The Orioles officially signed Alex Cobb on Wednesday, but they weren’t serious suitors for him as of February because his asking price was too high, Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com hears. But Cobb told Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun and other reporters Wednesday: “They didn’t stop bothering me the whole offseason. They were very persistent, and I think that you notice that confidence they have in you just by the way they speak to you, and the questions they ask and not questioning anything that’s gone on.” The Orioles’ insistence on signing Cobb came from John and Lou Angelos, sons of owner Peter Angelos, according to Connolly, who reports that the duo recently made “a hard push” to add the right-hander, who landed a four-year, $57MM deal.
And now the latest on a pair of Baltimore’s division rivals…
- While Red Sox southpaw Drew Pomeranz has recently made progress in his recovery from a mild flexor strain, odds are that he’ll start the season on the disabled list, Ian Browne of MLB.com writes. Meanwhile, Browne relays that there’s more hope for Red Sox lefty Eduardo Rodriguez and righty Steven Wright, each of whom underwent knee surgery last year. If they’re both ready to open the season on time, they’ll follow Chris Sale, David Price and Rick Porcello in Boston’s rotation. Otherwise, the Red Sox’s top fallback choices are lefty Brian Johnson and righty Hector Velazquez.
- The Blue Jays have informed left-handed reliever Craig Breslow that he won’t make the team, Jon Heyman of FanRag tweets. Breslow will have a chance to opt out of his minor league contract Thursday. The 37-year-old has struggled in spring action, having allowed five earned runs on 10 hits and four walks, with five strikeouts, in 6 2/3 innings.
- Blue Jays righty Joe Biagini is likely to begin the season at the Triple-A level, per Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com. In doing so, he’ll continue developing as a starter. The Jays, with Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez, J.A. Happ, Marco Estrada and Jaime Garcia in their rotation, don’t have room for Biagini in their starting staff. Biagini was a key component of Toronto’s bullpen in 2016, his rookie season, but he went backward as both a starter and reliever last season.
Biagini won’t be in the minors for very long. The Jays rotation might get off to a good start but will falter becuase of age and injuries.
If all the stars and the moon lined up, the Jays rotation might be competative but even buck Martinez says the rotation depth is very thin. Happ is on the decline and might get 140 healthy innings in, Estrada might get 55 innings in, Sanchez finger issues are not resolved despite media claims, Stroman will be Stroman and Garcia is what he is.
Cobb would have fit in well on this staff.
Where are the Jays rotation wins coming from if this team needs to win 90 games on the season? Answer. Not with this staff.
Both Estrada and Happ have pitched 150 innings every year for the past four seasons. Sanchez is making his starts so to me that’s pretty good evidence he’s not dealing with a blister that prevents him from pitching.
But yeah, both Garcia and Stroman are themselves.
Now what do you mean by Stroman will be himself? He’s pretty good
Yup., Stroman is pretty good. He’s a #2 who could be a rotation ace if he would learn to keep emotions under control and not have blow out innings against him when he loses it. He is good for 180-200 innings of 12-15 wins per year.
The same back injury that kept Estrada out so long last year and jacked his ERA 1.5 pts over 2016 numbers is reoccuring. I know someone in the Jays room that tells me that back can go anytime. He also tells me that Sanchez finger will be considered healed if he can start 5 or 10 in a row in the regular season. He tells me that it will be the repetative starts into game 6 or 7 that will tell the true blister story not how things are in spring training. He is certain Sanchez will be assigned to the bullpen to keep the finger healthy. Sanchez as a starter will throw too many innings to keep that finger healthy. We’ll see.
#bullshiteyes …. what a joke .
Jay’s room? Jimmertree, help us out, who’s giving you the juice?
Mom? Gram-mama? Toby?
Hey Jimmy. You are out of your league here pal. Estrada had serious marriage problems last year, wife was gonna leave him. THAT’S why his ERA jumped. Why do you think Jays gave him $13 mil despite that horrid season? Cause they were aware of the situation. So stop worrying about the Jays pitchers, unless Stormy Daniels moves to Toronto this summer, the Jays will be a Top 5 pitching staff.
There is never a good reason to insult anyone in this blog. Please be professional and mature in the future. Thank you.
SaveFerris. I can’t agree with your top[ 5 ptiching staff call. Wait for it. I called similar las tyear and was right-on. i think that time will bare out what I am saying as correct.
That’s an honest answer.
No clue
> Sanchez finger issues are not resolved despite media claims
Are we allowed to call commenters “liars” on this site?
> if this team needs to win 90 games on the season
Why would they need to win 90 games? Twins made it to the wild card with 85 wins last year.
Why would you need to call anyone a liar? It does no good, No one of integrity and intelligence listens to negative people name callers like that. It is not baseball talk..
Back to baseball. I’ll be the first one to eat crow and admit the mistake if Sanchez isn’t in the pen soon. The only way this doesn’t happen is if he ditches the curve for another off-speed type of pitch and that pitch would have to be as good as the curve or he will get hammered using only his sinker, no matter how good it is.
If Sanchez could develop a splitter and hone his changeup a little more, he would be amongst the elite of elite starting pitchers.
Red Sox could have one of the best staffs in baseball if they stay healthy and some pitch to at least 75% of their potential
Thank you bravesfan! We appreciate the Love up here in Boston
2 main factors (to me) are Price and Pomeranz being healthy, then biggest if of Porcello being closer to the Cy young self he was in 2016 than the innings eater he was last year.
1-4 they would be tops in the game they can do what described above.
That’s 3 “ifs”. That usually doesn’t work out well. But who knows…. that’s why they play the games. LETS GO O’S!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If Price isn’t suspended before TJ surgery.
E-Rod would be important too.
Get out with that trolling crap
That’s a big “if”, bravesfan. On paper, their rotation is tough. Porcello can pitch like an ace one day and a failure the next. Price, E-Rod, Wright and Pomeranz are all health risks. Johnson and Velazquez are mere rolls of the dice. Boston can either go 90-72 or 74-88. I doubt there’s a middle ground here.
Jays fans are obsessed with biagini. he is average guys…get over do
Agree. He stinks
I don’t know if any Jays fans are all that into him. I prefer him as a reliever but if he’s our AAA first call up type starter than I’m okay with it.
Seems stupid. He was great in the pen. But because they are so keen on him being a starter they are set on that course. Don’t know why they can’t just leave him in the pen
Agreed, Aussie. I never understand why teams remove a successful bullpen arm in hopes of creating an average (at best) starter. Red Sox destroyed Daniel Bard with the same line of thinking.
He’s asked to start. Why not try to allow him to do it.
As a starter, Biagini is at best below average, but as a reliever he is very good.
What about the idea of using Blake Swihart in the rotation?
Well played, Mike156. The unsinkable Blake Swihart – yes. According to the Sox the guy has boundless potential. Ohtani pitching one day, hitting the next? Who cares? Swihart’s going to catch, pitch, play third, play the organ, sell popcorn, work the grounds crew, and operate the scoreboard inside the Monster every other day. Swihart is an unstoppable force.
I actually feel like the Os can contend this year. I haven’t totally bought into the Yankees yet and Bostons rotation could be questionable too, as well as their pen. I’d still favor Boston and New York, but the Os have competed in prior years without a solid ace
“They didn’t stop bothering me…”
This relationship should work out just fine
yeah, that was some interesting wording
So did you, like, read the rest of the quote where he said it impressed on him how interested and confident they were in him? I’m guessing not. Or you did, and didn’t care, because it didn’t fit the narrative.
Loved Craig during his time on the Sox but I think it’s over bud
Loved him for ‘13 but hated him in The Series that year….
Craig Breslow is a genius. Quoting an article from mlb.com, “the lefty reliever graduated from Yale, where he double-majored in molecular biophysics and biochemistry, and led the Ivy League with a 2.56 ERA his senior year. He’s done genetic research in offseasons. In 2004, when he was released by the Brewers, he applied and was accepted into medical school at New York University. “A contingency plan,” he [Breslow] called it. But he caught on with the Padres and stuck with baseball instead.”
That tired ol’ molecular biophysicist-biochemist genetic researching would-be doctor turned baseball player story.
I also remember reading that John Farrell at one point said that Breslow will use words in normal conversations that scare him.
Yeah, I’ve heard the story a million times, it’s almost becoming too common, Ivy League double majors with decisions about opting out of minor league deals. If I had a dollar…
Biagini has consistently said he wants to be a starter. That’s not to say the Jays should accommodate him just ’cause he asked, but I think at this point he’s not going to prove to be an effective starter, and I don’t know that he would re-integrate back into the pen a la 2016. I see Biagini being with another team by next season.
You see Biagini being with another team by next season? That’ll be his first year of arb. You are suggesting the Jays are going to give up a potential starter and likely quality reliever under team control for 3 more years because you see it?! Want to drop a little logic in there for us?
LOL
John and Lou making a push to sign Cobb is encouraging if your an orioles fan. Makes you believe when there time comes as owners we may change our philosophy up a bit. Very Encouraging to me whether or not you like Cobb.
Not really sure why you guys don’t understand the process with Biagini. HE wants to start. He has shown some ability to start at the MLB level. They have 5 set guys in the rotation now, but went through, what, 12 starters last year because of injury?! It can’t hurt to keep him stretched out in case they need him…which is likely. If he proves he cannot handle the job then back to the pen he goes and they know.
But it’s much easier to turn a starter into a reliever than the other way around, so if they’re already down the path of using Biagini as a starter then let him continue to work on his craft and see where it goes. He’ll be getting work in Buffalo – zero harm in that. And, they have Clippard and Axford to bolster the pen with the loss of Leone. So, what true need is there for Biagini in the pen to start the year? There isn’t, so get off it.
What is it with Steven Wright? There has to be better pitching in the system or make a trade. Steven Wright is definitely not the answer. Vasquez has been pretty consistent. Make a trade for a 5 th starter. E -Rod has been a disappointment. Find a decent Right handed starter.
E-rod is your 5th starter and he isn’t a disappointment. Better than a lot of 5th starters in the league. The only concern with him is his knee.
He’s asked to start. Why not try to allow him to do it.