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Sure, Gerrit Cole is no longer with the Astros, but his departure from Houston shouldn’t hide the fact that the Pirates got robbed in their 2018 trade.
Cole spent two seasons in Houston, finishing in the top-5 in AL Cy Young voting, and leading the league in strikeouts per nine innings. It’s safe to say the Astros got what they traded for.
The Pirates, meanwhile, are still reeling in a rebuild that doesn’t appear close to ending anytime soon. Here’s the trade, in full:
Astros Get
Pitcher, Gerrit Cole
Pirates Get
Pitcher, Joe Musgrove
1B, Colin Moran
Pitcher, Michael Feliz
Outfielder, Jason Martin
Astros trade for Gerrit Cole: Where are they now?
Cole, of course, went on to sign a record free agent deal with the New York Yankees. It was a well-deserved contract given his seasons in Houston. In his first campaign with New York, Cole finished second in AL Cy Young voting, and figures to be among the favorites for at least the next few years in the Bronx.
As for the Pirates, this couldn’t have gone much worse. Musgrove was a brief fan favorite, only to eventually be traded to his hometown team, the San Diego Padres.
Moran is now in Cincinnati, after he was DFA’d by Pittsburgh. Moran hit two home runs to clinch the series against the Bucs this past weekend in a surprisingly quick act of revenge.
Feliz is in the Red Sox organization, while Martin is with Texas.
Less than four years since trading one of the best young pitchers in all of baseball, and the Bucs don’t have any remaining assets from said deal. It’s part of the reason Neal Huntington was fired to begin with — that and the Chris Archer trade, of course.