When you buy a lottery ticket, it’s best not to quit your job before the numbers are pulled.
That seems to be the Yankees approach as they court Gerrit Cole. After the signings of Wheeler and Strasburg over the last two weeks, Giants ace Madison Bumgarner may be the new back-up plan. Per Jon Heyman:
Braves still appear to be interested in Madison Bumgarner. They’ve been seen as a logical spot all along, tho some wondered if the Hamels deal might take them out. No sense it has. Also linked to MadBum: STLCards, Reds, Dbacks, Angels, Twins, Yankees (likely as fallback to Cole).
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 10, 2019
The interest would seem to be a good match. They were connected to each other at last season’s trading deadline but the Giants did not want to do a complete rebuild during Bruce Bochy’s final year. He also would not require the same commitment as Cole in years or AAV.
He’s no longer the same player as during the World Series years, but is still a workhorse who has a career 8-3 post-season record with a 2.11 ERA. He would round out a possible rotation with Tanaka, Severino, Paxton, and German/Happ/Montgomery. We want Cole in our stocking but a Bum under the tree wouldn’t be the worst present in the world.
