The Gerrit Cole Trade

Couple of thoughts:

• Oh my goodness, the Astros are going to have four 20 game winners.
• Oh my goodness, the Astros are going to win the World Series again.
• Oh my goodness, Jeff Luhnow is a Jedi and can mind trick people into trading him players for actual peanuts.

Ok, couple of real thoughts:

Everyone calm down. While the Astros are making very savvy moves this offseason, there are still 162 games to be played plus 11 wins needed in the playoffs.

But…still.

The Astros’ acquisition of Gerrit Cole signifies that the 2017 World Champions have no plans of resting on their laurels but rather have every intention of making a run at being the first repeat World Series winners in 18 years.

The Astros pitching rotation going into 2018:

• Justin Verlander
• Dallas Keuchel
• Gerrit Cole
• Lance McCullers
• Charlie Morton

Charlie Morton, who threw the final pitch in Game 7, is the Astros’ 5th starter.

Also, wanna see something cool?

• 2011 – Gerrit Cole (1st Round, #1 pick)
• 2011 – George Springer (1st Round, #11 pick)
• 2012 – Carlos Correa (1st Round, #1 pick)
• 2013 – Mark Appel (1st Round, #1 pick)
• 2014 – Brady Aiken (1st Round, #1 pick)
• 2014 – Doug Fisher (1st Round, #37 pick) – (note: It is significant that he was not given up in the Cole trade)
• 2015 – Alex Bregman (1st Round, #2 pick)
• 2015 – Kyle Tucker (1st Round, #5 pick) – (note: It is significant that he was not given up in the Cole trade)
• 2016 – Forrest Whitley (1st Round, #17) – (note: It is significant that he was not given up in the Cole trade. You seeing a trend here? Luhnow is a genius.)

That’s a lot of youth and vigor.

Now, let’s talk bullpen….or rather ask the questions we are so often used to asking.

• Can the Astros get a lefty in the bullpen? Ummmm, they saw a lot of one this postseason. Fun Fact: Watson also debuted in 2011 for the Pittsburgh Pirates along with…you guessed it…Gerrit Cole.
• Could Brad Peacock challenge Ken Giles for the closer role?
• Is Joe Smith the most normal name in baseball? Is Joe Smith a better than normal pitcher?
• Can Hector Rendon make an impact?
• Can the Astros bullpen simply just go from being a liability to a…well…bullpen?

All things considered. It’s time to get excited…

Reasonably excited.