The clues were there. Maybe there wasn’t a red flag, maybe there wasn’t a klaxon — nobody sky-wrote THE PIRATES ARE GOING TO TRADE GERRIT COLE in the airspace over PNC Park — but Saturday’s move has seemed like a strong possibility for quite a bit.
The Pirates dealt Gerrit Cole to the Astros and will acquire a package centered on third baseman Colin Moran, right-handed pitcher Joe Musgrove and right-hander Michael Feliz.
To call it an underwhelming return would be an underwhelming response. It wasn’t enough — but, hey, it’s the Pirates. It usually isn’t.
The team’s record over the last two seasons should’ve tipped people off; what’s the point in having a pseudo-ace in his prime and approaching his last two years of team control if you’re a low-revenue team on the exurbs of wild-card contention?