I bet Cole was pissed he didn't get the call like what was supposedly originally planned for game seven. Would imagine that would eat at him pretty bad.
He took the best deal available, can't blame him for that. By all accounts he seems like a good guy and does a lot of work with the player's union. He also has been a personal nemesis of Trevor Bauer since they were college teammates.
Easy to overlook the 2019 first round series and how close the Astros were to losing to a very good Rays team. Then Cole goes out in the final game and has a dominant 8 inning 10K game and was extremely passionate in the post-game celebrations and getting all the accolades and standing ovations from the rocking MMP (probably the last time it was truly fever pitch loud for an entire game... sorry, fan base has gotten a little cooler, myself included, at all playoff/WS games.... or people just more nervous at failing). Nobody can tell me that in 2 weeks he goes from loving all of that to "hating" his teammates during the WS... he was pissed they lost and he moved on. Also there has never even been a semblance of a rumor that the Astros intended to try and extend/re-sign him. Obviously nobody was going to match that offer.
I wonder how much of the adjustment/tweak JV talked about after the Sox game was him vs the law firm? He was a stud in his 2nd World Series (Game 5) as well. Really unfortunate his first loss in a long time was Game 1 vs Scherzer. I'm not sure how many championships it'll take to get over that '19 Series.
Lee went 1-4 with a single and run scored and K'd once. He caught 1 of 2 basestealers, but made a throwing error on the other attempt. The next hitter hit a 2 run HR breaking a 7th inning tie and fueling an 8-5 win for the A's.
Sooner than you think. He'll get there. I hope Crane successfully resigns Tucker to mitigate losing Drew.
I would trade Gilbert + Clifford for JV in this situation ( LMJ and Garcia hurt, Brown and Javier on fumes. serious question of making playoffs) 10 out of 10 times even they become the next Brandon Nimmo and Ryan Klesko.
I was fine with John Halama, Carlos Guillen, and Freddy Garcia doing well after being dealt for Randy Johnson... granted... if we offered Scott Elarton instead... history may have played out much differently in the early 2000s.
You can't say anything about this deal until we know how the Verlander side of it plays out, and what we may or may not use the saved money for. If we win a WS or 2 with Verlander playing a meaningful role I don't care if Gilbert becomes a 1st ballot HOFer.
