Gerrit Cole to Houston

[JohnU]

The biggest loser in the Gerrit Cole trade? The Yankees

Does the author posit that there are only 2 teams in the AL?
If Houston has 5 aces, it doesn't keep the Yankees from winning the East.
The only time it matters is in a best-of-7 which the author apparently claims should just be held, skipping the regular season. I like thoughtful analysis, but it would appear that some of these guys are writing just to impress their buddies in the office.

 

[PolarVortex]

The Yankees are going to regret not getting this guy when they had the chance.

 

[The Q]

I'm pretty pissed off about the trade.

If that's all they were going to get, I'd just rather have kept Cole, hoping to catch lightning in a bottle with him, Taillon and Kuhl and compete for a playoff spot

They may as well just trade McCutchen now for a bag of used condoms or something and finish tearing the thing apart.

A big part of the problem is that the ownership is notorious for prioritizing cost cutting above all else and teams around baseball know this, putting Pirates management at a disadvantage amid trade talks.

The Pirates probably chose this evening to pull the trigger on this, knowing that the focus of Pittsburgh sports fans would be on the Steelers this weekend

the short-sightedness of the owners in the CBA talks about limiting amateur spending takes away a big benefit for when teams do these moves.

The Pirates were pretty solid amateur spenders in recent years before the draconian penalties came into play IIRC.

 

[JohnU]

the short-sightedness of the owners in the CBA talks about limiting amateur spending takes away a big benefit for when teams do these moves.

The Pirates were pretty solid amateur spenders in recent years before the draconian penalties came into play IIRC.

I need some explanation on how this works.

 

[HurricaneDij39]

Cole isn't much of an add at this point to me.


Dude prolly needs neck surgery from watching all those homers. No NL pitcher gave up more.

I'd bank on McCullers as their third guy about as much as Cole.

Nope. That honor belonged to John Lackey...(now a free agent)

 

[broncosmitty]

Nope. That honor belonged to John Lackey...(now a free agent)

Didn't realize how awful he was last year.


Is he gonna retire?

 

[The Q]

A different perspective on the deal:

The Gerrit Cole Trade Has a Perception Problem | FanGraphs Baseball

 

[Hook'Em0608]

I don't know much about the prospect, but Musgrove and Feliz are very talented.

Musgrove has a mid 90's fastball that gets in the upper 90's in the bullpen. Outstanding breaking pitches that he can all throw for consistent strikes. His struggles as a starter were due to throwing too many strikes. Especially breaking pitches. He has outstanding control but as a young pitcher doesn't quite understand pitching outside the zone yet.

Feliz is the opposite problem. High 90's fastball and good slider. He needs to work on his control. Very talented guy with closer stuff though.

Moran is a good hitter and fielder who's only really flaw is lack of power for a corner infielder. His power finally came around last year like had been predicted forever. Needs to prove it on the big league stage though.

Musgrove is the prize of this trade for Pittsburgh though. He was once our best pitching prospect and pitched very well out of the bullpen last year and had his moments in the past as a starter.

With that said, i think you can't deny from a perspective standpoint, I get why Pirate fans aren't fans of the trade. I wouldn't be either if I was them. Feliz and Musgrove have enough MLB experience that if they had been playing up to potential, we don't trade them probably. They are just talented guys who haven't lived up to the hype yet.

 

[The Q]

Musgrove is still interesting because he just destroyed the minor leagues.

But you were right that he is more about control than command at this point.

 

[HurricaneDij39]

Didn't realize how awful he was last year.


Is he gonna retire?

He didn't plan to. Probably should at this point, though.

 

[Etrius24]

Debate whether the Pirates could have done a little better...

But the Pirates have a lot of young pitchers for the Rotation... They got a pair of Quality arms .... One has the talent to be a front line starter if his third pitch comes along... If not he is a 8th inning set up guy who should dominate in the bullpen....

Both of the pitchers are guys who make bats miss a lot... Strikout out more than batter per inning and their Strikeout to walk ratio is outstanding..... Thrown in for good measure is a hard hitting third baseman ( Something the Bucs need ).... All three of these players are ready to step in and contribute now...

Here is a decent write up on it...

Diving deep into the Astros’ Gerrit Cole trade