He has never said a preference either way. I cannot help but think he has shown himself to be pretty self-absorbed. If the Astros offered 3-5 years and something north of $100 million to stay, to me it is obvious he is all about the money. If so, I am disappointed he got no strong feelings of loyalty from his two years as an Astro. JV was different, it appears.
JV was older.
And had already made his fortune.
You boys either do not understand the concept of team or what I am saying, and I think ānorth of $100 millionā constitutes a fortune.
When Verlander was in Coleās shoes he set the record for a contract for a starting pitcher. Heās in a totally different situation now.
Would Verlander have left Detroit had the Tigers offered less than the record?
I get your sentiment, but there is a considerable difference between 5 years and $100mm and 5 years and $200mm. Cole likely expects something close to the latter.
Also, your loyalty and desire to win logic should flow both directions. Cole is a millionaire asking billionaires running a billion dollar franchise to pay him a fair market value. If other teams are willing to pay him a lot more and the Astros arenāt interested in providing an offer in the same ballpark, why should Cole give money away to those billionaires atop a billion dollar company? Itās reasonable not to want to work for an employer that undervalues your contribution relative to other options.
I hope that a deal can be struck between the Astros and Cole, but Iām not going to vilify him or understate his contributions during his time with the team if the Astros donāt offer similar money to competitors. And, the Astros may have good, prudent reasons not to do so if heās going to get a long duration contract at an extremely high AAV. Sometimes a deal just doesnāt make sense for both sides.
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I will be gobsmacked if it takes less than $250MM to sign Cole.
Cole wants 7-8 years, not 5. We wonāt do that.
Iām told Cole to Yankees for 250.
Money may not be everything to him. He turned down $4mil when drafted out of high school by the Yankees.
He prioritized college and a possible bigger bonus over the immediate big money payout.
He has to know, and last year he said publicly, he is where he is today because of the Astros. I do not know the value of that in dollars and cents, but apparently it is not nearly enough.
Fair point, but, when the monetary difference becomes tens of millions of dollars, pride starts to enter into the equation as well. The Astros are not the poor little school for the blind. They have the ability to write big checks too if they want. History indicates Luhnow isnāt going to offer a long-term deal to a pitcher, particularly at a high AAV.
Whatās a worse outcome for the Astros: Yankees or Angels? I havenāt made up my mind yet, but leaning Yankees.
Yankees and itās not close. The Angels are far more than one pitcher away from being a really good team. The Yankees are already a really good team. I mean, obviously. Sure, with the Angels youād see him more, but you wouldnāt be seeing him in October I donāt think.
Agree, Chuck.
Astros minus Cole/Yankees plus Cole could easily swing homefield advantage in a postseason series, not to mention the series itself.
I agree with this also. Cole a NYY is worst case scenario.
The Angels are reportedly talking to Strasburg in case Cole goes to NYY. Fantastic.
Excerpt from the below article shows Angels and Yankees are willing to go big and splashy on Coleā¦
The report added that the Los Angeles Angels are preparing for a bidding war with the Yankees for Coleās services, and that the final offer is expected to go beyond $250 million. The Los Angeles Dodgers also have interest in Cole, among other pricey targets, per the report.
A quarter of a billion dollars.
Wow.