Chicago Cubs, Yu Darvish rumors running rampant after latest signing

Chicago Cubs, Alex Cobb rumors won’t go away

When the offseason began, Alex Cobb was going to be the Cubs’ guy. He was a lower-cost option (when compared to Darvish or Jake Arrieta). Both Maddon and Hickey had a great deal of experience with him. And he fit into what the Cubs needed perfectly.

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Well, that was October. Here we are with just over a week left in January and he still hasn’t signed. But, according to Bruce Levine, he still makes the most sense – and, if the money is right, I happen to agree. While Darvish is certainly more capable of being dominant, I prefer quality consistency over all else – and that, in my mind, is what Cobb offers.

"Cobb, 30, is younger than Arrieta and Darvish and with 700 career innings hasn’t had the career workload of the other two. Arrieta has logged 1,161 innings, and there’s some concern about his downtick in velocity. Darvish has logged 832 1/3 innings in the big leagues after throwing 1,268 1/3 innings playing professionally in Japan."

Cobb at three years and $45 million looks like a pipe dream at this point. Four years and somewhere in the $70-80 million range seems far more likely. Still, he could be bargain if Darvish and Arrieta get $120 million-range deals.

That’s a big ‘if’, though.

If there’s less than $20 million separating Darvish from Cobb, do you really take the former Rays’ right-hander? Or do you hope Darvish lives up to what he’s capable of and build what many would bill as the best rotation in the National League?