The Pittsburgh Pirates enter day three of the 2017 Winter Meetings gaining steam on a Gerrit Cole trade while looking for bargains.
The Pittsburgh Pirates will hit day three of the 2017 Winter Meetings today having not quite yet made a substantial move, but making headlines nonetheless.
The groundswell of teams pestering the Pirates about trading Gerrit Cole has grown to now include the Baltimore Orioles and Milwaukee Brewers. The smattering of interest is enough to convince Buster Olney that Cole will be traded:
Industry evaluators convinced the Pirates are prepared to move Gerrit Cole, if they can find the right match. Arguably best available starting pitcher in the market.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 12, 2017
Pirates Breakdown has confirmed that the Pittsburgh Pirates now do intend to deal Cole, perhaps as early as this week.
The New York Yankees have been considered the front-runners for Cole’s services since talk of a trade began. PBD has been in touch with someone with knowledge of the Pirates’ thinking in regards to a NYY trade, and can confirm that Pittsburgh is now looking into a deal with a framework around highly-touted LHP Prospect Justus Sheffield. In fact, we are being told that a “loose” framework is in place, although our sources were quick to characterize that framework as “As secure as a straw house.” So, take that for what you will
The Pirates had previously been enamored with 3B prospect Miguel Andujar, but it now appears as if the New York Yankees will hold onto him after trading away Chase Headley.
What about Harrison and Cutch?
Put simply, the Pittsburgh Pirates will not be trading Andrew McCutchen during these meetings, and that’s probably the right call.
Not only will the Pirates have a nice trade chip in McCutcheny for a contender to grab, McCutchen will also have half of a season to put a good performance on tape, driving up his value. Of course, if McCutchen is playing at a high level, it bodes well for the Pittsburgh Pirates’ chances in 2018.
The market for Josh Harrison is lukewarm right now, as the 2B/UT has been on several teams’ radar from the jump.
A fourth outfielder?
In his press availability yesterday, Huntington hinted that a fourth outfielder would be a logical target for the Pirates, who would be using Sean Rodriguez and Adam Frazier – two outfield options – at third base extensively.
The market for a veteran fourth outfielder-type is very deep, so we won’t waste much time going over options in this space. We will, however, point you to this post from recent weeks outlining Jarrod Dyson as a fourth outfield option.
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