Alex Cobb on trade: "I was pretty surprised by it"

The warning came early Monday morning, with pitcher Alex Cobb told by his representatives in a phone call of the pending trade from the Orioles to the Angels. The bags packed for spring training weren't going to make it to Sarasota, Fla.

"I had had some discussions with my agents about some possibilities, that things might be happening, so it was on my radar, but also, didn't put my stock into it," Cobb said this afternoon. "I believed I was showing up to spring training. Had my place set, my flight booked and no real reason, other than small conversations and always that possibility."

His phone rang around 7:30 a.m. The Orioles were dealing Cobb with one year left on his franchise-record $57 million contract.

"I was pretty surprised by it," he said.

It became official late last night, with the Orioles receiving second baseman/outfielder Jahmai Jones and covering $10 million of the $15 million owed Cobb, including deferred money. Both sides had to wait for approval from the commissioner's office.

Emotions are mixed for Cobb, 33, who goes to a team focused on winning rather than rebuilding and with only 20 minutes separating his home from the Angels' spring training complex in Arizona. He also leaves behind an organization that needed much more from him.

Cobb went 7-22, all of his wins on the road, with a 5.10 ERA and 1.419 WHIP in 41 starts. He appeared in only three games in 2019 before undergoing surgeries on his hip and knee.

Business will stay unfinished.

"I think no matter what, that would have been the case," he said. "Even if I went and really pitched well for a couple months in Baltimore and ultimately ended up getting dealt, I still feel that unfinished business always would have kind of been sitting there. Feeling uneasy about that on my end.

"Just the way things have gone, it's not what you pictured when you sign somewhere and you expect to really be the guy that they wanted you to be and for the team to be in the position that it wanted to be, and none of that turned out to be the case. I think no matter what, that would have happened. I don't think not being traded would have prevented me from feeling that way in the long run.

"I was definitely excited to start spring training up, to really show the work that I've been putting in this offseason for the team, and obviously I developed a lot of really good relationships there and I'm going to miss a lot of the people that I've gotten to know over the years there. So there are a lot of emotions that go on when you've been traded."

Cobb said he's mostly been in contact with staff members from the Orioles.

"I've basically talked to everybody," he said.

"It means a lot when something big happens and you hear from people and they reach out to you and tell you how much you'll be missed and just how much both sides appreciated the relationships that have been built. I'll say that the Orioles have a great foundation laid there. They have tremendous staff, they have a tremendous front office, they have everything from the coaching staff to the clubbies to you name it. Anybody that they have working over there are just good people, and the biggest thing I'll miss is those relationships."

Cobb will be approaching free agency again, without expectations for another four-year deal. He's pitching for the Angels and his next contract.

"I think pressure just in general in this game is something that pops up as much as you allow it to," he said. "Honestly, every single time you step on a mound you can throw pressure on your shoulders, whether it's necessary or not, whatever the moment is. You find a way throughout your career to handle that pressure. Whether it's pitching in a playoff game or signing your big contract or getting traded or whatever the situation might be, you handle all the pressure the same way. So I'm not necessarily putting any pressure on myself because of whatever situation I'm in now versus the way I've handled it in the past.

"If you focus on that rather than the task at hand and what you need to accomplish, you're really doing a disservice to yourself and not maximizing your abilities. So you try to block out all the noise. My goal is to be the best me I can possibly be. There's not much room for anything else in there."

Cobb will join a rotation that includes friend and former teammate Dylan Bundy, who was traded to the Angels in December 2019.

"We've already talked a couple times," Cobb said. "He loves it over there, he's happy. Just to be around him and talk to him about the adjustments he made and how he took off last year, it's going to be fun to have him around. We had some good times when we were in Baltimore, so really happy that I'll have a familiar face to hang out with."

* Outfielder Anthony Santander's arbitration hearing is scheduled for today, as first reported by MLB Network's Jon Heyman.

Santander is seeking $2.475 million and the Orioles are countering at $2.1 million. He would have made $572,500 in a full 2020 season.

The media named Santander Most Valuable Oriole and he was a Gold Glove finalist in right field, which works in his favor. He was hurt again in September and limited to 37 games, which does not.

Santander, idle after Sept. 4 due to a strained oblique, batted .261/.315/.575 with 13 doubles, one triple, 11 home runs and 32 RBIs.

The Orioles are receiving trade interest in Santander, with the Marlins one of the clubs in contact.

* The Orioles re-signed shortstop Malquin Canelo and signed right-handers Dusten Knight and Spenser Watkins to minor league deals, per the team's transactions page.

An infielder who was in their organization last season, two pitchers with unusual spellings of their first names, one pitcher with a unique way to celebrate the final out of a game.

None of them bring major league experience, but they provide depth for the club.

Canelo came from the Phillies organization last winter, was a spring training invite, went 1-for-3 with an RBI and was reassigned to minor league camp on March 1. He wasn't in the 60-man player pool and just disappeared.

Well, he's back.

Canelo, 26, appeared in 128 games with Triple-A Lehigh Valley in 2019 and batted .262/.320/.350 with 27 doubles, two triples and two home runs. He plays shortstop, second base, third base and the outfield and again will compete for a utility job - assuming that he's invited again.

Knight, 30, is a former Giants 28th-round draft pick who's known mainly for performing a backflip after every save. He's compiled 19 in seven minor league seasons, including five with Double-A Pensacola in the Twins' system in 2019 before his release in May.

The right-hander has made only four starts in 198 games and he's gone 26-11 with a 3.06 ERA, 1.154 WHIP and 408 strikeouts in 358 2/3 innings.

Knight also pitched for the independent Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in 2019 and went 3-6 with a 3.78 ERA and 1.106 WHIP in 13 games (12 starts). He struck out 92 batters in 78 2/3 innings.

There also were 23 games in Mexico, where he allowed 15 earned runs in 24 1/3 innings.

The Tigers drafted Watkins, 28, in the 30th round in 2014 out of Western Oregon University and he pitched in their organization through the 2019 season, going 41-27 with a 3.88 ERA and 1.323 WHIP in 116 games (96 starts). He has a 7.61 ERA and 1.691 WHIP in 86 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level.

Pitching for Double-A Erie in July 2019, Watkins carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning against Richmond despite a 40-minute rain delay. Ryder Jones doubled with two outs.