By Jordan Long
The MLB Winter Meetings are taking place in San Diego, California. They will last until Thursday. This is where MLB franchises discuss league business. Free agent players sign contracts as well as trades occur during this week. One major free agent who is being discussed is pitcher Gerrit Cole.
Cole pitched the previous two seasons in Houston. Last year was his best year in MLB with a career-high 20 wins. He only had an impressive low 5 losses. His ERA was an outstanding 2.50. Cole rarely gave up walks with 48.
Cole took some chances with throwing the ball in the middle of the zone. Opponents made him pay with home runs, giving up 29. Those home runs never seemed to shake him because of his ability to strike batters out and force ground balls.
Cole helped the Astros make it all the way to the World Series. In the Astros’ postseason run, Cole pitched in 5 games with a record of 4-1. He was almost unhittable with an ERA of 1.72. The Astros lost the World Series to the Washington Nationals in 7 games.
Houston tried to keep Cole and presented him a qualifying offer of $17.8 million. Cole didn’t accept it. By doing so, he became a free agent.
Plenty of teams could be in the market for Cole. He is going to improve any starting rotation. He can be the ace or the 2nd pitcher in the rotation. Whoever signs Cole knows he can win at least 10 to 15 games a year, helping that franchise win the division and make a run to the World Series.
What it will come down to is money. Cole is looking for a long-term contract. It could be an 8-year deal worth between $250 million and $280 million. That equals $31.25 million or $35 million per year. There aren’t many teams who are going to want to spend that amount of money. There are two that could, the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Angels. They both could use him. Adding Cole to either one of these teams will make them the favorite to win their divisions and possibly a run to the World Series in the playoffs.
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