Astros: Predicting Gerrit Cole’s next team, contract

CTH writers make their predictions for Astros ace Gerrit Cole‘s next destination and payday.

Today marks the first day that free agents can negotiate and sign with other teams, meaning Astros ace Gerrit Cole is now open for business — or, rather, his agent Scott Boras is. Cole is the offseason’s premier free agent and should have no shortage of teams with legitimate interest.

He is coming off a dominant two-year run with the Astros, posting a 35-10 record and 2.68 ERA with 602 strikeouts in 65 regular season starts. He also has a career 2.60 ERA in the postseason, so there’s no Clayton Kershaw effect with him.

Helping his case even further is he just turned 29 years old in September, so he should still have a few prime years left to give his next team. He’s also durable, having made 32 or more starts in four of the last five years.

In short, Cole is a bona fide ace and should continue to be for at least a few seasons, meaning he has more value than any free agent pitcher we’ve seen in quite some time. His list of suitors will be long, and Boras will be sure to extract every dollar he can.

The Astros will surely be interested in a reunion, and undoubtedly Cole would be willing to return to Houston if the price is right. Fans will be clamoring for his return as well, but how likely is it? Well, it depends on who you ask.

With that in mind, your friendly CTH writers offer their predictions on where Cole will land and just how much money he’ll end up getting.