Houston Astros: It would be sacrilegious if Gerrit Cole signs with Yankees

Free-agent pitcher Gerrit Cole will be visiting the Yankees this week and if he signs with them, it would be sacrilegious toward the Houston Astros. How?

Houston Astros fans — we’ve got less than a week to go before the start of the Winter Meetings and the flurry of free agency movement will be upon us. We’ll be seeing the numbers drop from mega-deals like flies and our jaws will continue to drop from the amount of cash being thrown at this year’s free agency class.

Gerrit Cole will be at the top of the list, he’ll be A-number-one and could make a brand new start of it with the New York Yankees, according to the latest report from MLB Insider Ken Rosenthal. Enough of quoting Frank Sinatra’s infamous ballad but the reality of life without Cole is coming to fruition.

With estimates that this man could fetch a multi-year deal worth up to $250 million is certainly not something to sneeze at and the ball now is in the Houston Astros‘ diamond on whether or not they’ll match.

We already know that the Yankees are flush with cash and will pay the premium — in terms of the luxury tax — in order to keep their team competitive year-after-year and Cole knows this.

In baseball, things are so different in comparison to other professional sports because a lot of times players don’t get free agency until their late 20s or early 30s when players of other sports like in basketball and football are granted it usually in their mid-20s.

Cole has a unique opportunity to cash in on the fruits of his labor and that’s by securing a multi-year to secure his financial future.

With all of the needs, the Houston Astros have to fulfill this offseason, awarding a multi-year contract to a player who had one outstanding season seems like an awfully risky move to the powers that be.

That’s why they’ll be scouring the market for a less-expensive option and they’ve already been linked to rumors for the services of one Zack Wheeler.

We knew Cole would eventually make this visit with Scott Boras, the ruthless yet productive sports agent that represents the 2019 AL Cy Young Award runner-up.

I’m all for Cole getting a payday but a contract with the Yankees would be sacrilegious on every

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account, a team that the Houston Astros battle year-in and out to contend for at title. It would be as if he were joining the enemy, just for the sake of padding his balance sheet.

It’s hard to stomach such a notion but it’s definitely a reality.

Look, I get it, he wants to get paid but he can do that anywhere else in the AL — except for the Boston Red Sox too — or even back in the NL, where he got the start to his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

We’ll have to see where this goes but I know the Houston Astros will make a valiant run for Cole’s services but will ultimately lose out on a team willing to put up the collateral of cash to ensure a big name like his is a headliner on their roster.

Let’s keep an eye out — go Houston Astros!

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Cole, 29, posted a 20-5 record, along with a 2.50 ERA, while tossing 326 strikeouts to 59 earned runs in 212.1 innings pitched last season. His 2.64 FIP and 0.90 WHIP are career-highs for him. He also had a 0.90 ERA while tossing 47 strikeouts to seven earned runs this past postseason through 36.2 innings pitched.

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