Pittsburgh Pirates: Potential Gerrit Cole Trade Destinations
By Tim Boyle
Minnesota Twins
It’s about time the Minnesota Twins made a big trade. Despite becoming trade deadline sellers in 2017, Minnesota cracked the postseason. They exited quickly, but not before possibly setting up for a more productive year to follow.
Cole is someone I think matches well with the Twins. All it will cost them is a bundle of minor league players. This is a fair price to pay for a guy yet to reach his pinnacle.
An issue I see here is how much higher the price might be. The Twins’ farm system is by no means elite. Many of their young talent already resides in the big leagues. Trading them doesn’t make much sense. Any big deal Minnesota makes must be done carefully without hurting their chances at the postseason.
Next year, the Twins can open the year with Ervin Santana and Jose Berrios as the rotation headliners. Add Cole and this suddenly becomes a more formidable group.
Best of all, Cole is a pretty good strikeout pitcher. Over his career, the 27-year-old has averaged 8.4 per nine. Amassing strikeouts was an issue for the Twins in 2017. Landing a very capable arm like Cole’s would fill this void and allow the defense to take a few plays off.