Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Cole in a Stocking?

Gerrit Cole, who grew up a Yankees fan, is rumored to be heading to New York.

For the past few weeks there have been lots of rumors going around about the former #1 overall pick being traded to the Yankees.  It seems that the Pirates are still trying to get top prospect Gleyber Torres in exchange for two years of the hard throwing righty.

I'm torn about the potential trade.

The team is significantly different than the 97 win 2015 club as the following players are no longer with the Pirates: Pedro Alvarez, Neil Walker, AJ Burnett, Francisco Liriano, Tony Watson, and Mark Melancon.

So far only the Melancon trade has yielded a positive impact to the future of the club as Felipe Rivero is a nasty arm out of the pen.

I don't have much confidence in the team "winning" a trade with the Yankees.

I would rather see Cole pitch every 5th day for the next two years even knowing that the Pirates have ZERO chance to extend him. I saw him make his MLB debut which I will never forget.

Here are some of my Cutch and Cole relic combo cards.













Gerrit has always been one of my favorites and I would hate to see him traded.

I remember meeting him in AAA and was able to get his attention when the Indianapolis Indians were playing the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (Phillies AAA affiliate).  He signed maybe about a half dozen balls before the game.
When he turned to sign for me and I tossed the ball to him I asked if he could sign it on the sweet spot.  It never hurts to ask, right?

Cole laughed and said I don't think my agent would like that.

He tossed it back up to me.

I knew then that the Pirates had ZERO chance of signing him past his six years with the Bucs.

That's why I absolutely don't want to see him traded.  He is the Pirates best pitcher since the days of Doug Drabek.  He's consistent and has true top of rotation stuff.

I want Cole to stay with the Pirates for the next two years.

Don't give the Yankees another present this holiday season!


3 comments:

  1. Those are some sick Cole cards! It might not be practical to let him walk for nothing in two years, but as a fan it’s only natural to want a player you like to stay with your team for as long as possible.

    And I’m so tired of teams giving in to the Yankees. I hope the Pirates aren’t their latest victim. Cole and Josh Harrison for Gleyber Torres and Clint Frazier sounds fair to me. If the Cash-man doesn’t like it, he can stuff it. Stand your ground, Bucs!

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  2. I'm torn - as a Cubs fan, I sure wouldn't mind seeing Cole move out of the NL Central. However, I sure as heck don't want to see Gleyber Torres come back and show the Cubs just what they missed out on. I await this potential trade with bated breath.

    Also, Cole appears to be a great guy and a great competitor. I sure wouldn't mind seeing him in a Cubs uni someday...

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  3. I’m back and forth on this. I’d be fine with Cole, but pretty sure there is zero chance Torres would be in the trade. If they are going to give him up I’d rather it be for someone like Fulmer or Archer.

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