Alex Cobb's emotional response to season-ending surgery puts Tigers fans in difficult spot

After nearly a year of speculation, Alex Cobb confirmed on Saturday what many fans already assumed to be true: The veteran right-hander won't pitch for the Detroit Tigers this season. In fact, he may never pitch again.

The Tigers signed Cobb to a one-year, $15 million free agent contract during the offseason, but hip issues have kept him on the injured list since spring training. As time continued to pass with no real progress, even after multiple minor league rehab assignments, the writing was on the wall for Cobb. He finally made it official over the weekend, telling reporters that he would be undergoing season-ending resurfacing surgery on his right hip.

Initially, there had been some hope that Cobb could join the Tigers as a relief pitcher before the season was over, but he was pulled off his second rehab assignment at the end of August. Now, his tenure with Detroit will come to an anticlimactic end without even a single pitch thrown, and the Tigers' $15 million investment will be a complete wash.

Alex Cobb's emotional response to season-ending surgery puts Tigers fans in difficult spot

Even though it didn't come as a total surprise, Cobb's announcement reignited Tigers fans' frustration that the team had signed him in the first place. For an organization that already didn't spend much during the offseason, $15 million could have gone a long way toward upgrading the roster in other ways. Recognizing that, Cobb felt he owed Detroit fans an explanation.

“I obviously had some issues last year with my left hip, and then I went into the offseason and I felt great, I really did,” Cobb told reporters (including Jason Beck of MLB.com). “I mean, I was working out, I was throwing, I was in zero pain. Went and signed with the Tigers, did my physical, passed, everything looked good."

About three to four weeks later, Cobb said, he "literally woke up one day and couldn't walk." He underwent a series of tests, which revealed that he had arthritis in his right hip. He received numerous injections and pitched through a world of pain during his rehab assignments, all to provide the Tigers with something in exchange for his contract – and for a chance to help the team win in the postseason.

“I can handle the pain,” Cobb said. “It's when the pain and the stuff aren't matching up, and you aren't able to overcome the pain and have quality outings and what it takes to be at the big league level. For me to be in a position to earn the right to be on that team, I would need to be reliable and I would need to be effective. And I wasn't ever going to get to that point."

Cobb hasn't officially declared his retirement from baseball, but he acknowledged that "it's a big possibility." If this is it, Cobb will finish his 13-year Major League career with 233 starts, an All-Star selection and four postseason appearances.

Tigers fans can certainly be frustrated with the outcome, but that frustration shouldn't be directed at Cobb. He tried absolutely everything he could to be able to contribute to this team. Could (and should) Scott Harris have invested that $15 million elsewhere? Probably. But Cobb's inability to contribute to the team this year is hardly for lack of effort on his part.

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