Baltimore Orioles: Ten Most Haunting Contracts In Franchise History

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BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – APRIL 04: Starting pitcher Alex Cobb #17 of the Baltimore Orioles throws to a New York Yankees batter in the fifth inning at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on April 04, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

Alex Cobb- 4 year/$57 million

If you’re like me, you often forget that Alex Cobb is still on the Orioles roster. It’s easy to forget about him when he missed essentially all of 2019 with multiple injuries. He’s expected to be healthy for spring training 2020, but that’s still TBD.

Cobb spent the first six seasons of his career with Tampa Bay, going 48-35 with 3.50 ERA and recording double-digit wins in four of those seasons. Prior to the 2018 season, Cobb signed a four-year deal worth $57 million to shore up the Orioles pitching staff and help lead the organization back to the playoffs, somewhere they hadn’t been since 2016.

His first year with the Orioles was one to forget. Cobb went 5-15 with a 4.90 ERA and the lowest strikeout rate of his career. Blisters hampered him by the end of the year as fans were left with a highly paid, struggling free agent acquisition and the selling of Manny Machado, Kevin Gausman, Jonathan Schoop, and Darren O’Day.

Cobb’s second season in Baltimore lasted just 12 innings (10.95 ERA, 9 HR allowed) due to a groin injury, a lumbar strain, and ultimately hip surgery that shut him down for the rest of the year.

There’s still time to salvage some value out of this contract, but Cobb has a long way to go after undergoing major surgery, the second such surgery in his career (Tommy John in 2016).