Dodgers

Dodgers: Free Agent Gerrit Cole Clarifies Stance on Playing for West Coast Team

The off-season prior to the 2019 season was headlined by Manny Machado and Bryce Harper whom inevitably signed with the San Diego Padres and Philadelphia Phillies respectively. This off-season, it will be Anthony Rendon and Gerrit Cole.

In a recent column, Cole’s quotes regarding his impending free agency were analyzed.

Recent rumors have linked the Dodgers to both superstar free agents, but it appears that the Dodgers might not be of any preference to Gerrit Cole, despite his Los Angeles roots. Cole’s comments after the Houston Astros’ World Series loss to the Washington Nationals made it seem as if he wanted to return to Houston and that if he didn’t, he would keep his options open. At the end of the day, Gerrit Cole will probably be pitching for the highest bidder in 2020 because of his agent — the infamous Scott Boras.

Cole started the post-game media scrum with the following questionable statement:

“I’m not an employee of the team. I’m doing this interview as a representative of myself, I guess.”

Everyone immediately jumped on the comments as they took them to mean that he wanted out of Houston. He later clarified that his comments were made purely out to frustration:

“I was upset and my tone did not come off quite the way I wanted it to. One win away. We had the lead with eight outs to go. It’s just a tough pill to swallow. Those comments were intended to be lighthearted, but also truthful in the sense that I don’t want to be talking about free agency and I don’t want to be addressing those comments 20 minutes after a team loss.”

Former Dodger Josh Reddick also made a comment regarding Cole’s future and predicted that he would be heading west:

“He probably wants to be closer to home. It’s definitely going to be west of Nevada.”

This was Cole’s response:

“No, that’s not a fair assumption. I never said that.”

Do not get your hopes up, Dodger fans. Gerrit Cole might simply return to Houston if they match the price Cole and Boras desire.

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