The Detroit Tigers’ offseason didn’t feature much action. Luckily, they addressed some of their issues that were exposed during the first half of the season by adding at the 2025 trade deadline. Detroit’s front office pulled off a handful of meaningful deals. They added Charlie Morton, Chris Paddack, and Kyle Finnegan.
Back to the offseason, the Tigers signed Jack Flaherty, Gleyber Torres, and Alex Cobb. It’s not a surprise if Tiger fans forgot about Cobb, considering he has not pitched a single inning for Detroit this season due to hip inflammation, but he signed a one-year, $15 million deal in the Winter.
If Cobb returns, it will be in a bullpen role
According to Chris McCosky of the Detroit Free Press, if Alex Cobb returns, he will be used in a bullpen role. Although the Tigers’ rotation depth isn’t the best, it wouldn’t make sense to thrust Cobb in that role, given that he hasn’t thrown one pitch at the MLB level this season.
By shifting Cobb to the bullpen, that allows the veteran pitcher to be potentially still used in some capacity down the stretch, and it would give manager AJ Hinch another option to go to.
The signing of Alex Cobb has been a bust so far, but if he’s able to provide some quality innings for the Tigers’ pitching staff into October, and the team ends up making a deep playoff run, all will be forgiven.
However, there has been no official word on whether Cobb will return from the Injured List. Preparing for a bullpen role rather than a starter role may help Cobb work back faster, but as of now his return is all speculative.
Cobb was an All-Star in 2023 with the San Francisco Giants and has made just three starts since the start of the 2024 season. The injury bug has hit the 37-year-old starter hard in the last two seasons, and after this one-year deal, all MLB teams may be a little hesitant to sign him to even a one-year deal.
