4:27pm: Owner Jim Crane acknowledged that there are talks with at least some realistic possibility of a deal, as MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart reports on Twitter.
“I don’t think anything is final, but if it’s going to get done it’s going to get done before we get out of here,” said Crane in reference to the conclusion of spring camp.
3:17pm: Cole seems to have snuffed out any possibility of a deal coming together in his case. He says “there have been no contract negotiations,” as Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.
The hurler indicated some displeasure with the situation. He tells Rome that the team asked, and he gave permission to hold a discussion with agent Scott Boras. But there was never any talk beyond that per Cole, who says “this seems more like a phone call negotiation involving the media than anyone else.”
2:50pm: The Astros are currently discussing potential extension scenarios with both Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole — a development that The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal downplayed even as he reported it earlier today. In a follow-up tweet, though, Rosenthal says that deal with Verlander “is at least possible.”
That characterization seems to nudge up the likelihood of a deal. The plausibility is boosted further by the fact that Rosenthal puts out some numbers. It seems there’s some discussion and potential for a two-year extension worth over $60MM.
Verlander will turn 37 years of age before he throws a competitive pitch in the 2020 season. At that phase of a player’s career, lengthy commitments generally can’t be achieved. We’ve seen hefty two-year deals for superior performers, though not at the kind of top-of-the-market rates that seem to be under contemplation here.
It’s hard to argue that Verlander is worthy anything less than top dollar. He has been fantastic since landing in Houston late in the 2017 season, throwing 248 innings in 39 starts and compiling a 2.32 ERA with 12.1 K/9 against 1.5 BB/9. Even for a pitcher as great as Verlander, that’s a dizzying level of output.
Verlander has indicated that he’d like to keep pitching well into his forties. For now, he’ll have to decide whether to lock in two more years in Houston or instead wait to see what the open market offers next winter. As for the Astros, Rosenthal suggests they may need to dangle something approaching the current record average annual value for a starter (Zack Greinke’s $34.4MM) to secure a deal.
30 million is the new 20 million.
Cole is Boras client, so not going to happen without a significant overpay, unless Cole himself intervenes and instructs him to and few boras clients wake up before they become losers via FA, unless top players, which Cole obviously is.
My money would be on Verlander reaching a deal 1st for 2 reasons.. probably cheaper short term and also? overall since he’s considerably older and that’s not even allowing for the Cole-Boras factor.
Cole seems like the vocal guy that would complain about the size of his contract from free agency.
Boras usually won’t let his people do anything before testing the market, Hope he follows through and Texas gives him 5 plus years for cole and go after Verlander for two years.
Cole is Yankee-bound? Get it done, Cashman.
Don’t get outbid for Gerrit Cole, like Corbin.
I seem to remember Yankee fans not wanting Cole; calling him a stiff and no better than a no. 4.
That Clint Frazier was an “overpay”
That’s simply a fantasy remembrance on your part….don’t think that ever happened.
How many times has this been said….the Pirates wanted to “win the trade” and wanted a HUGE overpay for Cole…..Anduhar, Torres, and others and the Yankees weren’t going to agree to that even though it was Cole and they thought he was a good fit, especially since they drafted him our of High School.
At the time of the potential trade Cole was coming off 2 subpar years so you really didn’t know which Cole you were going to get…the Ace or the Hole!
That’s simply a fantasy remembrance on YOUR part. What Andy said
was EXACTLY what happened.
I love the way you say that… “the Pirates wanted to win the trade”. How
many teams do you know that go into negotiations trying to LOSE a
trade. Yes, Cole was coming off two subpar years but absolutely
everybody saw the talent there.
The fact that certain Yankee fans thought he was worth so little was
nothing more than either: 1. Sour grapes or 2. lack of baseball knowledge.
Would love to see my Rangers go after pitching for the 2020 year and opening of the new stadium. We have always had the home run hitters,but now we need some pitching and a right handed hitter or two. As for the Yankees they have been one of my favorites for the last umteen years, I even got to take part in the building of the Harley-Davidson for David Mantle in honor of his dad. Took my Mechanic forever to build but was worth it. My favorites were Munson,Nettles,and Catfish Hunter. Those were the days.
They drafted him out of highschool. I’d go to free agency as any top ten % player except for 1st/dh. There’ll be the JD Martinez here or there but most likely they get closer to Cruz.
Actually Cole is going where he gets the most money might not be the Yankees.
Even if Harper is my favorite player, OF wasn’t a need… Something tells me, they’ll be in Gerrit Cole to the end.
The parallels are uncanny…. I think Cole’s a Yankee fan. Hopefully it ends in a different outcome, than Corbin’s.
How was outfield not a need when they signed Gardner?
Hopefully the Rangers are gonna start getting some pitching come next year.
Agreed man…..its always about the money first.
Do they really need to extend Verlander NOW? If they are willing to go 2/60 who is going to pay more than that next offseason? His stock can’t get any higher than it is now. Might as well see what he does this year first.
Texas will pay top dollar for pitching next year so they claim, new stadium and needing some good pitching to go in it.
Of course the Astros would love to have both, but Verlander makes sense to get done and out of the way. Boras can F-up a wet dream with his BS…I hate what he does to these guys… DK should be pitching for the Astros for another year or so at $15-17M…
hey, hands off of JV!!!!
he’s coming back home to finish his career with the Tigers…