Here's how the Yankees are already recruiting Gerrit Cole
FREE AGENCY UPDATE
06 November 2019
FREE AGENCY UPDATE
Gerrit Cole has the option of playing for about any team he wants, and now players are already contacting Cole and trying to recruit him to play for their team.
Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia has been through this free agency process before, and he's a California guy that decided to take the big money to play in New York.
Sabathia recently appeared on the R2C2 podcast saying he's already talked to Cole about playing in New York, and it sounds like he's hinting that if the Yankees pay him enough money, playing on the West Coast won't be a critical factor in the decision. You can listen to the podcast below.
Warning, this podcast contains NSFW language.
New episode drops tomorrow, but here's a sneak preview of @CC_Sabathia talking about his "West Coast guy" convos with Gerrit Cole đ
â R2C2 is UNINTERRUPTED (@R2C2) November 6, 2019
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The Astros have already been swept in four series this season. They were swept in four series all of last season. As Mexico City says bienvenidos to the Astros this weekend, there are certainly more than a few folks fretting that the Astros are already close to saying adios to playoff hopes. The Astros are not at the point of no return, though one can see it out there on the horizon. It wouldnât take another month of their garbage level 7-19 performance for the season to be essentially down the drain.
If the Astros were in the American League East, theyâd already be ten games out of second place. But theyâre not! If in the AL Central theyâd be eleven and a half games back of Cleveland. But theyâre not! Dozens of teams have rebounded to win divisions from larger deficits much later in the season than the Astros face presently. The Seattle Mariners lead the thus far weak AL West at 13-12. The Astros being six and a half games in arrears of the Mâs and six back of the Texas Rangers in late April is far from optimal but nowhere near devastating.
Multiple media outlets have noted how few teams historically have started a season in as stumblebum a fashion as the 2024 Astros and wound up making the playoffs. What every outlet I have seen noting that failed to include: this is just the third season since Major League Baseball added a third Wild Card to each leagueâs postseason field. So, while 7-19 out of the gate is indisputably awful, it is not the death knell to the extent it has been over generations of MLB.
The issue isnât where the Astros sit in the standings, itâs that they have played atrocious baseball and arenât providing reason for optimism that a stark turnaround is imminent. The starting rotation is the best hope. Justin Verlander has made two starts. Framber Valdez rejoins the rotation Sunday. Cristian Javier should be a week or so away. Obviously, Ronel Blanco isnât going to continue pitching as well as he has through his first four starts. But if he is a good number four starter, thatâs fine if the top three coming into the season pitch to reasonably hoped for form.
Hunter Brown simply is not a good big league pitcher. Maybe he someday fulfills his potential, but the data at this point are clear. What can Brown do for you? Not much. Spencer Arrighetti needs better command to be a good big league starter. J.P. France was a revelation over his first 17 starts last season, but since has looked like the guy who posted underwhelming numbers when in the minor leagues. If the Astros wind up with 50-plus starts from Brown/Arrighetti/France their goose will probably be cooked.
The only MLB teams with worse staff earned run averages than the Astrosâ horrific 5.07 are the Chicago White Sox (Wait! They have Martin Maldonado!) and Colorado Rockies. At 3-22 the White Sox are on an early pace to post the worst record in the history of Major League Baseball. The Rockies never have a chance to post good pitching stats because of the mile high offensive freak show environment in Denver.
Way to go, Joe
Props to Joe Espada for his conviction in making what he believed to be the right call in pulling Verlander after four and a third innings Thursday at Wrigley Field. Verlander allowed no runs but had reached 95 pitches in just the second outing of the injury-delayed start to his season. Not easy for a rookie manager skippering what has been a Titanic journey thus far to pull a surefire Hall of Famer who was two outs away from qualifying for a win. Many were no doubt poised to destroy Espada had Rafael Montero given up the lead in the fifth. Verlander was angry at being pulled from any chance at his 259th career win. Understood, but the managerâs job is to make the decisions he thinks are in the ballclubâs overall best interest. That Montero and Bryan Abreu combined to blow the lead in the sixth is immaterial.
Then there's the offenseâŚ
Six runs total the last four games. Scored more than four runs in just one of the last nine games. Timely hitting largely non-existent.
At last check Alex Bregman still hawks that âBreggy Bombâ salsa. At the plate, heâs been mostly stuck in âBreggy Bumâ mode, including zero bombs (home runs). 23 games played without a homer is Bregmanâs longest drought since 2017 when he had separate 35 and 27 game stretches between dingers. Bregman has a history of slow first months of the season, but never anything as inept as heâs posted thus far. A litany of lazy fly balls, infield pops, and routine grounders add up to a .216 batting average and feeble .566 OPS. Reference point: Martin Maldonadoâs worst OPS season with the Astros was .573. If Bregman was a young guy handed a starting job coming out of spring training, if a viable alternative were available, thereâs a chance heâd be a Sugar Land Space Cowboy right now. Bregmanâs track record makes it a decent bet that he winds up with decent numbers, but nothing special. Certainly nothing remotely worth the 10 years 300 million dollars or whatever Bregman and agent Scott Boras intend(ed) to seek on the free agent market this coming offseason. Two hits Thursday did get Bregman to the 1000 hit plateau for his career.
Despite arriving south of the border with his batting average at .346, even Jose Altuve has his warts. With runners in scoring position, Altuve has one hit this season. One. In 16 at bats. Small sample size, but it counts. Thatâs .063. Yordan Alvarez has been no great shakes either, five for 24 (.208) with RISP.
One wonders what would happen if the Astros got a hold of and âlostâ Jose Abreuâs passport/visa this weekend in Mexico City and Abreu couldnât get back into the U.S. after the two-game set with the Rockies.
Catch our weekly Stone Cold âStros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via YouTube: stone cold stros - YouTube with the complete audio available via Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.