NEWSLETTER
This is some seriously muddied and back-and-forth reporting. I don’t criticize the reporters, mind you, because these are pros who are clearly getting strange information from sources they usually trust.
Last night, Jeff Passan reported that the Yankees and Pirates were working on a deal involving starter Gerrit Cole, and it was a matter of “when” not “if” a trade would come together.
Sources: The New York Yankees are working on a deal to acquire starting pitcher Gerrit Cole from the Pittsburgh Pirates. Sides are talking, and while a final package has not come together, there is confidence. "A matter of when rather than if," one source said.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 22, 2017
Jon Heyman, perhaps in response to Passan’s report, offered that he wasn’t quite hearing the same thing:
yankees have always loved gerrit cole, and maybe they work a deal eventually. but still hearing of one big holdup: pirates want gleyber to headline package, yanks want frazier to headline it.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 22, 2017
This morning, Heyman expanded, reiterating that there’s a stalemate about the primary prospect in the deal:
hear there has been no positive movement in recent days on gerrit cole talks with the yankees. they are still apart on the package going back. could be something for later, but no evidence anything's happening now.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 22, 2017
pirates are said to have been seeking gleyber torres. can't see yankees doing that. nyy also has cobb, yu, others on radar.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 22, 2017
Later this morning, Jim Bowden jumped into the fray, proclaiming that a deal was close, and suggesting that the Pirates backed off their demand for former Cubs prospect Gleyber Torres:
#Yankees #Pirates close to deal that will send Gerrit Cole to the Yankees….Gleyber Torres will NOT be part of the trade according to a #Pirates source
— Jim Bowden (@JimBowdenGM) December 22, 2017
Bowden’s report was immediately refuted, however, by Heyman and Mark Feinsand:
to reiterate, yanks and pirates remain apart on gerrit cole. yanks have the pieces to make it work. but they have no plans to surrender gleyber torres, much less the torres-frazier-others request.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 22, 2017
I'm told by a source that "nothing has changed" since this morning and that the Yankees and Pirates are not closing in on a deal for Gerrit Cole. That said, the idea that Gleyber Torres wouldn't be a part of a deal makes sense. The Yankees seemingly have no plans to trade him.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) December 22, 2017
So, what’s actually going on? Well, reading Passan’s full article on the subject suggests the sides know a deal is going to happen sooner or later, and it’s just a matter of each holding out a bit on the final deal. Even if the Yankees keep refusing to deal Torres, Passan indicates, the thinking is still that the Pirates will eventually accept an alternative package from the Yankees, who are very rich in prospect talent.
My guess is that Cole is a Yankee before too long, which will mean a couple of important things for the Cubs:
- It will take the Yankees out of the market for additional pitching, especially considering their luxury tax situation. That means they will not be a surprise late entrant on Yu Darvish, and they will not be in a “showdown” with the Cubs on Alex Cobb.
- It will almost certainly be the start of a broader sell-off for the Pirates, who will move out Andrew McCutchen next, and perhaps other talent in an effort to effectuate a one or two-year mini-rebuild (they still have a lot of young, big league/big-league-ready talent, so I doubt they’d strip it all down). In this era of “good teams” and “rebuilding teams”, your playoff odds – specifically, a Wild Card shot – go up quite a bit if your division has more rebuilding teams than the other two divisions in your league.
And then, of course, there are the longer term impacts, depending on what the Pirates get in return. Let’s just hope we don’t have to see the Cubs facing Torres regularly in the NL Central, and thinking about old trades …
