OnlyBucs

Very interesting article over at Rum Bunter.  I have not heard anything about this before.



https://rumbunter.com/2020/02/14/pittsb ... ting-ring/

In a way it's sadly comical that a trade that appears to be that lopsided could only be the result of the Astros cheating on their reports. But there seems to be no evidence of that; only speculation.



But NH always preferred quantity to quality. The Cole trade seemed typical for him. Also, the Astros were not giving up 4 players for the best or one of the best pitchers in baseball, which Cole became after the trade and after receiving advice from Verlander and Keuchel as well as learning a different pitching philosophy from the coaches there. The same people who turned Charlie Morton around after his disappointing and frustrating Pirate career. The Astros were trading for a Cole who never lived up to lofty expectations. Who, after going 19-8 with a 2.60 ERA in 2015, regressed to 7-10 with 3.88 ERA (and injured) in 2016 and 12-12 with 31 HRs and 4.26 ERA (when healthy) in 2017.



In the Pirates' world, Cole had to be traded with some time left on his contract because retaining him as a FA was not an option. And unlike NH who would deal top prospects for a fading Archer, Houston was not going to give up its best for a fading Cole. All 4 players had potential but none had become proven MLB players. 4 of that type for a fading Cole did not seem outrageous. That is, until Cole blossomed and none of the 4 did. That trade was not much different than when NH dealt a star player in Jason Bay for Andy LaRoche (a fading 3B prospect who LA had opted to keep in AAA while signing a FA to play 3B), Bryan Morris (an unproven pitching prospect), Brandon Moss (an unproven hitting prospect) and Craig Hansen (who had previously been as bad for Boston as Feliz had been for Houston).



Since the Astros were caught cheating, anything's possible but I find it easier to believe the Cole trade was just another typical NH move where he opted for quantity over quality while trading a high ceiling player who his organization had failed to properly develop.

Well here are the 2018 Astros trades and transactions:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/team ... ions.shtml



One of the other parties listed there thought something was afoul, according to the article.

One thing we can be sure of is that the Pirates have never tampered with anything.

352E23222B2728460 wrote: One thing we can be sure of is that the Pirates have never tampered with anything.


Ah, don't be too sure about that. There are Nickle's financials to see. Alas, that will never happen! ::) ::)

607B76777E727D130 wrote: One thing we can be sure of is that the Pirates have never tampered with anything.
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How did I get promoted from Junior member to Full member???

3E252829202C234D0 wrote: One thing we can be sure of is that the Pirates have never tampered with anything.


Back in the 1800s, the Pittsburgh Alleghenys were accused of tampering with players from a rival league. They were called "piratical".



The nickname stuck.

48535E5F565A553B0 wrote: One thing we can be sure of is that the Pirates have never tampered with anything.
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How did I get promoted from Junior member to Full member???




Number of posts

414443454D475E434A595F522B0 wrote: One thing we can be sure of is that the Pirates have never tampered with anything.
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How did I get promoted from Junior member to Full member???




Number of posts
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Dang, I thought it was die to the quality of my posts.

574C414049454A240 wrote: One thing we can be sure of is that the Pirates have never tampered with anything.
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How did I get promoted from Junior member to Full member???




You talk toooooooooo much! ::) ::) ::) Actually you reached 100 posts.