Relative to the last month, today was an extremely active day in baseball! The Pirates traded Gerrit Cole to the Astros and the Twins signed Addison Reed. And there’s a little more to get into as you settle in for your Saturday night …
brad hand passed physical, deal official. $19.75M, 3 years. $10M option in 2021, $1M buyout. #padres
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 14, 2018
The New York #Mets are in serious discussions to sign free agent first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. #Dodgers
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) January 14, 2018
The biggest criticism of the Pirates, as multiple evaluators have said, is they had a hugely valuable asset in Gerrit Cole and didn’t get a potential star. Musgrove and Feliz are good. Moran is fine. When low-revenue teams shed frontline talent, it’s imperative to get some back.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 14, 2018
I'm assuming Pirates fans are freaking out b/c the return doesn't include Whitley or Tucker. I get it. But Cole is, what.. a top-40-50 SP?
58th-best ERA in 2016-17 (min 200 IP)
63rd-best xwOBA in 16-17 (min 500 PA)With talent for much, and much better in 2015, of course.
— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) January 14, 2018
Anyway, I remember the Pirates got absolutely crushed for trading Mark Melancon for Felipe Rivero, and I'd say *that* worked out pretty well, so I'm inclined to see what happens here.
— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) January 14, 2018