Gerrit Cole still a Pirate, Yankees monitoring trade market
Gerrit Cole of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches in the first inning against the Mets at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. Credit: Getty Images / Justin K. Aller
Perhaps Gerrit Cole’s wife put it best on Twitter when she posted a short video of a roller coaster.
Cole — the Pirates righthander who is being pursued by the Yankees and other teams in a trade — was said to be heading to the Astros on Wednesday afternoon.
But Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow told MLB.com: “We do not have a deal. We are working on multiple things, but nothing is imminent.”
This is the second time in recent weeks that a Cole deal was said to be nearly complete — the first time said he was heading to the Yankees. But that turned out to be premature as well.
The Yankees are still monitoring the trade market for Cole, according to a baseball source, but talks with the Pirates have cooled off. The industry expectation is that Cole will eventually be traded. But as Amy Cole posted on Twitter, there may be a few more ups and downs before a deal is truly consummated.
There’s no mystery as to why the Yankees, Astros and other teams are interested in Cole: He’s 27 and is a former No. 1 overall draft pick. The Pirates are looking to shed salary and add prospects, and the Astros and Yankees are both willing to add payroll in exchange for a front-line starting pitcher.
Astros owner Jim Crane said on Monday that the defending World Series champions are “actively pursuing a high-end starter.”
That could mean via trade, or it could mean one of the top starting pitchers who are still available on the glacially paced free-agent market, most notably Yu Darvish and Jake Arrieta.
“We’re always looking to upgrade the team,” Crane said. “It would have to be a significant upgrade. We’re happy where we’re at. We’ve been told on paper we have the best team in baseball, but paper doesn’t win titles.”
The Yankees don’t think they have the best team in baseball, but they are happy with the club as it stands today after the stealth acquisition of NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton.
The Yankees are five-deep in the rotation with Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, Sonny Gray, CC Sabathia and Jordan Montgomery. At the start of the offseason, they didn’t know if Tanaka or Sabathia would return.
That’s not to say general manager Brian Cashman would not like to add another starter, especially one who could eat innings. Cole had a down year in 2017, with a 12-12 record and career-high 4.26 ERA, but he did throw 203 innings. Which team he will throw his innings for in 2018 is still up in the air.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
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