The latest on Gerrit Cole and the Yankees (12/26)

The Gerrit Cole trade winds continue to swirl around the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Yankees.

Now that we are on the other side of Christmas we should have a resolution to the Gerrit Cole saga one way or another soon. What’s the latest on a potential trade of the Pirate ace?

Well, on Tuesday morning Kristie Ackert and Bill Madden of the New York Post had a piece on the situation. Ackert and Madden said that pitcher Chance Adams and third baseman Miguel Andujar are two names that keep popping up as players in a potential Gerrit Cole trade.

Adams and Andujar are two names that have routinely popped up in any rumors surrounding Cole and the Yankees. Chance Adams is the Yankees’ top pitching prospect and coming off a season where he posted a 1.03 ERA, 3.51 FIP, and averaged 8.23 K/9 in six starts at Double-A. He then followed that up by making 21 starts at Triple-A and owning a 2.89 ERA, 3.76 FIP, and he averaged 8.04 K/9. He also allowed just 11 home runs in 150 1/3 innings pitched between the two stops.

The bigger piece of the two, however, could very well be Miguel Andujar. The right-handed hitting third baseman posted a .364 on-base percentage, he slugged .502, posted a .185 ISO, and owned a .380 wOBA and a 139 wRC+ at Triple-A last season. He then hit a pair of doubles and drew a walk in eight Major League plate appearances last fall.

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At the center of the trade though would be outfielder Clint Frazier. This comes as no surprise as Frazier is one of the top-25 prospects in all of baseball and he is a player whose name has routinely popped up in trade talks between the Bucs and Bombers.

According to Ackert and Madden, the Pirates are no longer insisting on infielder Gleyber Torres being involved in a Gerrit Cole trade. This makes a trade more likely to happen as the Yankees are very hesitant to move Torres.

The New York Post duo also believes there is a possibility that Josh Harrison could be involved in a potential Gerrit Cole trade as well. This, of course, would require the Yankees to sweeten the pot a bit more.

Regardless of how things shake out with Cole, there should be a resolution soon. If the Pirates do not get a package that satisfies them they are more than content to keep their ace and prepare to make a run at returning to the postseason in 2018. Additionally, both teams need to get moving with what’s next in their off-season plans and the longer this saga drags out the more difficult that becomes.

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