Basically, no one is expecting the Tampa Bay Rays to storm the castle that is the AL East, oust the reigning Baltimore Orioles royalty from the throne and revitalize the game of baseball and its fans with one of the more inspiring regular season conquests in recent memory. Then again, the club kind of did just that when they won the AL East with 96 wins in 2010 despite now having a current payroll only a few million dollars shy of the $71.9 million it was then.
But those were different times that included the likes of David Price, Joe Maddon and Andrew Friedman. The Toronto Blue Jays also had a payroll of only $62.7 million then, compared to nearly double that ($121.2 M) in present times.
The 2015 objective for the Rays should be to not repeat their 2014 woes, find strength in the rotation and build on a still possible future in the city of Tampa. However, finding strength and guidance in the rotation could prove a difficult task without the leadership of Alex Cobb.
Cobb was diagnosed with tendinitis in his throwing arm after a spring start on Tuesday against the Philadelphia Phillies. It’s not exactly a UCL tear, but it will prevent him from starting on Opening Day and reaching the 200 IP milestone for the first time in his career.
The injury could be minor in terms of actual structural damage, but tendinitis can become chronic and linger for weeks — months even. It could reduce Cobb to being a sporadic starter for the Rays in 2015 where eventual long-term risk will outweigh any kind of reward and Tampa Bay could shut him down given that he’s under club control through the 2017 season.
The minor things spiralling into nagging issues surmises Cobb’s career quite well. Aside from his concussion in 2013, he’s never sustained a career threatening injury that’s caused him to miss an entire MLB season. Rather, it has just been bits and pieces of ones here and there. But if an ace cannot be relied upon consistently for starting at least 30 games annually, can he really be the Rays’ chosen one? Cobb’s track record is beginning to prove otherwise.
This will be Cobb’s age 27 season and his fourth year of full service. The Rays have solid youth and depth in their rotation, but noticeable time missed by Cobb could propel the club into a worse state of affairs than in 2014.
The Tampa Bay Rays are calling it precautionary in shutting Cobb down. Precautions are usually put in place to prevent further damage. Fellow rotation mate Drew Smyly has also been shutdown with shoulder tendinitis and likely won’t be ready for Opening Day. Rays president of baseball operations Matt Silverman expects Cobb to be ready by mid-to-late April, but also stated that “the beginning of April is going to be a challenge.”
Indeed, it will be a challenge. Both to collect wins and sell tickets again at Tropicana Field in 2015. With no ace in the form of Alex Cobb to offer fans on April 6 when they host the division rival Baltimore Orioles, baseball in Tampa could be shot dead in the bay’s water sooner than originally anticipated in 2015.