If you're in charge, do you let Gerrit Cole walk or pay him?

Baddest man on the planet

 

If Crane doesn’t pay Cole will be be worse than Tilman?

 

Worse than...

wait there is no GM for the Texans.

Worse than that!!!

 

If Crane is rocking 2 WS rings he could trade all our players and line up toddlers for public execution and he would still be a good owner in my book.

 

Crane, Lunhow and company cannot let Gerrit Cole pitch in another uniform next season. They are smart businessmen and can figure out a way to make it work in the budget for two years until Greinke’s deal expires.

Cole is the long-term ace and anchor of this rotation.

 

Said this in the other thread, If Kate and Amy become BFFs this summer/fall, maybe she can put an ear into Gerrit to stay in Houston.

 

Can fans or company donate some money to the team to keep Cole?

 

Jeez thats dark, worse than clubbing baby seals...

 

Couldn't you just move Grienke? Or is his deal too complicated?

Astros might be better off going after Wheeler. Verlander, Wheeler, Grienke, McCullers, Whitley, Urquidy

 

Cole for MVP??

 

It’s certainly possible because Arizona paid a lot of his remaining salary.

 

So here's a question. How long to elite power pitcher typically maintain their peak?

We can all tell that this year, Cole has been at that level. If we add 2018, that makes 2 years in a row. How many power pitchers maintain their peak level for 3 or 4 consecutive years?

Because say you pay Cole and his effectiveness drops a bit next year and in 2021, would it have still be worth it?

 

I guess it would depend on how much he get's paid. I don't know if Cole would take some kind of discount to be a contender for a few more years, but that would be great.

 

I refuse to believe Luhnow didn't leave himself a way to get it done if need be. The only question is (beyond the money) what will it cost Houston in other contracts/flexibility/etc?

 

When you have a pitcher in his prime doing the kinds of things Cole’s doing as an Astro, you figure out a way to keep him in your organization. Zach Wheeler is a talented pitcher, but, no, the Astros are not better off letting the best starting pitcher in baseball go somewhere else in free agency.

 

Everyone relax. When Luhnow picked up Cole, he was a slightly above league-average pitcher with a 100 mph fastball and with tons of upside. Astros worked their pitching magic and he's a Cy Young winner (basically). Luhnow and his team will find the next Cole, just like they found Charlie Morton before him, and Ryan Pressley, and helped Colin McHugh. We have to face a reality: Cole is gonna get north of $200M and Crane already said that it'll be tough to re-sign him. I just think we ride him as far as we can go this year, hope for the best, but trust that we'll find the next diamond in the rough-- I mean once for the organization is lucky, twice is coincidence, three or more times is true skill and great coaching. It certainly feels like the Astros are able to scout out and 'fix' many potential stars and if we do manage to sign on Cole, it'll be tough to keep Springer, Correa etc. Next year we'll have Verlander, Greinke, McCullers, Sanchez, and probably a new pitcher who was also a slightly above league average guy they can turn into another star. I want Cole back but we have to be realistic and also think consequentially about what it means to the make-up of the rest of the team. The man can only pitch every 5 days (ok--maybe every 3 in the playoffs--BEAST!)

 

Sanchez is missing most of the season with recovery from his injuries. He's a possibility to be non-tendered.
If we could trade Greinke for prospects to an NL team (Braves? Brewers?) to replenish the farm and so he can go back to hitting (which he seems to love) and move that $20 to Cole, I'd be down. I know it almost certainly won't happen, but I love playing fantasy GM.

 

Not sure if this has been posted.....

”When Cole retired the Rays in order in the third on a grounder and two fly balls, it marked the first time since Aug. 1 that he had not struck out at least one batter in an inning, a stretch of 73 straight innings. According to Elias Sports Bureau research, it's the longest such streak during the expansion era (since 1961), and second place isn't even close: Pedro Martinez is next on the list with a 40-inning streak in 1999.”

 

I wish I was as confident as you the Astros will simply find and develop the next Cole so easily. I don't think it's ANYWHERE near as easy as you make it sound here....otherwise people like McHugh, Peacock, Miley, and most of our bullpen would be dominant too.