MLB Trade Rumors: Gerrit Cole To Yankees, Gleyber Torres Or Clint Frazier To Pirates?

In the latest MLB trade rumors, the New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates have been reportedly discussing a deal involving right-handed pitcher Gerrit Cole. While Pittsburgh wants the Yankees’ top prospect, New York may be keeping him away from a deal. Meanwhile, New York has been one of the most active teams during the offseason and it seems their pursuit of a return to the World Series is the top goal. Here’s the latest on the potential Gerrit Cole trade and what could be involved if a deal happens.

A report on Saturday from Mark Polishuk of MLB Trade Rumors website says that the Pittsburgh Pirates “have been pushing for Gleyber Torres.” That’s the prized prospect who the Yankees hold and is considered the second-ranked prospect in all of Major League Baseball. While that’s what Pittsburgh wants, it seems unlikely that’s who they would get if any deal ends up going through. Instead, it’s speculated that New York would part ways with Clint Frazier and something or someone else in an MLB trade. Frazier hit just.231 with four home runs and 17 RBIs last season. The Yankees probably wouldn’t have much issue with giving him up in a deal, but as mentioned, more would be needed to acquire Cole.

Cole has now spent four years in the league and all of those as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. For the past season, he started 33 games and held a 12-12 record while throwing 196 strikeouts with a 4.26 ERA. His career numbers have included a 3.50 ERA, 734 strikeouts, and an overall record of 59-42.

The New York Yankees have already made major headlines this offseason by becoming the winning team in the Giancarlo Stanton trade sweepstakes. New York landed the former Miami Marlins slugger, adding the man with the most home runs in all of baseball to a team that includes new young star Aaron Judge. The two players led the American and National Leagues for home runs and had a combined 111 this past season.

The Yankees are clearly looking to make sure their pitching rotation is sold heading into next season as well. The team re-signed ace CC Sabathia to a one-year deal on Saturday to add him to their starting rotation of Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, Sonny Gray, and Jordan Montgomery.