The official HBT Cliff Lee recap

It’s been about 18 hours since the Cliff Lee deal went down. I slept for about three and a half of those, but the rest of that time my HBT buddies and I have been cranking the Cliff Lee coverage. In case you missed some, here’s everything. If this doesn’t interest you, at least save it someplace in case someone asks you to write a term paper on the subject of unhinged obsession. May come in handy!

OMG! He’s actually going to Philly!
Great, NOW what will the Yankees do?
And for that matter, now what will the Rangers do?
Is the Philly rotation one of the best ever?
OK, maybe its not the best ever.
More importantly: is it time to crown their a–, Denny-Green style?
Methinks the Yankee Executive doth protest too much.
Methinks I doth snark too much.
Who are the winners and losers in this deal?
Winners besides Cliff Lee’s accountants, anyway?
And losers besides those who have to share a press box with Andy Martino next spring?
A list of silly things people have said since the deal went down.
You knew this was coming: Cliff Lee just wasn’t cut out for New York!
Cliff Lee would’ve gone back to Texas for seven years, but Chuck Greenberg said no dice.
Brian Cashman on the Yankees’ Plan B: “Patience.” I haven’t heard anything so inspiring since Jimmy Carter told us to wear sweaters.
Tiffany Simons and I go over a whole bunch of this stuff … but on video! It’s like being in the future, really.

There will be a lot more stuff to spew out of this story as the day goes on. And Tiffany and I will be dusting off the video equipment later as we talk about it all ins a rare offseason edition of HBT Extra.

So like they say, keep it locked in to HBT and rip off the dial!

Orioles right-hander Alex Cobb made the shortest start of his seven-year career after reopening a cut on his pitching hand during Sunday’s game against the Yankees. In the first inning, he worked a 2-2 count on four pitches to Andrew McCutchen, then made a prompt exit from the field after taking a closer look at his right index finger.

This isn’t the first time Cobb has dealt with blisters on his pitching hand; in fact, it marks the second consecutive outing in which he’s been prematurely pulled from the mound after reaggravating the injury. By Sunday’s start, the 30-year-old righty had already lost three weeks of the season to the same issue, though the Orioles appeared confident in his ability to make another appearance after watching him successfully complete two bullpens last week. He entered the game with a 5-15 record in 27 starts and a career-worst 4.90 ERA, 2.5 BB/9, and 6.0 SO/9 across 152 1/3 innings. At this point, it’s highly unlikely that he’ll get another opportunity to pitch in the majors before the end of the year.

Following Cobb’s departure in the first inning, reliever Mike Wright Jr. was tabbed to fill in for the righty. His performance yielded disappointing results as well: After kicking off the inning with three back-to-back walks, he allowed three runs on a Gleyber Torres sac fly and a pair of RBI singles from Miguel Andujar and Gary Sanchez. The Orioles currently trail the Yankees 3-1 in the fourth as they look to avoid a franchise-worst 111th loss.