Tampa Bay Rays news and links: Cobb’s farewell

Alex Cobb, as expected, rejected the Qualifying Offer the Rays made him. They will now get draft pick compensation, and the amount will depend on how much someone else pays Cobb.

For his part, Cobb made a statement to the fans, quoted here from The Heater blog:

"Getting to this point in my career is truly bittersweet.

"Twelve years ago the Rays welcomed me into their organization. Being able to play in the stadium that I grew up attending has been a dream come true.

"The two things that I'll truly miss the most are the friendships I've made and our fans. The relationships I've built not only with my teammates and coaches but also the front office and staff have played a major part of who I am today. I can't express how much I'll miss spending each day with my Rays family.

"And to the Rays fans I want to thank each and everyone of you for your unwavering support. Your words of encouragement meant so much to me during the highlights of my career, but they meant even more during the challenging ones.

"As difficult as it is knowing I won't be wearing a Rays uniform next year, I'm beyond excited to see what the next chapter of my career brings!"

MLB Trade Rumors discussed the competitive balance draft pick order. The Rays have a lot of picks this year, and regarding Cobb, Rays fans are now hoping he signs a deal in excess of $50 million.

Meanwhile, from Marc Topkin, commissioner Rob Manfred is doing his job—hanging the threat of the Rays leaving Tampa Bay out there as a way to try to drum up support and money for the team and a new stadium.

Rays Rumors

• The Cardinals are talking with the Rays about Alex Colome.
• The Rays have some interest in Jose Bautista.

Other Links

• The Mariners are stocking up on international allocation money, hoping to land Shohei Ohtani.
• This is behind a pay wall, but it’s a good explanation by Rob Mains of some bad, incorrect analysis he had done earlier in the year regarding “the demise” of Andrew McCutchen. Props to him for revisiting it, and for noting the danger of overconfidence in the meaningfulness of StatCast data. It has not made BABIP regression obsolete.
• A deep dive on the triple.