit underwhelming, the Tigers obviously felt their development and coaching would be able to get the most out of the high-upside 37-year-old veteran. Detroit fans who are holding out hope to see another big addition by the sounds of it will have to keep on hoping however. Tigers general manager Jeff Greenberg spoke on the state of the rotation after the Cobb deal via the Detroit Free Press and whether additional moves could be made.
"I think we're probably done for now," Greenberg said Tuesday on the idea of adding more starting pitching. "Tarik [Skubal] Reese [Olson], now Alex [Cobb], and we have seven or eight additional guys on our roster...Some of whom obviously stepped up towards the end of last year, some of whom have a little more experience...I feel like we have quality. We have depth. Alex obviously raises our ceiling. He raises our floor as well."
The looming X-factor in terms of whether rotation has enough reliable arms to make a run is of course top prospect Jackson Jobe. If Jobe locks down the fourth spot alongside Skubal, Olson, and Cobb, then the fifth spot could be filled by any number of players including Kenta Maeda and Keider Montero and if somebody steps up, Detroit will have the makings of an elite rotation.
With Cobb however, he has had issues staying healthy. He has never made 30 starts in a season during his 13-year MLB career, something that feels of major note given the fact the Tigers awarded him a minimum of $15 million. But even if Cobb does miss some starts - something that is statistically a likelihood given how his career has gone - it sounds like Greenberg, Scott Harris, and other team decision makers feel good about the depth to supplement anyone missing time.
Detroit's offseason is far from over, but it sure sounds like any major pitching moves for the team have already been made.
