Farhan Zaidi executed his easiest decision of the offseason Monday, picking up the San Francisco Giants’ $10 million player option on Alex Cobb, ensuring the 36-year-old first-time All-Star will be back in 2024.
When the Giants brought Cobb on board before the 2022 season, it wasn’t hard to imagine the club option as a potential exit ramp on a deal with a then-34-year-old four years removed from his last 100-inning season. But Cobb has proven that he is firmly in the fast lane, making his rate a bargain, even with the news that he will miss at least the first month of next season recovering from hip surgery.
In 56 starts the past two seasons (only three fewer than the 59 he made over the course of his previous four-year, $57 million contract between the Orioles and Angels), Cobb has posted a 3.80 ERA and an even better 3.41 FIP (fielding independent pitching). His reliable presence was all the more important last season, when he and Logan Webb were the only Giants pitchers to make at least 20 starts or throw 150 innings.
Cobb’s banner 2023 included the first All-Star selection of his career and a close flirtation with history, coming one out shy of a no-hitter while throwing 131 pitches in September. But in many of those starts, especially in the second half, Cobb battled discomfort in his landing hip, an impingement, doctors told him.
He was in top form before its effects began to wear on him, taking a 2.91 ERA into the All-Star break.
Told initially the issue would resolve itself without surgical intervention, Cobb underwent an operation last week with a six-month recovery timetable. That places his return to pitching around the beginning of May, without accounting for the typical six-week build up that he will miss during spring training.
In the meantime, while Zaidi has said the Giants aren’t looking to add starting pitching depth, they could be active at the top of the market.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Orix Buffaloes ace whom they confirmed on Sunday they will be posting, is an intriguing option — one the Giants are keen on, Zaidi confirming his trip to Japan last month to watch him pitch.
After Webb and Cobb, the Giants currently have Anthony DeSclafani, who will be back after season-ending ankle surgery, and Ross Stripling, who picked up his player option for 2024, as well as a trio of young starters — Kyle Harrison, Tristan Beck and Keaton Winn — who should figure into their rotation plans for next season.
