After pulling on a white Astros jersey with his No. 45, Gerrit Cole was introduced to reporters Wednesday as the newest acquisition of the World Series champions.
The Astros, declining to be complacent after reaching the sport's pinnacle, acquired the right-handed starting pitcher from the Pirates for four players Saturday.
Cole, 27, recited some of the reasons why he's excited for the move, including the chance to rejoin friend and former teammate Charlie Morton. His most telling answer, though, came when he was asked how special it was to join a club that decided to add to its formidable roster this offseason.
"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."
That is something the Pirates have not done since they won 98 games in 2015, which was their third consecutive season making the postseason. They traded away Neil Walker during the Winter Meetings that offseason.
Francisco Liriano and Mark Melancon were also traded away during 2016. Additionally, the Pirates have been relatively inactive in free agency. Once they missed the postseason for a second consecutive year in 2017, Neal Huntington admitted he was deciding whether to add to his current roster — including Cole and Andrew McCutchen — or to "retool," a scenario that would surely include trading away the players who helped the Pirates break a 20-year playoff drought.
The Pirates finally revealed their plans for 2018 over the past week, first trading Cole and then dealing McCutchen to the Giants for two players on Monday. However, Huntington told reporters during a news conference following McCutchen's trade that neither move necessarily impacted the club's chances to contend.
"Well, as Andrew and I have talked about, the reality is he had one year left in Pittsburgh under the best of circumstances,” Huntington said. “As a result, with where we are on the win curve, the Gerrit Cole trade did not dramatically impact our potential to win the World Series this year. This trade does not dramatically impact our potential to win the World Series this year. … As we work to return to the postseason, we recognize it takes a lot of really good players to be a good baseball team. We felt we needed to add some additional talent to this organization, those that are going to be here for multiple years, those that have ceilings, will continue to grow and develop.”
Despite Cole's struggles the past two seasons, with the Astros, he would indeed help their chances of repeating as World Series champions.
"It says the expectations are high here," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "Dating back to my first time getting here I've seen this build from expecting a winning season to expecting to contending for championships to winning the championship. ... Additions like this, adding Gerrit to the mix and talking more openly about the highest expectations this team has ever had continue to show what's expected."
Cole's former team is in a much different spot now than it was following that memorable season in 2015. The Pirates will lean on a new core that includes four of its six trade acquisitions, as well as Josh Bell, Starling Marte, Gregory Polanco, Felipe Rivero and a young starting rotation.
Josh Harrison released a statement to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports on Tuesday, saying that he'd also like to be traded if the club did not intend to contend in either 2018 or 2019. The Pirates could grant that request, considering Harrison's trade value is expected to be quite high, and he'll make $10.25 million in 2018.
Cole, on the other hand, will likely be the Astros' No. 3 starter in a rotation that also includes Morton, Justin Verlander, Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers. Additionally, the Astros' lineup will return almost intact from that World Series run.
Since receiving the news, Cole has spoken with Morton, who gave him an idea of what to expect once he reports to spring training with the Astros.
"I was excited," Cole said of the two being reunited. "Charlie has been a good friend of mine ever since I came up. He has nothing but wonderful things to say about the organization, the city, the fans. He's really enjoyed his time here and he's excited to play with me again, and I'm excited to play with him again. A lot of great feelings."
After a few adjustments — specifically throwing more four-seam fastballs and curveballs — Morton had a career renaissance in 2017 and was as important as any player during the Astros' postseason run. The Astros will try to have a similar impact on Cole.
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.
"I think it boils down to command," Cole explained. "I think it boils down to executing pitches. There are a lot of contributing factors, but I'm just going to trust what I do. Continue to use the resources around me. Try to soak up as much as I can from the veterans on this team and the really good players. ... I'm looking forward to a new approach."
Simply put, Cole made it clear he's embracing the fresh start.
"How do you ask for anything more than to be coming to the World Champions?" Cole wondered.