Joe Maddon wants Gerrit Cole, but will it actually happen?
The Los Angeles Angels are suitors for Gerrit Cole, and with Joe Maddon itching to get an ace the front office has pressure to get him in an Angels uniform.
Gerrit Cole is going to get a whole lot of money in free agency whether it is from the Yankees or the Los Angeles Angels, just ask Stephen Strasburg. Of course, Strasburg made the right choice by opting out of his 4-year, $100 million contract in return for a seven-year deal worth $245 million.
But just walking through the lobby at the Winter Meetings, I could tell that the whole industry was waiting to explode for when Cole agrees to a deal for at least $300 million.
Cole’s initial offer from the New York Yankees was reportedly $245 million and it was on the table but that offer from Brian Cashman is definitely going to have to increase (and not by a penny or two).
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But getting back to the Angels, the Strasburg signing wasn’t the best news for them because they were met with him, but more importantly, that means Arte Moreno will have to dig a little deeper into his wallet.
And that is where I see the Yankees having the advantage because there have been reports that the money is going to be there for Cole and it is just his choice to if he wants to sign in the Bronx.
But we don’t know if the money is going to be there with the Angels. But that doesn’t mean that Joe Maddon doesn’t want to see Cole in an Angels uniform.
“We need something like that. And I anticipate something like that,” he said.
Maddon is certainly right that the Angels need Gerrit Cole, as their rotation as currently constructed consists of Dylan Bundy, Andrew Heaney, Shohei Ohtani, and Griffin Canning.
Ohtani is not a certainty, as he is coming off of Tommy John surgery after his first season in the big leagues. Bundy has talent but he struggled mightily in terms of giving up the long ball this past season (to be fair he was on the Orioles).
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With that said, the Los Angeles Angels need Gerrit Cole in their rotation but so do the Yankees, so it is a matter of if the Los Angeles Angels will give Cole $300 million like it seems the Yankees will offer him this week.