Is Gerritt Cole on line to win the Cy Young Award in 2018?



… he should send Bob Nutting a thank you card

In 2011, Gerritt Cole was the number one pick in the Major League Baseball draft. The Pittsburgh Pirates thought of him as their savior.

Instead, the Houston Astros now regard him as their savior even though they hardly needed to be save, winning the World Series last year. Right now, he has a 6-1 record with a 2.20 ERA, which was 1.8 last week and is 1.18 below his lifetime average. He was number 1 in FanGraphs pitching. He defeated the Diamondbacks as he struck out 16 and allowed just one hit in a complete game. MLB.com called it “one of the 15 best nine-inning starts in history.” One website described the performance and Cole thus far, “Cole’s outing Friday was certainly his best of the season (and probably the best of any pitcher this season), but it was no aberration. On the year, the 27-year-old righty boasts a 1.42 ERA in seven starts, with MLB bests in strikeouts (77) and FIP (1.55). He has quite possibly been the best pitcher in baseball this season, fulfilling the potential that made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 MLB Draft and the fourth-place finisher in 2015 NL Cy Young voting.” Many forget that after 19 wins in 2015 Cole was fourth in the Cy Young voting. Then Bob Nutting decided to de-emphasize professional baseball in Pittsburgh. He struggled mightily the next two seasons as did a team that was depleted of talent.

“Steal of the offseason”

So, how did the Astros make this great acquisition? Because of one of the cheapest owners in MLB, Bob Nutting of the Pirates. He wanted to shed the team of those who were costing him bucks. MLB.com said this about the acquisition: From the moment the Astros acquired Cole in January, in exchange for four of Houston’s fungible depth pieces, the trade seemed like the steal of the offseason, and that was before the former Pirate transformed into a version of Craig Kimbrel who can pitch nine innings at a time …” Even on a bad day, Cole has been impressive. “In Cole’s worst start of the season (three runs allowed in 6 2/3 innings against Oakland), he still struck out 12 and didn’t walk a batter.”

Fungible depth pieces? In other words, the Pirates unloaded him for some cheap players who will probably never develop into guy Nutting would have to pay a million bucks a year. Maybe those guys will turn into starters, but I doubt it. The GM was told to unload Cole and Andrew McCutcheon, and he did so.

Cole was thrilled with the trade

After the trade, Cole was asked what it meant to go from a team that is unwilling to keep its best players to one that is doing so. ““It’s really special,” Cole said. “Obviously, the organization puts — values me very high, and that always feels good as a player. And it’s refreshing to come to an environment where the team is willing to continually put resources into the club and continue to move forward and try to provide the best possible product for its fans.” Take that, Bob Nutting.

Next installment

The Milwaukee Brewers: How a small market team can succeed with a great owner and top management personnel.

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