On Saturday, the Houston Astros acquired young right-handed ace Gerrit Cole from the Pittsburgh Pirates in a five-player trade. In return, the Pirates received two right-handed pitchers from Joe Musgrove and Michael Feliz, third baseman Colin Moran and outfielder Jason Martin.
Trading for Gerrit Cole probably solidifies the Astros as an immediate favorite to not only return but win back-to-back World Series. Their rotation was already one of the best in the AL if not the whole league last season. Now they have a rotation led by Dallas Keuchel with Justin Verlander and Lance McCullers following behind them. So all Cole does for this team is make it scarier than it already is.
Cole has a career 3.50 era and has thrown over 700 innings in just 5 seasons with the Pirates. Cole is not known for getting through a lot of innings, but he threw over 200 innings in 2017, which almost 100 more innings than his 2016 season. Last season he also posted a career-high 4.26 era.
Even Cole having a down season in 2017, he can still give the team innings. That is important to keep this bullpen as lethal as it was in 2017. Innings is what the Astros should expect from Gerrit Cole because their bullpen saw some fatigue toward the back half of the 2017 season. This now takes pressure off of the bullpen as well as the young, star-studded lineup.
Luckily, Cole has a cheap salary of only $6.75 million. The downside is that it is only a one-year deal. So this seems like the Astros only want to rent the player, but they could sign him long-term. If they wish to do so, it should happen soon in order for them to avoid arbitration next season.
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