BRADENTON, Fla. — Not long after it was reported the Pirates and Astros had come to an agreement on a Gerrit Cole trade Wednesday afternoon, another report called such news a "false rumor."
Per Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports, there is "no deal" after all.
Source: "No deal" for Gerrit Cole to Houston. "False rumor."
As is the case with these things, talks could pick back up quickly. For now, though, Gerrit Cole to Houston is not happening.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 10, 2018
Passan's report came on the heels of a tweet from Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle, who said that he spoke with Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow directly. Per Kaplan, Luhnow admitted that while he had talked to several teams about trades, “at this point, nothing is imminent."
Just after noon, Jon Morosi of MLB.com had tweeted that the Astros and Pirates had "reached agreement" on a Cole trade. No details were cited.
Source: #Astros and #Pirates have reached agreement on Gerrit Cole trade. @MLBNetwork @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) January 10, 2018
However, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com and Passan almost immediately reported that a deal has not been completed, adding that Cole has not been informed of a trade.
The latest update comes two days after news broke of the two clubs discussing a trade involving the 27-year-old right-handed starting pitcher.
This isn’t the first time a trade was thought to be close to completion. Passan reported last month that the Yankees and Pirates engaged in trade negotiations involving Cole, adding that Pittsburgh was ‘motivated’ to deal its ace.
However, the two clubs reportedly couldn't come to terms because the Pirates were insisting that one of the Yankees' top two prospects — Gleyber Torres and Estevan Floriel — be included in the deal. The defending World Series champion Astros, equipped with one of baseball's deepest farm systems, are thought to have the ammunition to complete a deal, though.
According to Passan's initial report, one player included in negotiations between the Astros and Pirates is Derek Fisher, a 24-year-old outfielder who made his major league debut in July. Fisher, a left-handed hitting corner outfielder, batted .212/.307/.356 with five home runs and 17 RBI in 166 plate appearances for the Astros.
A first-round pick in 2014, he hit 21 home runs with 66 RBI and a .318 average in 84 games at Triple-A this season. Following 2016, he was ranked as the club’s No. 9 prospect by Baseball America.
He would fit one of the organization’s needs, outfielder, but Passan reported that Fisher would not be the centerpiece of a trade for Cole. Instead, any deal would likely be centered around either outfielder Kyle Tucker or right-handed starting pitcher Forrest Whitley.
Tucker, 20, was a first-round pick in 2015 and split this past season between High-A and Double-A, batting a combined .274/.346/.528 with 25 home runs and 90 RBI. It was enough for MLB Pipeline to rank him as the Astros’ top prospect entering the offseason.
Whitley, 20, was a first-round pick in 2016 and finished this past season in Double-A, allowing only three runs in 14 2/3 innings with a 0.81 WHIP. But reports Wednesday indicate the Astros do not want to trade Whitley, who is regarded as one of the fastest-rising prospects in all of baseball.
Although an agreement was not reached, the Astros and any other club will likely be aggressive in trade discussions over the next 24 hours. Cole is entering his second of three arbitration-eligible seasons and is projected to make just $7.5 million in 2018.
The deadline to file arbitration figures is Friday, so the Astros or any other team would likely prefer to acquire Cole before then in order to file their own figures for a contract, rather than inheriting the Pirates' choice.
There is no shortage of interest, either. Like the Yankees, the Astros would rather acquire a cheaper, controllable starting pitcher than pay the asking price of free agents such as Jake Arrieta or Yu Darvish. Cole isn't a free agent until after next season, but perhaps his numbers in 2017 have made it difficult for teams to evaluate just how valuable he is.
The first overall pick of the 2011 draft, Cole has thrown at least 200 innings in two of the past three seasons, including 2015 when he was named an All-Star. Cole was limited to 116 innings in 2016 because of injuries.
He returned in 2017 with a 1.25 WHIP in a career-high 33 starts — 12 more than his injury-shortened 2016 season — and had the second-highest strikeout total of his career while ranking third in the National League in innings. Additionally, he averaged 8.69 strikeouts per nine innings with a 3.1 fWAR — the second-best mark of his career.
But Cole allowed 1.37 home runs per nine innings — the seventh-worst mark in the National League — including at least one home run in 21 of his starts to finish with a 4.26 ERA which, according to ERA+, was 1 percent better than the league average.
An American League team may not value him as a top-of-the-rotation starter because of the presence of the designated hitter, which could make trade negotiations tricky. The Pirates will want a sizable package that would include both position players and pitchers, but perhaps the Astros stalled because the asking price was too high.