Orioles reporters Jon Meoli and Eduardo A. Encina discuss the team’s four-year agreement with right-hander Alex Cobb and how he fits into a rotation that’s now been upgraded from last season with Andrew Cashner and now Chris Tillman since spring training started.
The Orioles are no strangers to pitchers getting a late start in spring training thanks to delayed free-agent signings, with the late-February agreements with Ubaldo Jiménez and Yovani Gallardo providing blueprints for getting a pitcher who doesn't open camp with the club ready for the regular season.
But a March 20 agreement like the one the Orioles struck Tuesday with right-hander Alex Cobb — nine days before Opening Day — blasts those best-laid plans to shreds.