This Veteran Offseason Acquisition Has Been Massive Bust for Tigers

The Detroit Tigers have been on an otherworldly tear since the second half of last season.

After forcing their way into the playoff picture last year with an improbable come-from-way-behind run, they have been one of the best teams in baseball to this point in 2025.

They enter play on Monday with a 34-20 record, just a 1/2 game behind the Philadelphia Phillies for the best mark in all of MLB.

It has come from standout performances from unlikely sources, and another Cy Young performance from the team's ace.

It has not all been sunshine and rainbows in the Motor City, however. The team looked to add to their pitching depth in the offseason after benefitting from "pitching chaos" in 2024. And while the staff has been one of the team's strengths this year, it has come with no contribution from one veteran offseason acquisition.

Alex Cobb Named a Bust for 2025

The Tigers signed Alex Cobb to a one-year, $15 million deal over the winter to be a veteran presence at the back of their rotation and be a serviceable innings eater every fifth day.

To this point in 2025, he has eaten exactly zero innings.

Cobb, 37, was coming off a 2024 that saw the veteran pitch only 16 1/3 innings, and a six-year stretch where he combined to pitch only 475 1/3 innings, or an average of 79 per season.

Detroit placed the veteran on the 15-day injured list on March 27 with hip inflammation, and he has yet to appear in a game for his new team.

The lack of any production, good or bad, from Cobb has seen him land in a recent article from Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report where he ranked the offseason acquisitions across MLB and how big of a bust they have been two months into their new deals.

Cobb was named an honorable mention.

It is hard to argue with that placement, as the Tigers have gotten no return on investment from the veteran to this point. He has been working his way back to the mound of late, and there is still time for Cobb to take his name off that list upon his return.

With his injury history and age, it was a questionable signing before the ink was even dry.

So far, it has proven to be nothing more than a bust.