So yeah, three months ago, I — we all did, right?– thought Alex Cobb would be cracking the Chicago Cubs rotation around this time.
At the onset of free agency, Cobb’s admiration for pitching coach Jim Hickey, who he knows well from his time with Tampa Bay, and of course, manager Joe Maddon, did not go unnoticed. It even appeared as though he might take less money to join such a contender.
The Cubs reportedly offered Cobb three years, $42 million, instead of the $20 million per year asking price he was said to be seeking.