The Yankees should NOT trade for Gerrit Cole

The Yankees pitching staff is debatably one of the best in the game, with names like Severino, Gray, Tanaka and Sabathia headlining the starting five. The Yankees have a core of talent that will compete every game until the last out is made. With names like Adams, Sheffield and Abreu, their farm system is also producing names that have shown success and who are projected to compete at the major league level.

Over the last few weeks, Gerrit Cole and the Pirates have been rumored to be involved in a possible trade with the Yankees. Adding Cole to the staff will make the rotation a whole lot better and the Yankees would have a truly elite rotation.

 

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However, what does mean for the guys in the farm system? Sheffield has shown great success in his first few years and is a lefty that could be a real threat in the MLB. Adams debatably should have been brought up to the MLB last year but instead the Yankees kept on bringing up guys like Cessa. Adams has progressed each year since being drafted in 2015 and is expected to get the nod soon for the team in the Bronx. Abreu is still very young, but is still highly regarded by many scouts. So where does that leave Cole?

From one Yankees fan to another, it doesn’t leave him anywhere. I personally believe the Yankees would be perfectly fine without Cole on their team during the 2018 season and beyond. Looking back at 2017, the rotation was not an achilles heel. By adding Cole, it doesn’t really make a difference. If the game is close, the Yankees will turn it over to their fantastic bullpen. We saw this in 2017 and it didn’t matter who was in the game at the time.  The Yankees are perfectly fine when it comes to pitching, because their bullpen is so strong and their rotation has solid arms.

In addition to that, the Yankees would have to give up top-tier prospects in order to land Cole. The Pirates have said they don’t really want Frazier, per Kyle Downing as they have bigger holes to fill than in the outfield. That means that they would have to replace Cole with a good prospect pitcher, which in itself isn’t worth it as besides 2015, Cole was pretty average for the Pirates in 2017 as he allowed 31 home runs. The Pirates are most likely going to ask for an infielder, as that is also a place where they lack talent. The Yankees will not get rid of Gleyber Torres nor likely Miguel Andujar, so the next person on the list is Thario Estrada. The Yankees would just be giving up too much for someone who has only proven to be elite for one year. Cole has two years remaining on his contract unlike the younger prospects the Yankees have.  

Photo Credit: NY Post

Cole has played all five of his MLB seasons for the Pirates who are in the National League. This means he rarely faces the designated hitter and that can really affect a pitcher, especially one coming to the spotlight of the Bronx. One interesting fact about Cole was that he ranked tenth last year in home runs allowed. Just imagine if he was pitching in Yankee stadium, that number would likely increase.

I just don’t believe it is worth it to give up the prospects, when the Yankees have players who have not even been given a chance to prove themselves. I think the Yankees should wait it out and give opportunities to these younger guys to show all of the MLB that the Yankees are young and not to be messed with. I personally believe these guys will prove themselves and the Yankees won’t regret passing on Cole. If they fail, there will be better free agents out there who have produced and succeeded more than Gerrit Cole has, but only time will tell if that’s the case.

Article by: Cameron Hauze

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