Alex Cobb (Part 1)

[TURBO]

Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports that the Brewers are among the teams that have shown interest in Alex Cobb.

 

Morosi reports that the Brewers have spoken to Cobb recently, but that the Cubs are still considered among the favorites to land the right-handed starter. Earlier this month, it was reported that Cobb's asking price was around $20 million a year; an asking price that has had some teams soften their interest in the 30-year-old starter. While the asking price could be steep, there's no denying that he'd be an upgrade to the rotation, and could help them close the gap with the Cubs in the National League Central.

 

Source: Jon Morosi on TwitterSun, Dec 31, 2017 03:36:00 PM

[KeithStone53151]

Calling it interest is probably a major stretch. We might have called to check in, due diligence type of call. We'll probably make a similar phone call on Harper. I would virtually guarantee that some other team is willing to pay Cobb more than the Brewers.

[JohnBriggs12]

Calling it interest is probably a major stretch. We might have called to check in, due diligence type of call. We'll probably make a similar phone call on Harper. I would virtually guarantee that some other team is willing to pay Cobb more than the Brewers.

 

I wouldn't slough it off that easily. Comparing it to Harper? Be real. Stearns has stated publicly that they had offers on the table for guys they had interest in. I'm pretty certain that includes Cobb. He's not going to go fishing for Harper. Before the winter meetings, Cobb to the Cubs was reported as a mere formality. But the Cubs obviously balked as his asking price and now they seem to be focusing on Darvish. No other teams out there stepped up to meet his price either. Some teams want to avoid the luxury tax and others are either in early stages of rebuilds or trying to shed salary. That puts Brewers who have the salary room and the need in prime position if the price is right.

[Warning Track Power]

At $20 million per, I doubt the Brewers would be interested. I would much rather the Brewers allocate the $20 million annually towards signing Neil Walker and Jonathan Lucroy to cover the offense and roll with Chacin/Woodruff/Suter/Jungmann in the 3-5 spots in the rotation.

[Point Beer Is Best]

Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports that the Brewers are among the teams that have shown interest in Alex Cobb.

 

Morosi reports that the Brewers have spoken to Cobb recently, but that the Cubs are still considered among the favorites to land the right-handed starter. Earlier this month, it was reported that Cobb's asking price was around $20 million a year; an asking price that has had some teams soften their interest in the 30-year-old starter. While the asking price could be steep, there's no denying that he'd be an upgrade to the rotation, and could help them close the gap with the Cubs in the National League Central.

 

Source: Jon Morosi on TwitterSun, Dec 31, 2017 03:36:00 PM

 

Maybe I'm cynical, but that entire paragraph seems like it was written by Cobb's agent targeting the Cubs to increase their asking price.

[KeithStone53151]

Calling it interest is probably a major stretch. We might have called to check in, due diligence type of call. We'll probably make a similar phone call on Harper. I would virtually guarantee that some other team is willing to pay Cobb more than the Brewers.

 

I wouldn't slough it off that easily. Comparing it to Harper? Be real. Stearns has stated publicly that they had offers on the table for guys they had interest in. I'm pretty certain that includes Cobb. He's not going to go fishing for Harper. Before the winter meetings, Cobb to the Cubs was reported as a mere formality. But the Cubs obviously balked as his asking price and now they seem to be focusing on Darvish. No other teams out there stepped up to meet his price either. Some teams want to avoid the luxury tax and others are either in early stages of rebuilds or trying to shed salary. That puts Brewers who have the salary room and the need in prime position if the price is right.

 

But the reported price isn't even close to right. Plus, we are giving up a draft pick to sign Cobb. The phone call probably went something like "Hey Cobb's agent, have you come down significantly from your obscene asking price"..."Nope"..."Ok let us know if you do". As another poster noted, this feels like an attempt to stoke the market a bit and get the Cubs to press. It's an even better strategy to list a specific rival team as "interested" than to simply float the "mystery team".

[bill hAll Star]

At $20 million per, I doubt the Brewers would be interested. I would much rather the Brewers allocate the $20 million annually towards signing Neil Walker and Jonathan Lucroy to cover the offense and roll with Chacin/Woodruff/Suter/Jungmann in the 3-5 spots in the rotation.

 

Personally, I'd take Cobb if that was the choice. Would love the pitching depth.

[MrTPlush]

I wouldn’t totally ignore the possibility. If Attanasio wants to open his wallet they could very easily add him and have his contract done and over with before payroll limits ever become a problem. Worst case it gets front loaded slightly to make the later year a touch less problematic. What is Cobb? A 4/$80mil man at best(betting he gets less)? That would be too hard to take on.

[Warning Track Power]

At $20 million per, I doubt the Brewers would be interested. I would much rather the Brewers allocate the $20 million annually towards signing Neil Walker and Jonathan Lucroy to cover the offense and roll with Chacin/Woodruff/Suter/Jungmann in the 3-5 spots in the rotation.

 

Personally, I'd take Cobb if that was the choice. Would love the pitching depth.

Agree to disagree then. Cobb would likely be 4-5 years at $80-$100 million based on what the rumors are. I would take a 2 year, $20ish million commitment to Walker and Lucroy (4 years $40 million total) to try and stabilize the offense (i.e. limit the Ks which are so prevalent with Santana, Thames, Broxton and even Shaw).

[homer]

I think I suggested Cobb a while back (can't find the post) but $20 million per year is a bit rich, IMO.

[mlloyd10]

At $20 million per, I doubt the Brewers would be interested. I would much rather the Brewers allocate the $20 million annually towards signing Neil Walker and Jonathan Lucroy to cover the offense and roll with Chacin/Woodruff/Suter/Jungmann in the 3-5 spots in the rotation.

 

Personally, I'd take Cobb if that was the choice. Would love the pitching depth.

Agree to disagree then. Cobb would likely be 4-5 years at $80-$100 million based on what the rumors are. I would take a 2 year, $20ish million commitment to Walker and Lucroy (4 years $40 million total) to try and stabilize the offense (i.e. limit the Ks which are so prevalent with Santana, Thames, Broxton and even Shaw).

 

How much you giving Lucroy?

[Warning Track Power]

How much you giving Lucroy?

MAX: 2 years $20 million

 

Hopefully could get him for 2 years $14-$15ish as that would be better than his highest one year of $5.25 million and double his career earnings of ~$16 million.

[MrTPlush]

No way Lucroy is coming here if Pina is here. It doesn’t make sense for either party.

[Warning Track Power]

No way Lucroy is coming here if Pina is here. It doesn’t make sense for either party.

I like Pina as much as the next guy but he has offensive regression written all over him. Vogt, Susac and Bandy all have their warts as well. I am only advocating for Lucroy to guard against that potential regression especially given the Brewers currently can afford it.

[MrTPlush]

No way Lucroy is coming here if Pina is here. It doesn’t make sense for either party.

I like Pina as much as the next guy but he has offensive regression written all over him. Vogt, Susac and Bandy all have their warts as well. I am only advocating for Lucroy to guard against that potential regression especially given the Brewers currently can afford it.

 

Except Lucroy would never ever consider coming here with Pina present. It just isn’t a realistic proposal. Pina May regress, but the Brewers seem pretty content with him and already signed Vogt.

[KeithStone53151]

No way Lucroy is coming here if Pina is here. It doesn’t make sense for either party.

I like Pina as much as the next guy but he has offensive regression written all over him. Vogt, Susac and Bandy all have their warts as well. I am only advocating for Lucroy to guard against that potential regression especially given the Brewers currently can afford it.

 

Except Lucroy would never ever consider coming here with Pina present. It just isn’t a realistic proposal. Pina May regress, but the Brewers seem pretty content with him and already signed Vogt.

 

I think Plush is right on. Bringing in Lucroy makes little sense for either party. Lucroy doesn't have a very strong arm, calls a bad game, and didn't hit well last year. Pina will certainly be better than Lucroy at the first two of those three things. The bat could go either way. As Plush noted, no way is Lucroy going to go to a timeshare situation if he can help it. He'd take a 1 year rebuild deal before he did that. Plenty of teams are rolling with far worse options and could easily send the current starter to a backup role.

[MillerParkSouth]

I really don't understand why anyone would want Lucroy back. He's looked totally cooked for two years now, hard pass. As for Cobb, like others have mentioned, I don't see this as anything other than his agent stoking the fires.

[brewerfan82]

I really don't understand why anyone would want Lucroy back. He's looked totally cooked for two years now, hard pass. As for Cobb, like others have mentioned, I don't see this as anything other than his agent stoking the fires.

Not advocating going after him, but...

 

2016 (w/ Brewers) - .299/.359/.482/.841 (120 OPS+)

2016 (w/ Rangers) - .276/.345/.539/.885 (128 OPS+)

 

2017 (w/ Rangers) - .242/.297/.338/.635 (66 OPS+)

2017 (w/ Rockies) - .310/.429/.437/.865 (115 OPS+)

 

At least offensively, I wouldn't say he's looked "totally cooked" for two years and I understand why some people haven't given up on him.

[bill hAll Star]

I really don't understand why anyone would want Lucroy back. He's looked totally cooked for two years now, hard pass. As for Cobb, like others have mentioned, I don't see this as anything other than his agent stoking the fires.

Not advocating going after him, but...

 

2016 1st Half (w/ Brewers) - .299/.359/.482/.841 (120 OPS+)

2016 2nd Half (w/ Rangers) - .276/.345/.539/.885 (128 OPS+)

 

2017 1st Half (w/ Rangers) - .242/.297/.338/.635 (66 OPS+)

2017 2nd Half (w/ Rockies) - .310/.429/.437/.865 (115 OPS+)

 

At least offensively, I wouldn't say he's looked "totally cooked" for two years and I understand why some people haven't given up on him.

 

I don't disagree that he could recover and hasn't been cooked for that long, but I'm OK completely disregarding the bolded part.

 

We've seen other zombies like mid 30s Michael Cuddyer put up way better than numbers with Coors aiding them.

 

Lucroy was just as terrible as his Rangers 2017 stint while on the road while on the Rockies.

[homer]

Hey guys, let's keep this on Cobb. We can start a new thread of Lucroy if need be.

[Warning Track Power]

Back on topic about Cobb, I just don't know what to expect from him. Does a rotation of Anderson-Cobb-Davies-Chacin-Woodruff/Suter/Nelson make you a playoff contender? If it doesn't, spending $15-$20 million on him doesn't make a ton of sense and the Brewers would be better served to continue to explore the trade market or continuing to develop their internal candidates. After going through all of the possible SP additions via trade or FA, I guess the real question becomes who moves the needle to the Brewers toward a playoff rotation?

[KeithStone53151]

Back on topic about Cobb, I just don't know what to expect from him. Does a rotation of Anderson-Cobb-Davies-Chacin-Woodruff/Suter/Nelson make you a playoff contender? If it doesn't, spending $15-$20 million on him doesn't make a ton of sense and the Brewers would be better served to continue to explore the trade market or continuing to develop their internal candidates. After going through all of the possible SP additions via trade or FA, I guess the real question becomes who moves the needle to the Brewers toward a playoff rotation?

 

The Cobb route wouldn't be a wise route to go. This decision would a Melvin standard operating procedure type move. Lohse, Suppan, Garza...we know how these deals go. Cobb in addition to being even more expensive than those 3 guys carries more injury risk. No thanks. By the time his ask got down to a range that would in my opinion work for the Brewers, he'd already be signed with the Cubs or someone else.

[superfly]

If we drop 20(+?) mil a year on Alex Cobb Stearns should be fired immediately.

[rickh150]

Back on topic about Cobb, I just don't know what to expect from him. Does a rotation of Anderson-Cobb-Davies-Chacin-Woodruff/Suter/Nelson make you a playoff contender? If it doesn't, spending $15-$20 million on him doesn't make a ton of sense and the Brewers would be better served to continue to explore the trade market or continuing to develop their internal candidates. After going through all of the possible SP additions via trade or FA, I guess the real question becomes who moves the needle to the Brewers toward a playoff rotation?

 

I don't think the game of 'does paying a top FA pitcher make you a playoff contender' should be an issue. The issue is building a rotation for the near future. Getting a stable long-term piece for the next few years, to go along with several young in house candidates, should be the goal.

[JosephC]

Cobb can go for the 18-20 million per year figure but the reason he isn't signed yet is because no team is going to give that up. If any one team was willing he'd be long off the market. I think AT BEST he's looking at something like 4 years, 62 million or if he can get one more guaranteed year then maybe 5 years, 70 million. But I'd guess four years and I think the final number will probably be in the 56-58 million range.