Even though right-hander Alex Cobb is still a free agent as the regular season closes in, there won’t be a reunion between him and the Rays, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes. Cobb’s not going to end up signing for a price the Rays deem palatable, Topkin suggests, even though he’s amid a highly disappointing trip to free agency after rejecting the team’s $17.4MM qualifying offer at the outset of the offseason. As they begin life without Cobb, the Rays are set to use a four-man rotation – something their top starter, Chris Archer, discussed with Travis Sawchik of FanGraphs. “The concept makes sense,” said Archer, who noted it’s particularly logical for low-payroll teams to have “four guys on the shuttle making $500,000 each,” as opposed to one player earning $2MM-plus. Although, Archer cautioned that it’s “hard to sustain” a bullpen-heavy plan over the course of a 162-game season. Archer’s also wary about how teams going to more of a bullpen approach could affect player development, as he explained to Sawchik, whose quote-filled piece is worth reading in full.
More from the AL:
- Twins infielder Erick Aybar will be able to ask for his release if the team doesn’t add him to its roster by Friday, Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press reports (all Twitter links here). It’s unclear whether Aybar would accept a Triple-A assignment (the club hasn’t discussed it with him, per chief baseball officer Derek Falvey), but his chances of eventually landing a spot with the Twins may have improved Sunday with starting shortstop Jorge Polanco’s 80-game suspension. Polanco got the news of his positive PED test a month ago, Dan Hayes of The Athletic was among those to tweet, but the Twins themselves weren’t aware of it until Sunday, Falvey said.
- In better news for the Twins, righty Ervin Santana is “progressing as expected” in his recovery from February finger surgery, according to Falvey (via Berardino). He should be back toward the tail end of the 10- to 12-week recovery timeline, Berardino notes.
- Tigers righty Mike Fiers’ back issues could force him to start the season on the disabled list, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press relays. If so, both Daniel Norris and Matt Boyd would make a Detroit rotation whose only sure bets at the moment are Michael Fulmer, Jordan Zimmermann and Francisco Liriano. The Tigers guaranteed Fiers $6MM over the winter with the hope that he’d grab a starting spot, but he hasn’t made a good case for himself this spring, having surrendered 12 earned runs on 10 hits and eight walks, with seven strikeouts, in 11 1/3 innings. Nevertheless, thanks to his veteran status, the Tigers are willing to give the 32-year-old Fiers “leeway,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. As such, if Fiers is healthy, he’ll be in their season-opening rotation.
- Athletics right-hander Raul Alcantara could lose his 40-man roster spot when their deal with righty Trevor Cahill becomes official, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. Alcantara, 25, is out of options and hasn’t produced in Oakland, where he combined for 46 1/3 innings of 7.19 ERA/7.45 FIP ball from 2016-17.
The manager will have to be extra savvy in handling a bullpen with a four man rotation to save both sets up arms. Not all managers would be equipped to handle this situation
They use to have a 4 man rotation and they went 9 innings
The hitters today would love that especially seeing the increase in batting average as a pitcher is seen more frequently…
“save both setup arms” – now I’ve heard everything.
No. Most managers do not care about “saving” reliever arms, many of them barely even care about starter’s arms, lol
I think he means in the sense of keeping then fresh and available to pitch
what I am stating is an ill advised manager which covers many will not be able to properly manage a pitching staff in this manner and they all will have negative results, ie..injury, effectiveness, etc..
Problem isnt the four-man, it’s the fifth day: bullpen day! (Difficult to type that without laughing)
Aka…burn everybody up day
If he is having back issues, then Fiers should go on the DL to start the season. Look no further than Miggy and his horrible season last year as evidence that an unhealthy back will hurt your production.
It’s funny that if you told them a couple years ago, that the Tigers would have a rotation of Fulmer-Zimmermann-Liriano-Norris-Boyd, their fans would probably think “playoffs” due to the prospect hype of Norris and Boyd. This is why we all need to not take pitching prospects so seriously until they are doing damage in the big leagues.
So why are you so high on Puk? (I am too) but just sayin…
Cobb to O’s seems quite possible. I’m sure Tillman’s next start will impact their thinking. Putting Cobb in that rotation (along with Bundy, Gausman and Cashner) could make for a nice front four.
It does make a lot of sense, but I’d be shocked if BAL made an offer due to Cobb’s injury history.
No doubt he’d fail there rigorous physical examination.
Are they gonna want to give up a draft pick in a year where they won’t be to good though? Maybe if it’s a three or four year deal, but then they’d be risking a lot on an injury proned player. And a one year deal would be less risky, but they’d be giving up a pick that is more than likely near the top of the second round.
He would be a good fit. But I think losing a pick to sign him is costing him as well.
With all the specialization in baseball with bullpens etc why don’t seem teams ditch the idea of a rotation altogether and have certain pitchers pitch certain innings daily? Have a first inning guy second inning guy etc. You could have your ace pitch daily. They do it similar in spring training but no team has had the savvy to do it in a regular season on an extended basis. You could match up with hitters all game. With all the analytics out there it’s baffling to me nothing like this has been employed yet.
I’d guess the MLBPA would take issue with getting rid of one of the jobs they fight for.
Also, having 9 guys pitching 1 inning a day is conceptually, really stupid.
It would be like watching spring training baseball, but the games actually matter, making it all the more painful. Plus, how often do teams actually win “bullpen games?”
Did you watch the Houston Astros last year? They did pretty well with “bullpen games, ” especially in the postseason.
The Astros didnt start with this dumb idea and plan to use it all year! For the most part they had a five-man rotation all year. Postseason is different. Pretty sure smart managers are not going to run with this idea for an entire season (or until he gets fired)
I’m surprised that more teams don’t schedule the pitchers. Have 5 starters and 3 multi-inning relievers. The starter goes through the lineup twice. The multi-inning guy once. Then finish off with a few single inning guys/closer.
The starters would be a five day rotation and the multi-inning guys would be on a three day rotation. Extra off days could be given as necessary.
But then where does the “7th inning matchup lefty” fit in? Also, what happens if a scheduled pitcher gets bombed? Do you keep them in until they finish their scheduled innings and surrender all dignity, or do you tweak the bullpen schedule to save the game?
this is a great point and why I am not a big fan of the bullpen scheduling
Isnt this the way it already goes?
The Oakland A’s actually tried this way back in 1993. LaRussa created a daily schedule, a four day rotation of sorts, in which each starter pitched a couple innings every few days and then there were four dedicated “relievers” who would come in to close out innings if the scheduled pitcher was getting shelled. At the time, The A’s had a bunch of old pitchers well past heir usefulness – Welch, Morgan, Darling, Witt, Gossage, etc. So it was like: Monday Welch was scheduled three innings, Daring came in for two Witt came in for two and then the bullpen finished out the game. Then on the third day Witt might start and pitch three, with some other combination finishing out the game. It didn’t work that well, because all those pitchers were just not very good anyway, but it was tried.
I’ve heard rumblings that Cobb is already signed… Been checking back for updates for days now and nobody is saying anything.
Why post this then?
Why do anything, man?
Cobb belongs in Oakland, they have the payroll and he’d probably have a sub-3 ERA on that team with that defense in that ballpark.
I second that! I would much rather see Cahill in the bullpen over the rotation, but Cahill is a nice option to have if injuries happen.
I could see OAK as a default destination for Cobb on a short term contract. Ideal SP they could flip for prospects at the deadline this year or next.
He’s not going to Oakland
The only people that want to go to Oakland are undocumented criminals!!!
Get out of here No one wants you here
The mayor does Richard!
Since Trumpo lied about the whole thing it was blown out of proportion. ICE admitted that it had very little effect and that Trump’s numbers were made up as usual.
Anderson Cooper folks
I’m not sure why Cobb hasn’t signed. The offers aren’t going to get better. Just take the one year deal and hope the big spenders break the bank next offseason.
He was offered 3/$42M by the Cubs, but wanted 4/$70M. He’ll be lucky to get 2/$22M at this point.
You don’t sound too bright
Hatstotheleft’s numbers seem pretty accurate to me. My best guess is a low AAV for 1 year and he tries again. Who do you think will make an offer and for how much?
Seattle Mariners! 2/$20 million
Luck has nothing to do with it when you’re a good pitcher and the league is desperate for good pitching. Cobb would have waited until June if he had to, but the guy was going to get paid. I’m happy for the guy.
Greedy Cobb really blew it
“Greedy” Cobb is laughing at you now. He waited to receive what he was worth and he got it – 4 years / $56 – 60 million. Happy for the guy. He’s a darn good pitcher.
I see many of these players who turned down QO, regretting that decision and now teams can wait to June to sign them with no compensation and for less money.
Braves were in the tags, and this was pushed to the Atlanta Braves News and Rumors page, but there was nothing in the body about the Braves.
Since the tags were Braves and Camargo, I’m guessing it is this:
“According to DOB, Johan Camargo is not a lock for the opening day roster due to an oblique injury. The Braves are still hopeful, but it’s possible he could start the season on the DL if he isn’t 100% next week for the opener. The Braves will wait until then to make a decision.”
Tigers should sign him because I think when you finish last, there’s less of draft hit or possibly no hit for the bottom 5-7 teams. Anyone want to clarify this?
And Cobb on Detroit sounds right!
Archer is being diplomatic. Everyone (but Cash) knows this is a bad idea, one reason because of the bullpen fatigue. (I guess he didn’t learn from last year?) And as I have asked before–has any team challenged for a title using, ahem, a “bullpen day”?