Alex Cobb's four-year agreement with the Orioles, pending a medical review, casts the team's 2018 season in a new light.
It took until the last week of spring training to bring in what was seen as the missing piece — a top starting pitcher — but now that they have, the Orioles have a team primed to at least compete in a tough American League, if not contend.
But Cobb doesn't enter the equation in a vacuum. His acquisition will have far-reaching ripples around the Orioles roster — some serious, some minor — and reinforces whatever short- or long-term outlook any observer wants to ascribe to them.