There are plenty of connections between the Chicago Cubs and pitcher Alex Cobb.
The right-hander has spent all six years of his career with the Tampa Bay Rays, a team that current Cubs manager Joe Maddon ran for the first half of that time period. Cobb's pitching coach in Tampa Bay, Jim Hickey, joined Maddon's Chicago staff in the same role earlier this month.
According to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times, it's why Cobb and the Cubs share mutual interest in each other this winter. ESPN's Jesse Rogers confirmed that Chicago reached out to Cobb when free agency began and had preliminary discussions with his agent, Danny Horwits, at the recent GM meetings.