Serving as the general manager of the Pirates sometimes forces one to traffic in the oxymoronic. As Neal Huntington attempted to build a better roster for 2018 than what the Pirates had in ‘16 and ’17, he decided that the best way to do so was to trade his best starting pitcher.
Gerrit Cole is going to be a Houston Astro, for real this time, as the Pirates made the first of what could be a few moves to dismantle their core and push contention further away.
The Pirates agreed Saturday to trade Cole to the World Series champions for third baseman Colin Moran, righties Joe Musgrove and Michael Feliz, and minor league outfielder Jason Martin.
“Flat-out elated,” Cole said by phone Saturday night. “It’s just an unbelievable opportunity.”
Trading Cole made real what Huntington mentioned as a possibility at the end of the winter meetings: that the Pirates might decide against attempting to contend in 2018 and instead shoot for ’19 and beyond.
“The reality that in Gerrit’s situation, while he’s going to be a very effective major league pitcher for the next two years, it was only going to be two more years in Pittsburgh before he tested free agency,” Huntington said of the decision to move Cole and look to the future.
Cole’s 4.26 ERA and 31 home runs allowed in 2017 do not scream staff ace, but the first overall pick in the 2011 draft was the best starter on the roster. He made 33 starts, including opening day, and pitched 203 innings. He debuted in 2013 and started two games in the NLDS, and made the All-Star team in ’15, when he finished fourth in the Cy Young voting.
Cole spoke highly of the Pirates, the fans and the bonds he created with his teammates. He said he enjoyed the way the Pirates tried to embody the brand of baseball that would resonate with Pittsburghers.
“I would really just say those first three years, what more could you ask for?” Cole said when reflecting on his Pirates tenure, referring to the Pirates’ three consecutive playoff appearances. “Without being greedy, we had all the opportunity in the world to do what we could. Sometimes luck was against our side. It sure as hell wasn't for lack of effort, lack of focus or lack of intent.”
Of three players the Pirates were most likely to trade — Cole, Andrew McCutchen and Josh Harrison — Cole’s age (27), salary ($6.75 million in 2018), years of control (two) and pedigree made him the most valuable. The Pirates could still move McCutchen or Harrison, but Huntington said this move did not portend another.
“Not necessarily,” he said. “We will continue to engage and find opportunities that make this organization better, that put us in a position be a better major league team than we were the last two years.”
On one hand, the trade could fill immediate needs. The three players with major league experience, Moran, Feliz and Musgrove, have a combined 15 years of team control, which Huntington contrasted with Cole’s two. Moran, the sixth overall pick in the 2013 draft, could fill the void at third base created with Jung Ho Kang’s ongoing visa issues, with help from David Freese. Musgrove becomes an option to fill Cole's rotation spot — as do Steven Brault and Nick Kingham — or help in the bullpen, and Feliz, who struck out 13.1 batters per nine innings in 2017, should bolster the relief corps.
But some evaluators on Saturday saw the deal as light, viewing Musgrove and Feliz as relievers and not sold on Moran as a major league regular. The Astros did not make pitching prospect Forrest Whitley available, and they also retained prospects Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez.
Whether or not the Pirates retain McCutchen or Harrison, competing without Cole will be hard. So as Huntington endeavors to “ put [the Pirates] in a position to be a better major league team,” wouldn't retaining Cole make them a better major league team?
“It's the balance of immediate and moderate and longer term,” Huntington said.
Bill Brink: bbrink@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BrinkPG.
First Published: January 13, 2018, 11:47 p.m.
Updated: January 14, 2018, 2:24 a.m.